Increase productivity with technology

Can you increase productivity with technology?

You may be busy, but are you productive?
increase productivity with technology
From bouncing between meetings, drafting client emails to simply trying to find a few moments during the day to capture our own thoughts, we’re a busy workforce on the go. We’ve all come to rely on mobile devices and apps to help us navigate through our busy days. But, are we being as productive as possible? Or, is all this “busy work” running from meeting to meeting and trying to overcome document overload really getting in the way of productivity?

“I’m so busy…”

almost every professional in today’s fast-paced workplace can relate to this statement. Between higher-than-ever expectations on productivity, having to wear multiple hats, struggling to find work-life balance, and trying to check off the many to-do’s on our daily work list, are we really just “busy” without being productive?

Busy vs. productive

While many people believe they are productive at work, in all actuality they may be just really good at being “busy” – working longer and harder, but not necessarily making big dents in their ever-expanding workloads. In fact, a recent study showed that the majority of business leaders agree that productivity is a high priority for their business, however, nearly one in four (23%) said their company is less productive than it should be.

So, what truly makes a person productive at work? Generally speaking, they focus on their goals, are able to complete tasks and projects, and can draw upon all of their resources, both internal and external, to achieve them in an organized manner; simple, right? Not necessarily.

In actuality, there are only so many hours in the work day to get things done, and those who maximize their time through planning and the proper tools are ahead of the curve.

Nearly 270 years ago, Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase,

“Remember that time is money.”

This metaphor still holds true today, and remains a major tenant of good business. According to the 2016 Workforce Productivity Research Report, 76% of business leaders agree that productivity is a high priority, and 82% agree that it is one of the top indicators of financial success.  Thankfully, mobility in today’s work culture can bridge the divide between having less time at your desk and being more productive. Mobility means productivity can follow you from the office, to a client meeting, and the nearest Starbucks. You don’t stand still, and neither does work, and the power mobility brings means productivity wins out too.

Being able to make up for lost time between your desk and client meetings can deliver some serious productivity gains. But, we need the right tools to make us as productive as possible.

Increase productivity through technology

Technology can be our biggest bridge towards productivity. Take the cloud, for instance. Professionals who use cloud-based solutions can significantly improve efficiency, especially when working remotely, from the road, or as part of a team with members scattered across various regions. Cloud computing allows for easy collaboration between employees, since they can access relevant files and documents from wherever work takes them.

Solutions like Dropbox enable document sharing between teams of employees, who can easily read, edit, and share work. This not only saves time by mitigating the need to email different versions of documents back and forth, but also maintains version integrity; ensuring team members are working on the latest documents, thus creating a much more streamlined process.  In fact, Nuance’s Dragon Anywhere, a cloud-based, professional-grade mobile dictation tool, has recently integrated with Dropbox, so now Dragon Anywhere users can create documents accurately and quickly – in the moment on their mobile device, and then access their personal Dropbox account to share their work with colleagues.

Mobility truly works well when we combine it with solutions that not only enable dictation of notes and documents by voice via our smartphones and tablets, but also lets us effortlessly share our work with colleagues and clients from anywhere. This fosters an environment where productivity reigns supreme.

Productivity is truly attainable when independent tools work seamlessly together – allowing professionals to collaborate as a team no matter where they are.  Real-time access into documentation tools such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all under one roof is important. And affording professionals the ability to create, edit, format and share documents directly from their mobile devices, frees us all up from a world that is no longer exclusively tethered to a keyboard and mouse.

This article is copyright Mark Jackson and originally appeared here

http://whatsnext.nuance.com/office-productivity/dragon-anywhere-dropbox-mobile-productivity/

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.