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4 ways to boost staff efficiencyTechnology enables businesses to work remotely, collaborate more efficiently, and manage their time more effectively. But to achieve these benefits, you need to implement technologies that align with your business’s needs. Here are some things to consider. Change office communication To increase efficiency, set up instant messaging software such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. This […]

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13 May, 2019 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Business Value, Productivity category
4 ways to boost staff efficiency

Technology enables businesses to work remotely, collaborate more efficiently, and manage their time more effectively. But to achieve these benefits, you need to implement technologies that align with your business’s needs. Here are some things to consider.

Change office communication

To increase efficiency, set up instant messaging software such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. This allows employees to communicate anytime, anywhere instead of having to get up from their desks to see whether the person is available.

Of course, if you need to discuss big projects or issues, face-to-face communication is likely the best choice. But you can simply send a quick message for more trivial conversations, saving precious minutes and allowing you to get more work done.

Install video conferencing

Traveling to offsite meetings and training sessions takes time. Rather than commuting for hours outside your office, opt for a networked phone solution that offers video calls and conferencing. This way, you can hold a video conference to discuss business matters from the comfort and convenience of your office. You can also take things up a notch and equip the conference room with tools to pull up documents and have them displayed on a big screen so that everyone in the meeting can follow the conversation with ease.

Upgrade workstations

Outdated technologies and workstations limit your business’s progress and are a hindrance to developing clued-up, efficient employees. Aging systems and slow networks can frustrate your team and bring productivity to a standstill. That’s why it’s important to take the time to assess your current workstations, applications, hardware, and tools. This doesn’t mean that you have to buy a set of entirely new workstations. But you should replace obsolete equipment with more up-to-date machines. In addition, make sure all software and applications are up-to-date to ensure maximum efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Implement ERP software

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a business process management software that allows organizations to automate processes and centralize data in order for employees to collaborate more efficiently. ERP software provides employees with up-to-date business information that they can easily access and use. What’s more, ERP also eliminates redundant data entry and reduces the number of spreadsheets that are used to record critical business data, by storing information in a centralized database.

To get the maximum return on your technology investment, it’s also important to partner with a knowledgeable and reliable service provider. Get in touch with our tech experts today to find out how we can implement technology to help your employees become more efficient and productive.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Monitoring employees online: Is it right?The choice to monitor your employees’ computers or not is a tricky one. While part of you may think it’s unethical, it could end up saving you hours of lost productivity or preventing a data breach. Here are some pros and cons of employee monitoring, and some tips to handle it fairly if you decide […]

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09 Apr, 2019 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Productivity, Security, Tips category
Monitoring employees online: Is it right?

The choice to monitor your employees’ computers or not is a tricky one. While part of you may think it’s unethical, it could end up saving you hours of lost productivity or preventing a data breach. Here are some pros and cons of employee monitoring, and some tips to handle it fairly if you decide it’s right for your business.

The case for monitoring

There are a number of reasons why monitoring your employees’ activities on company devices is a good idea. Doing so can help you:

  • Protect your organization from data theft or harm – because careless or disgruntled employees may leak or steal your data.
  • Ensure you have a harassment-free workplace – because cyberharassment (sexual or otherwise) happens among employees.
  • Ensure staff are complying with policies – such as not downloading illegal programs or spending time on websites with illegal or hostile content.
  • Provide evidence in case of a lawsuit – heaven forbid this happens, but if an employee participates in illegal activities using your business’s computers, monitoring can provide evidence of who was involved.

The sad fact of the matter is that many business owners who begin monitoring their employees often end up discovering that their staff members aren’t focused solely on the company’s success.

Arguments against employee monitoring

Of course, there are some potential downsides to monitoring that you should be aware of as well. These include:

  • Productivity loss – monitoring can put a damper on employee morale and you may see the distrust lead to productivity losses.
  • Lost privacy and lawsuits – you’ll likely learn personal details of your employees that you would’ve never known about had you not monitored them. You may discover their political or religious views, sexual orientation, or medical problems. This could potentially open up your business to privacy or discrimination issues if you or your management team acts negatively based on any of this information.

Monitoring guidelines to follow

If you decide to monitor your employees, here are a few tips you should follow.

1. Create written policies
When you decide to monitor your employees, ask yourself: Am I doing this for security purposes? Is it to ensure your employees aren’t wasting time on social media? If your monitoring policies are too strict, you could create an atmosphere of distrust.

Set guidelines for acceptable use of email, social media, web browsing, instant messaging, and downloading software and apps. Also, make sure to include how monitoring will be carried out and how data will be secured or destroyed.

2. Tell your employees
It’s important to inform your employees about the scope of your monitoring policies. If they find out you’re doing it without their knowledge, you could face legal issues. By being transparent and open, you may actually see a boost in productivity by deterring employees from wasting time on the web.

When you tell your employees, explain why you’re doing it and the risks your business faces from misuse of digital assets. Reassure them you’re not doing it to spy on their personal life, but to create a compliant and law-abiding workplace. Because their activities will now be less private, encourage your staff to keep their personal communication to their smartphones. Also, provide a copy of your written policy to employees to read and sign.

3. Get the right technology tools
You don’t need to know every little employee activity, so look for apps and software that alert you of the most relevant problems so you can focus on more important tasks.

