If a typical workday involves hour-long meetings on company updates, two hours calculating daily spending or time wasted searching for certain files, passwords or client information, you could be losing countless hours a week through inefficient work processes. Luckily, plenty of software and online options exist to help keep your business organized and running like a well-oiled machine. Watch efficiency and productivity increase by utilizing business software in these areas.
1. Customer and client relations
Relationships with customers and clients are what keep a business running, so properly managing these relationships should be a top priority. This is where customer relationship management – or CRM – technology comes in handy. CRM technology organizes current and potential client contact information in one place, as well as allowing you to create detailed profiles for each client. This lets sales teams quickly find information on clients instead of wading through a morass of unorganized files.
2. Employee management
Nobody has time to micromanage every employee to make sure they’re getting work done. Employee management tools can help managers easily view employee information without having to check in with employees throughout the day. For instance, with the help of fleet tracking software, fleet managers can keep track of drivers’ logs to make sure they’re following FMCSA regulations, allowing them to address issues if needed.
A few other useful employee management tools include project management software that allows you to assign employees to certain tasks – like Producteev – and HR software for easily compiling and managing employee data – like BambooHR.
3. Internal communication and file sharing
If employees are still using email or Word to share important documents with each other, it’s time to upgrade to quicker, easier methods of file sharing. Cloud computing and other online storage options provide employees with a place to share important documents, presentations, databases, client information and more.
Google Docs and Dropbox are popular file sharing options. Dropbox lets you access and share files from any computer as long as you have the right URL. Google Docs allows you to share documents through Gmail, and users can collaborate and make changes to documents in real-time.
4. Personal organization
In addition to utilizing tools for the business as a whole, there are tools that can help with individual efficiency and organization as well. Evernote is an app for desktops and mobile devices that lets users take and organize notes, add images and URLs, and search for notes by keyword. Keeping track of passwords for each site is a pain – online tools like Roboform manage passwords for your websites so you don’t have to waste time waiting for reminder emails if you forget a password.
Don’t feel obligated to use outdated software or processes that cost your business efficiency and money. Make use of online tools and software that improve employee productivity and reduce time spent organizing or searching for necessary documents and files.
Originally posted on July 31, 2013 @ 6:36 pm