5 ways productivity tools can increase team efficiency

Taking on the role of manager can be exciting, challenging and rewarding. But it isn’t always plain sailing. Whether you’re newly appointed, or an old hand at managing a team, it can be tough to increase team efficiency, inspire, motivate and guide your staff to consistently accomplish business objectives.  

Busy work environments leave little time to check-in with team members and ensure they’re on track. But if you don’t understand how efficient the team are, it can be difficult to improve things.  

Strenstone allows businesses the ability measure, monitor, and improve staff productivity by layering over existing CRM and office tools. 

With an easy-to-read daily score, you’ll soon recognise which employees are the most productive – and why.  

So, you can better support struggling team members and share best practice to get the best from everyone in the team, every day. 

Here’s how Strenstone’s intelligent productivity tool can help: 

1. Provide instant insight 

Your team already use a host of tools to streamline and simplify their workload. Products such as Salesforce, Outlook or Slack help employees work smarter and more efficiently. 

Layering productivity tools and intelligence over your existing cloud-based systems enables you to see how much time employees spend utilising the various tools at their disposal.  

With access to an instant productivity window, you’ll be able to see feedback straight away. Activity for the past 90 days is easily accessible, so you won’t have to wait before assessing performance.  

With direct access to the productivity tool and insights, you’ll see value right away. Helping you better predict and improve employee performance from day one. 

2. Support constructive coaching 

Good managers strive to provide meaningful feedback. They want to manage employee performance and motivate staff to do outstanding work. 

The first step in any performance conversation is to establish expectations that are clear, collaborative and aligned with the organisation’s goals. Productivity tools can help hold employees accountable for their work. 

With quantitative data on employee performance, your coaching will be focused and future oriented. Strenstone can provide essential insight on employee activity, revealing coaching opportunities for those 1-to-1 feedback sessions. 

For sales reps, the software is particularly handy. It can provide practical guidance on how peers rank and why. With the ability to log in at any time, reps can see which activities correlate to revenue and where to focus their energies for maximum productivity. 

3. Increase software ROI 

From office suites and phone systems to CRM software and chat apps, Strenstone use highly effective productivity tools which can be layered can be layered over your existing cloud-based systems. It integrates easily with typical business software such as Microsoft Teams or G-Suite to deliver accurate data on how often these tools are used. 

To improve their score, staff will need to increase their interaction with business apps, strengthening adoption of existing functionality such as customer relationship management software. 

Not only is this a great opportunity for coaching – it also improves return on investment for software that you already pay out on. 

4. Simplify remote working 

The rise in hybrid working means managers are often coordinating a mixture of in-office and remote staff. Depending on the employee and the task at hand, this can impact productivity. 

By simplifying employee monitoring and delivering real-time analytics on productivity, Strenstone provides a true picture of how people are working from home. 

Increasing visibility helps you understand which activities are most fruitful; which team members are most effective; and which are struggling.  

With transparency around this information, managers are empowered to build flexibility into their schedule. Helping you take the guesswork out of managing remote teams. 

5. Drive healthy competition 

When it comes to sales, competition can be motivating. But while healthy competition can drive up sales, no one wants to create a culture of fear that motivates only the most ruthless reps, while alienating everyone else.  

One way to combat this scenario is to focus on continual improvement. Rather than concentrating on winning and losing, track employee engagement by monitoring a rep’s progress to boost confidence as they improve. 

With daily or weekly scores, Strenstone gives you the know how to put this strategy into practice. Peer rankings link performance to productivity, supporting reps to build good work habits, and inspiring those with a competitive bent to drive up their position. 

Ready to become a top performer? 

Here’s how to ensure you utilise highly effective productivity systems to drive impact: 

1. Log all communication with customers into your CRM system. 
2. Use Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets for notes and documentation. 
3. Create presentations using Google Slides. 
4. If you are away from your desk and need to make a work call, be sure to use the mobile connect app on your mobile phone. 
5. Identify which method of communication is most important for your organisation – phone calls or email. 
6. Make sure all your business tools, such as your phone system or Gmail, are synced to your CRM system. 
7. Be sure to accept the calendar invites for meetings you attend to demonstrate your activity. 

In utilising highly effective productivity tools, managers can leverage existing technology to see, understand and increase productivity. Ensuring all staff are engaged, motivated, and equipped to excel. 

Want to find out how Strenstone can help increase team efficiency and boost your employee productivity? Book a Demo and Discovery call today.