In a dynamic and digital workplace, business leaders seek to be as efficient and productive as possible to stay competitive. Though studies have found that there are ways to increase productivity through working remotely such as incentives, praise, etc., there is still more that can be done to push productivity to the next level with effectively utilizing the tools available to workers in the workplace. 

Microsoft© offers tools that have become standard across many organizations today, including the Microsoft© Office suite which is used by more than 80% of businesses. However, users typically only take advantage of about 5% of the features available! That translates to a huge opportunity with relation to worker productivity, since most of the available features can help to improve production and efficiencies.

Keep Current

Microsoft© is constantly changing and enhancing their product offerings and features to help simplify the user experience. When organizations don’t keep current on the enhancements offered, they subject themselves to time being wasted unnecessarily. Remember that time when you discovered a feature that saved you a ton of time. Yeah, Microsoft© created a shortcut for that and you missed the update…. I know the feeling. Now, you don’t have to overanalyze every update that comes out, because that could be counterproductive. However, it is a good idea to be aware of changes that could help your team. Ask yourself:

• How do you and your team ensure that you’re current on the updates?
• How do you best communicate updates to ensure your team is being most efficient?
• Am I updating so much that I am no longer being efficient?

Remember that updates are only as good as the communication that follows to keep everyone on the team informed.

Effective Communication Is Key

Effective communication is the largest challenge for any organization. Even though organizational leaders are typically made aware of this fact and still nothing changes, it’s not from a lack of trying. There are so many layers to communication and so many tools available, that communications can be easily lost in translation.

Without effective communication, productivity is lost. On the plus side, when using Microsoft© applications there are ways to send information and communications in a more simplistic way amongst teams. It is important to note that you must make sure you are using the most effective applications when communicating and it’s helpful not to forget to use the follow-up features to close the communication loop.

Choose the Appropriate Applications

Most workers might not be as productive as they would like because they’re using the wrong application for the work that needs to be completed. You are not alone; this is a common issue within organizations. Though Microsoft© offers applications that are interchangeable, there are unique applications designed to help users be more productive. Even if work can be done using one application, ask yourself:

• Am I using the best tool for the current task at hand?
• Which application will help me accomplish the task most efficiently?
• Am I using the application because I’m familiar with how to use it or because it’s the most productive?

Workers tend to utilize applications which they are familiar with. The thought behind this is that familiarity will lead to better productivity, which is not always the case. Though the intent is to be productive, the result will most likely lead to lower productivity.

Invest in Learning

Think about all the times you’ve tried to do something in an application that you were either unfamiliar with or needed a refresher on. You most likely spent more time than you would have liked to accomplish something that only took a few seconds to complete once you figured out the solution. You’re probably thinking to yourself, wow, that happens more frequently than I would like. Now, just imagine if your entire team was doing the same thing for the same exact problem. Now reality hits…. and your mind is blown!

The fact is that we don’t always think about how everyone on our team functions to complete work, and this leads to unnecessary duplication, since many teams use the same tools for similar tasks or projects. If only we spent a few minutes training everyone on commonly utilized tools and application features, we could significantly increase the productivity of the team.

Though I could do an entire blog on why training is important, the key takeaway here is to make sure workers are trained on commonly used applications to increase productivity. Don’t just stop at training the basics, but rather make sure the team is aware of the shortcuts and automation that can enhance their productivity.

If improving worker productivity is the goal, then it is important to enable workers to become the most efficient workers they can be by helping them understand how to effectively utilize the tools provided.