What Makes a Productivity Tool "Productive"?

Career AdviceWorking Life

Sending emails, conferencing, chatting, managing: whatever the task, there's a tool that simplifies it.

Productivity tools, platforms and apps have already changed our personal lives: A push of a button locks doors and smart assistants order our groceries. Recently, however, developers have realized that our need for personalized and frictionless experiences is spilling over into the workplace. As a result, a new wave of professional productivity apps has arrived that speed up processes and streamline a wide range of tasks.

An unmanageable number of productivity apps and platforms are entering the market, capable of transforming every aspect of the workplace. These tools promise a new era of efficiency, but not every app and platform is the right fit for every organization. Productivity issues can arise when decision makers struggle to determine which tools are right for their workplace.

Due Diligence First

Due diligence is a basic requirement for technology adoption. Before selecting a new productivity tool, the first step is to assess what tools are already in place in the current workplace and what vulnerabilities they have - possibly even using multiple tools for the same purpose. To avoid this, when selecting a productivity tool, the particular features should be aligned with the essential needs of the employees, rather than simply being selected based on price or mass of features.

Productivity Tool Must-Haves

Identifying must-haves also helps decision makers understand what types of tools are even worth considering, such as document creation, email management or video conferencing. To narrow this broad field more and ensure long-term success and integration, decision makers need to consider the potential of smart technology, integration and support infrastructure.

- Smart Technology:

Automation and artificial intelligence can drive significant efficiencies in everyday processes. With AI, productivity tools can streamline and even automate bulk emailing, scheduling and posting on social media, employee feedback and IT service management. This automation allows employees to get more work done in less time, which can significantly reduce labor costs and may well improve the quality of non-automated tasks. For example, updated versions of Office 365 and G Suite now include AI-powered document creation support tools - most innovative brands of productivity tools will follow this trend.

Even high-priority or sensitive tasks and information benefit from artificial intelligence that can automate prioritization. Take an IT service management platform, for example; if certain keywords are recognized or an employee is C-level, it triggers a routine in the tool that changes the priority of the IT issue in a significant way.

- Integration:

Collaboration and communication must be seamless for employees and supported by Productivity Tools that can appropriately connect with each other. It is important for decision makers to determine if the tool can integrate with current systems and platforms. Even if the company only uses a handful of productivity tools, productivity can plummet if corresponding software solutions are unable to connect and communicate with each other.

- Support infrastructure:

After installation and integration, evaluation takes place. Just because the tool is working well at the moment doesn't mean it will be a good fit forever. That's why organizations should augment their productivity tools with a strong IT support infrastructure. A comprehensive IT service management strategy provides valuable insight into which new tools are having a positive impact and which are not.

However, an ITSM solution itself can be a key productivity driver. An ITSM tool provides insight into recurring incidents that employees with tools already have in the organization, and informs management if they even need to consider changes.

A platform that integrates technologies and supports staff with the tools they already use means technicians don't waste time switching between applications, tools and browsers, but instead use their time to solve problems and requests. With an automated system - one that provides quick resolutions for requesters and tracking capabilities - stakeholders have better visibility into the tools that are driving service request growth, as well as the tools that are delivering on their promises and leading to actual productivity gains.

A new age of productivity

It may seem obvious that more productivity tools mean more productivity, especially when the market is full of such tools. However, instead of quickly shopping for something new, decision makers should evaluate the landscape of their workplace beforehand and select tools that support an improved employee experience. Selecting the right tools takes some time, but ultimately pays off both in increased employee productivity and in the value the technology provides to the business.