It has become extremely normal to end work days feeling highly unfulfilled. This has a lot to do with menial jobs cluttering workers’ days- leading to them performing repetitive tasks daily. These tasks may include seeking approvals, firing emails at colleagues back and forth and getting lost in the web of threads, clarifying tasks, and gathering data from various sources.
One way to diminish dissatisfaction is by taking advantage of technology and productivity tools in the workplace. To effectively use such tools, you must know their categories and be aware of how they will be actively helping you.
Therefore, read ahead to unveil the four categories of productivity tools that will help you overcome your work funk!
What Is Productivity Software?
Productivity Software refers to applications which aid businesses and individuals in increasing their efficiency and productivity by performing tasks more effectively.
Initially, productivity softwares would only include applications that helped workers produce documents, worksheets, databases, and other similar things. However, in recent times, productivity software has broadened its applications to include collaboration and communication applications.
Moreover, productivity software is popular for tasks such as email writing, note-taking, and calendar functions instead of being used to produce complete documents.
Type 1: Collaboration and Communication Tools
The COVID-19 pandemic was an eye-opener regarding communication tools at the workplace; it brought Zoom and Google meetings into the spotlight. The pandemic proved that businesses could flourish even whilst working remotely as long as they maintained communication and coordination.
Furthermore, effective communication tools such as an instant messaging app have made emailing take a backseat at workplaces. This is because emails are hard to keep track of, and they do not provide opportunities for meaningful brainstorming conversations.
Let’s take a deep dive into one of the most well-known communication tools, ‘Zoom’, so you can better understand the importance of such productivity tools!
- Zoom- This collaboration tool experienced a steep revenue rise during COVID-19 due to its importance in the business and education sector being recognised globally. It is a globally used video-conferencing and communication platform facilitating webinars, online collaboration, webinars, and virtual meetings. Moreover, Zoom allows for high-quality video and audio calls, screen sharing, screen recording, and chat features. That’s not all; you can also preplan and schedule meetings and share them with your team and colleagues to incorporate into their schedules.
Type 2: Documentation Tools
The role of software documentation tools is to enhance the process of creating and distributing documents.
Suppose workers and businesses utilise effective documentation tools. In that case, information will be easily accessible to the right users, and you can have the option to publish your documents and share them with certain internal and external users.
Moreover, these documentation tools must be speedy and capable of carrying out quick, reliable searches and have a user-intuitive interface.
‘Nuclino’ is one great representation of an effective documentation tool, and to understand more clearly the importance of such softwares, let’s look at its features.
- Nuclino- This team-focused tool allows for collaborative management of knowledge, projects and documents. Nuclino has an adapted real-time editor and provides the option to format and visualise information in various ways, such as in nested lists, mind-mapping graphs, and Kanban boards, to allow a focused environment for teams to draft up ideas and content.
Type 3: Time Management and Task Tracking Tools
Time is an invaluable asset, and if a productivity tool is helping you manage your time or tasks, it is essential to ensure they meet some criteria.
Therefore, you must ensure that this productivity tool can merge with an array of apps, including file storage, calendars, and email inboxes. Furthermore, this tool must simplify the way of tracking task completion tabs for individuals, teams, and the business as a whole. Lastly, this tool must be easy for anyone to use, regardless of their expertise or experience.
The following is an example of one well-known time management and task-tracking tool:
- Notion- This is a renowned software that brings together various functions to a single workspace. It merges project management, note-taking, collaboration, and database features into a flexible and customisable interface that users can easily access and use. Moreover, users can take advantage of this software by penning notes to release their creative energy. Moreover, users can easily create documents, to-do lists, or databases and share them with others. Additionally, the interface has incorporated a block-based system that enables users to format information and details in a modular format.
Type 4: Workflow and Automation Tools
Repetitive tasks such as calendar management or data entry can become draining and time-consuming. These tasks do not require your specific creative and intellectual energy and can be passed on to workflow and automation tools to be taken over.
These tools are shortcut creators and can automate certain tasks and reduce the need for human intervention. Moreover, such tools can organise workplaces and work processes to easily find and derive various kinds of data, such as passwords, documents, and files.
Zapier is one of the leading workflow and automation tools that have helped boost business productivity, and it’s vital to understand the importance of it in a business environment.
- Zapier- This tool empowers users to create automated workflows by connecting and merging various web applications. The user does not need to be well-versed in coding to transfer data or tasks from one application to another. Zapier has a user-friendly interface that allows users to automate repetitive tasks.
Conclusion
Understanding the importance of modern technology and software in boosting a business’s revenue and productivity is vital, and this article helps you do just that. Moreover, when launching a new business, it’s important to note all the dos and don’ts to guarantee success. Once you’ve done your in-depth research, enhance your business productivity or launch a new business with minimal error opportunities.