How to increase productivity and reduce costs during COVID
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One day we’ll look back on the COVID years like a distant memory, wondering why we focused on business costs and productivity when the world around us was falling apart.
While it’s unlikely we reach the same levels of productivity found in a pre-coronavirus office, it’s nevertheless important to strike a balance, both for the survival of your business and its employees looking for security during these uncertain times.
On one hand, you need to cut unnecessary costs and ensure your business recovers/grows in the post-pandemic years; on the other, you need to consider employee welfare and help them do their job in a new testing environment.
- In this article we discuss the following productivity hacks:
- Choosing the right task management software
- Improving communication over the web
- Taking time to consider personal wellness
Read on to discover how these methods boost your business and reduce costs during COVID.
Choose a reliable task management software to lean on
Before the pandemic, you likely relied on Google Calendar to map your day into chunks, but nowadays the sudden reliance on all things digital is putting your pre-existing work format under immense pressure.
With tasks flying at you from multiple inboxes and email threads, suddenly your role in the process becomes clouded and confusing, so it’s more important than ever to establish a reliable task management software (like GetBusy) — a system that not only allows you to organise team tasks but also identifies specific roles in the chain.
Choosing the right task manager simplifies everyone’s daily routine, breaking down your responsibilities into bitesize wins and streamlining the process of collaboration while working remotely. From a business perspective this means your employees are spending more time on billable work while avoiding time-consuming administrative tasks — and from an employee viewpoint, your motivation/productivity is improved through the gamification of your working day.
Improve remote communication using messenger tools
You and the team might be isolated, but that doesn’t mean you should start acting like a lone wolf. The internet connects the world, and as such, it’s important to improve remote communication using messenger apps (such as Slack) and video software (like Zoom) to create a communication toolkit while working from home.
Workplace communication is vital for two reasons:
Work requires collaboration (as noted with the implementation of task managers)
People naturally crave interaction to boost motivation.
Without communication, tasks wouldn’t get done and team morale would hit an all-time low, thereby impacting your productivity levels and reducing cost efficiency.
Organise your methods of communication and use them for a specific purpose. For instance:
Email: use for communicating with clients, sending finalised projects, and providing company-wide updates.
Slack: Distribute this messenger app and establish channels for internal use.
Zoom: Organise video conferences for a team meeting, strategy talk, and after-work get-togethers.
Also, consider cloud-based storage to further streamline work-related communication. This way everyone has access to the documents and spreadsheets they need to work at any given time or place. By adopting such a format you eliminate blockers and unnecessary back and forth communication surrounding file locations.
Consider personal wellness by establishing healthy food habits
Hammering down on remote tech is all well and good, but you also need to take a step back and gain perspective on the merits of wellness during this uncertain time.
Personal wellness should be high up the priority list for any business operating during the pandemic. And while nobody should judge you for comfort eating (especially now), that’s not to say you shouldn’t do something about it.
Encourage, but don’t force, a focus on healthy eating habits during coronavirus. There are several reasons for you to adopt this approach: avoiding poor health, boosting low moods, and increasing productivity at work.
Food is the fuel for your day, so start by making small changes and don’t take on too much, too soon. Reduce your snacking behaviour, throw in some extra vegetables with lunch, and eat smaller portions. Even the slightest dietary tweak can make a huge difference to your day at the home office.
It’s difficult for any business to meander around the changing coronavirus situation, so with everything up in there air, one thing is certain: the connective power of the internet.
From task management software to remote communication, most productivity and cost reduction is enabled through the web during COVID. But don’t forget to look after people’s health beyond the dim blue light of technology.
