5 Ways to boost your team’s productivity with modern technology

Depending on which way you look at it, technology can be either the biggest office distraction or a critical enabler of workplace productivity. As a business leader, the responsibility to choose the right solutions falls on you. Spend your time simply chasing after the latest hyped-up shiny new objects, and you’ll achieve nothing but reduced productivity and piled-up expenses. On the other hand, avoiding technology also has the same effect, which is why any successful business is driven by a culture of change and careful strategy.

Here are five things you should do when implementing new technology:

#1. Enable anywhere accessibility

Today’s workforce is becoming more accustomed to a flexible working environment. Studies have consistently demonstrated that people work more effectively when they have anytime, anywhere access to their work. That’s why more businesses are providing remote work arrangements, and some are even doing away with their fixed office premises entirely. A cloud-hosted computing infrastructure empowers your team to work whenever and wherever they want. Instead of having to stay in front of an office desk, all the applications and data they need for work can travel with them as long as they have a stable internet connection.

#2. Achieve technological alignment

Most technology implementations fail because they don’t align with business imperatives. Oftentimes, business leaders invest in something new just because it’s the “done thing,” without achieving buy-in from their employees or evaluating how it fits in with their existing infrastructure.

This often leads to a drop in morale and productivity as employees spend time trying to find workarounds or to familiarize themselves with a system that’s been forced upon them for no apparent reason. Successful businesses instead embrace a culture of change by aligning technology with their specific goals and working conditions.

#3. Reduce dependence on paper

Paper is going to become obsolete soon. However, dependence on paper is something every modern business should avoid if it wants to improve productivity. The same goes for any other physical exchange of information, like removable media.

Even in cases where the use of paper documents is unavoidable, having a defined procedure for digitizing and uploading them to the cloud will do wonders for productivity. It’s not about hard-copy records being a thing of the past, it’s about augmenting this often-critical business process with modern technology.

#4. Use collaboration tools

Not so long ago, the only way for people to work on the same project was to sit around a table in the office. Sometimes, all it took for a project to come to a grinding halt was someone being off sick or on holiday.

Today, online collaboration tools can overcome the limitations of geographical borders and enable people to work together on the same project no matter where they are. Online collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, especially when combined with cloud-based productivity apps like Office 365, provide a space for people to stay in sync and work seamlessly as if they're in the same room.

#5. Put security first

Downtime, whether caused by hardware failure, natural disaster, or cyberattacks, is the biggest productivity killer of all. That’s why every organization should take a proactive approach towards keeping its systems safe and running reliably at all times.

With the cost of cyberattacks and data loss constantly rising, it’s more important than ever to ensure your entire technology infrastructure is fully protected. Consider setting up a reliable way to manage access rights and facilitating robust backup and disaster recovery — your teams will be able to work on their projects without constantly worrying about impending disaster.

Quicktech provides professional services, on-site IT support, and cloud computing solutions to organizations in Vancouver. Call us today to let us handle technology for you.