How to Use Technology to Help – Not Hinder – Your Productivity
- April 8, 2020
- Author: Jana Carlson
Our work is powered by more technology than ever. The internet alone has improved our contact, access to information, and speed, increasing our productivity by 3% annually.
Even though some of our current technology increases productivity, workers average only 5 productive hours out of every 8-hour workday. Is technology to blame?
The short answer is “no”. The primary causes of a lack of productivity are:
- Too much time in pointless meetings
- Too much interruption or distraction
- Answering too many emails
This is good news because these are all things we can change.
3 Ways to Use Technology to Improve Your Productivity
Here are some ways to use technology to help – not hinder – your productivity.
1. Reduce Time Spent in Meetings
Business executives consider more than two-thirds of meetings to be complete failures (and a waste of time). Some of that time can be saved through video conferencing by eliminating the need to commute. It also means you can hold last-minute meetings to address urgent items and deal with them when it really matters.
2. Eliminate Distractions
The average employee spends 28% of their time dealing with interruptions. Use technology to eliminate these distractions. A cloud phone system, for example, includes several features perfect for this problem:
- Answering Rules & Time Frames – Set up specific time frames to forward your calls to help you focus.
- Customized Greetings – Create a customized message to inform callers of your availability. Give them options to connect with you in different ways (such as email or text messaging).
- Voicemail Transcription – Voicemail is time-consuming. Include instructions on how to leave the most effective message in your voicemail greeting. Then take advantage of voicemail transcription to save you time in retrieving your messages.
3. Use Automation & Integration
The ability to automate and integrate many tools greatly increases productivity.
Automation eliminates manual processes and reduces common mistakes.
Integration maximizes the benefits of your technology by increasing functionality.
Reduce time spent dealing with email by setting up automatic replies and filters.
The automation and integration capabilities of a cloud phone system can also go a long way toward helping your business performance.
- Auto Attendant – This virtual assistant can automatically answer and direct calls to the appropriate person.
- Call Forwarding – Set up automatic call forwarding to improve your customer service and stop playing “Phone Tag”. Block unwanted calls. This feature is further customizable and enhanced by Answering Rules and Time Frames.
- Call Queues – Automatically redirect incoming calls to the next available person in a predetermined queue. Reduce hold wait times for your customers and get more done.
- CRM Integration – Save time by enabling “Click-to-Call”. Automatically record calls and view call logs within your customer database.
UnitedCloud now integrates with Microsoft Teams.
Your Business Phone Can Increase Productivity
A cloud phone system can increase productivity through valuable features. But it also helps your business by reducing hindrances to productivity common with conventional systems.
A cloud phone system is an easy choice for business communitions:
- Reliable service (automatic failover keeps your phone online no matter what)
- No maintenance
- No need for IT experts to set it up or keep it running
Use technology to help your productivity. Talk to a UnitedCloud specialist today to find out how a cloud phone system can benefit your business.
