For flexible younger businesses that aren’t set in their ways yet, using technology can make them more competitive. It’s up to the leaders to encourage staff to use tools more effectively, and actively seek out and embrace advancements rather than stick to the tried and true.
Here are some different ways to use technology in keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit.
Efficient Email Processing
The bane of many office workers’ lives is keeping up with email. The amount of emails that are Cc’d to them when they’re not even part of the conversation and likely don’t need to see it either, is mindboggling. A system must be adopted to tame the email beast.
There are different systematized approaches to handling emails better while maintaining reasonable productivity. In roles with frequent unscheduled interruptions that seriously hamper productivity, it’s important to turn off most email notifications and set a reminder to check emails a couple of times a day. The most important business emails from a boss can be set up as a separate reminder so they’re alerted and replied to sooner.
Other email options include Inbox Zero and author Mark Forster’s approach which deals with today’s email, tomorrow. Both aim to systematically handle emails as a batch to ensure they don’t become backlogged and even set aside daily time to process any backlog down to zero emails over time, if that’s necessary.
Digital Photography, Editing & Production
The advent of small, affordable digital cameras and good-quality photographic lenses on some smartphones makes it possible to take acceptable images without necessarily needing to hire a professional photographer. It depends on what you’re needing to capture, but many times people cannot tell the difference; the digital camera technology is pretty good now.
Whether wanting to prepare images for use with Instagram, Pinterest, other useful social platforms, or for the website, there are many free or inexpensive apps for editing images or adding filters. Read more on the linked website to find the best mobile app for your needs.
Live Spreadsheets
While group collaboration tools designed for corporations often get expensive as the number of users ramp up to mirror the size of the employee pool, using a live spreadsheet (or Word document) is another way to go. Google Docs (also known as Google Sheets on the mobile app side) lets users access the same spreadsheet (or other Office document) together, in real time. Edits made by one employee are almost instantly viewable by everyone else who has been assigned access to the sheet.
Create sophisticated monitoring spreadsheets to capture important client information outside of a formal database. These types of approaches allow for the simple use of technology before investing in an advanced enterprise-focused software solution.
Digital Timesheet
Using a digital timesheet instead of a clock-in system is an effective way to ensure less tardiness while avoiding adding another costly system to the business operation. Using an internally created timesheet is easy to setup and update. Managers can quickly get a snapshot of who is regularly late to arrive to work and who stays late to complete assignments. There’s no need to buy a special app to do this or hunt around to find the timesheet records. It’s simply more efficient.
With an open approach to using technology to advance business rather than hold it back, young companies can get two steps ahead of older, stodgy ones with employees who are slow to evolve. In a world where small companies must find any legal way to outmaneuver larger, entrenched competitors, this is an easy win.
Author: James Daniels is a freelance writer, business enthusiast, a bit of a tech buff, and an overall geek. He is also an avid reader, who can while away hours reading and knowing about the latest gadgets and tech, whilst offering views and opinions on these topics.