If implemented correctly, employee monitoring makes your business more secure and productive. For more information about security and other IT support tools, get in touch with us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Get the most of Chrome with these extensionsThe majority of internet users worldwide has chosen Chrome as the best web browser, and the Chrome Web Store helps enhance the browser’s features by housing thousands of powerful add-ons to enhance its features. But while it’s amazing to have so many choices, it can be quite overwhelming and time-consuming to pick the right extensions […]

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03 Apr, 2019 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Productivity, Web category
Get the most of Chrome with these extensions

The majority of internet users worldwide has chosen Chrome as the best web browser, and the Chrome Web Store helps enhance the browser’s features by housing thousands of powerful add-ons to enhance its features. But while it’s amazing to have so many choices, it can be quite overwhelming and time-consuming to pick the right extensions for your Chrome browser. This list of powerful extensions can come in handy and save you a lot of time.

StayFocusd

As the name suggests, StayFocusd helps you stay focused. This is a perfect tool for people who work on computers all day to stop themselves from getting distracted by the many wonderful things on the internet. Essentially, it’s an extension that restricts your time on websites that can cause your productivity to dip, particularly social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Once you’ve reached the time limit, StayFocusd blocks access to those sites, reminding you to focus on your work.

AdBlock

AdBlock claims to be the most popular extension for Chrome. It has over 10 million active users, and for good reason. In a virtual world full of advertisements, AdBlock offers a break by blocking most ads from showing on Chrome. It’s also bound to improve your experience and increase the speed of your browser, since it blocks shady advertisements on the web, some of which are designed to trick people into downloading something that could harm their computers.

LastPass

Remembering passwords can be quite a headache; good thing there’s LastPass. While Chrome already has a built-in password manager, LastPass is a better option when it comes to password management. Instead of trying to memorize countless passwords for your online accounts, LastPass can generate new and secure passwords every time you log in to a website and sync your passwords whenever you need them. With LastPass, you can easily gain access to your accounts, enter credit card details, and fill out online forms with just a few clicks.

Evernote Web Clipper

Never lose anything on the internet again by storing web pages on Evernote. While you can mark sites by using Chrome’s built-in bookmarks option, Evernote is a more powerful option. The extension allows you to quickly and easily save web content from Chrome and transfer it straight into your Evernote account. With the press of a button, you can grab an image from the web page, make annotations, create summary links, and save a distraction-free version for later use.

Pocket

Pocket is another way to keep track of your favorite web content. With Pocket, you can save articles, videos, and any other web pages for later viewing. Simply hit the Pocket extension button when you come across something interesting and that page will automatically be synced to all your devices, so you can view it at any time, even without an internet connection. With Pocket, you can set things aside when you have important work at hand. If you can’t read the content now, Pocket it for later.

Momentum

Momentum is an alternative new tab page that replaces the default Chrome landing page. Equipped with a personalized dashboard that features a beautiful scenic background, a daily inspirational quote, the weather report, a to-do list, and quick links widgets for your favorite sites, Momentum could just be the dose of inspiration you’re looking for.

Learn more about the different productivity apps the Chrome Web Store has to offer. Get

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Use Outlook effectively with these tricksMany companies prefer to use Microsoft Outlook for coordinating projects, setting up meetings, and managing their email. This tool offers more features aside from being an email application where you can organize your business communications, contacts, and work. Let's take a closer look at some tips you might have missed. Clean Up your inbox No […]

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26 Mar, 2019 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Office, Productivity, Tips category
Use Outlook effectively with these tricks

Many companies prefer to use Microsoft Outlook for coordinating projects, setting up meetings, and managing their email. This tool offers more features aside from being an email application where you can organize your business communications, contacts, and work. Let's take a closer look at some tips you might have missed.

Clean Up your inbox

No matter how meticulously organized your Outlook inbox is, there’s always room for improvement. For a little computer-assisted help, try the ‘Clean Up’ feature.

From your Inbox, click the Home tab and choose from Outlook’s three Clean Up options:

  • Clean Up Conversation – Reviews an email thread or a conversation and deletes redundant text.
  • Clean Up Folder – Reviews conversations in a selected folder and deletes redundant messages.
  • Clean Up Folder & Subfolders – Reviews all messages in a selected folder and any subfolders, and deletes redundant messages in all of them.

Ignore (unnecessary) conversations

An overstuffed inbox is often caused by group conversations that aren’t relevant to you. The Ignore button helps you organize your inbox and focus on relevant emails.

  • Select a message, then click Home > Ignore > Ignore Conversation. You can also do this by opening a message in a new window and clicking Ignore under the Delete function. To recover an ignored message, go to the Deleted Items folder, and click Ignore > Stop Ignoring Conversation.

Send links instead of a file copy

Help your colleagues save storage space by sending a link to a cloud version of a file instead of the file itself. This is particularly useful when sending massive files. You can also set permissions to allow recipients to edit and collaborate on linked files in real time.

  • Upload the file you wish to send on OneDrive and send it to your recipients. From the message box, click Attach File > Browse web locations > OneDrive.

Improve meetings with Skype and OneNote

Outlook allows you to combine Skype’s HD video and screen-sharing features with OneNote’s organizational and project planning functions. It’s easy:

  • Go to the Meeting tab in Outlook, then click Skype meeting and send the link to the participants. After the meeting has started, select Meeting Notes (under the Meeting tab) and choose whether you want to Take notes on your own or Share notes with the meeting.

Tag contacts

To get the attention of a specific person in a group email message, use the @Mention function. This works particularly well for emails sent to multiple recipients or if you simply want to convey the urgency of your message.

  • In the email body or meeting request, type the ‘@’ symbol followed by the first and last name of the person you wish to tag (e.g., @firstnamelastname).
  • To search for emails you’re tagged in, select Filter Email from the Home tab and choose Mentioned, then choose Mentioned.

These are just a few strategies for getting more out of Microsoft’s email platform. To unlock Outlook’s true potential, you need the support of certified IT professionals. Give us a call today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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