Productivity Apps: What Features Do You Really Need?

Businesses need to maximize productivity any way they can. Some look to software to make this happen. When searching for productivity software, it may seem like you are looking at the same thing over and over again. While we admit that many productivity programs are similar, it’s important that you acquire the software that will give your team the tools it needs to succeed. Let’s take a look at how you can find the right productivity apps for your business needs.

Productivity in Software

Productivity software isn’t a flashy item. Every business needs certain apps to do business and most businesses need the same apps. There are a lot of options to choose from, and many of the options might seem pretty similar. What’s important is that you get the tools your business needs. 

Productivity software, which is generally made up of a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation software, note-taking software, and other useful task management tools, isn’t much different from one to another. What is different—and makes a difference—is how the apps are deployed and how they are managed by the developer. It’s fair to say that you get what you pay for, and some productivity apps are just stronger than others. 

What Should You Look For?

When trying to sort out which productivity apps to use, you obviously will want to consult your budget and your needs. As we mentioned above, most word processors are going to do the job you’d expect out of a word processor, but with more innovative solutions, you will get more options that will help your overall productivity. That’s extremely important. Let’s take a look at some variables you should consider:

Reliability 

If your software isn’t reliable, it isn’t worth it, period. Reliability can be measured in several ways. Is it still being developed consistently so you know it isn’t a security risk? Does it have the options you need? Is it easy to use and won’t take a long time to get the hang of? Some apps will promise you benefits that you will never see, but what you can bank on is if the applications cause you a steady stream of problems, you’ve probably made a bad choice. 

Interoperability

If a lot of your team is working remotely on their own computers, you may find that not everyone is going to have the same OS, the same chipset, etc. You will need any productivity app that you choose to work on several different systems. This includes mobile devices. You may think you’re getting a great deal, but if a handful of your workers are working on macOS and the software isn’t compatible with it, you’re going to be kicking yourself. 

Accessibility

As many people continue to work remotely, or in some type of hybrid work system, having apps that work from anywhere is extremely important. Today, a lot of options are available as Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings to help businesses avoid the expense of setting up their own cloud server or remote access tools. Either way, you need to be able to get your remote workers the tools they need to be productive.

Collaboration Features

Speaking of productivity, a lot of businesses are asking their people to do more. We are in unprecedented times and business decisions have to be made down to the dollar. Collaborative features that are built-in can make a world of difference in your productivity software. Workers can work in the same file, share files, and consistently stay up to date on workflows. A lot of the productivity suites available will also come with some form of project management software. This is a good way to oversee your team’s progress on a project and work right alongside them in real-time. 

If you are looking for the latest software to boost productivity for your business, our technicians can help. Give us a call at 216-503-5150 for more information today.

Back in the Office? 7 Ways to Prepare for The “New Normal”

Over the last 15 months, businesses all over the world have been thrown into a different kind of work. Setting up – on the fly – makeshift policies, systems, and programs to support remote working has been a necessary task that virtually everyone in business has had to undertake.

But now, with the new confidence as a result of the vaccination program and the gradual easing of restrictions on daily life, many organizations are starting to plan a return to the office.

Whether it’s a full return or a hybrid model of operating, it’s important to make sure everything is set up for this change.

Here are 7 ways you can give your business a proverbial ‘fresh start.”

1. FRESHEN UP YOUR WEBSITE

It’s always a good idea to go through your website and make sure links are functioning properly and that the information listed is still accurate. Check if the content, mission statement, services/products, logo, and colors are still up-to-date and if anything has changed. If your website is outdated or not functioning properly, it can cost you tremendously. You may also want to consider freshening things up with new content and SEO updates to stay competitive.

2. REEVALUATE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS

When is the last time that you thought about your business goals and checked in to see if you are on track to meet them? Ideally, you should be revisiting and reevaluating your goals frequently, but if you haven’t been doing that, make it a priority now. This back-to-the-office transition period is a great time to consider your business goals because you still have time to make any necessary adjustments to get back on track before the end of the year.

3. REEXAMINE AND OPTIMIZE PROCESSES

We’ve all heard the expression “work smarter, not harder”. One of the best ways to determine if there are opportunities to optimize processes is to speak with your team. Ask them if help you identify any ways to streamline procedures and increase productivity. Maybe you can simplify how you pay bills or manage payroll. Or perhaps you can automate or digitize some of the most time-consuming manual processes in your business. Sometimes just a simple change can result in a major productivity improvement.

4. CLEAN UP YOUR EXPENSES

The main goal behind any business is to make money. Most business owners spend money on unnecessary software, programs, services, and other items they rarely or never use. Those expenditures probably increased in the past 16 months, so now is the perfect time to revisit expenses.

Go through your bank statements and credit card bills to see what you are being charged for each month. If there are items you no longer need, cancel them and put the extra money back into your business toward something that will bring growth. It’s also a good time of year to review your tax returns and the overall financials of your business. Carve out some time to meet with your financial professional; you might be amazed how much money they could help save your company.

5. CLEAR THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL CLUTTER

Does your business have any old files taking up space either physically or digitally? Free up space on your desk, in your office closet, and in the cloud by organizing files and folders. Consider deleting or throwing away anything that you no longer need. Having an organized workspace and computer will help you work more efficiently.

6. REVIEW YOUR CLIENTS

Without clients, a business would not survive. But are all the responsibilities of running a business distracting you from really nurturing and taking care of your clients as best you can? Many companies acquire clients and then cruise along on autopilot. Don’t fall into that trap.

This is also a great time to touch base with your clients, past, present, and potential. Check-in with your current clients to make sure everything is going well. Reach out to previous clients to see if they need your services again. Make a list of potential clients and try to secure some new business. You don’t need a specific reason to reach out to people; just stopping in to see how they’re doing can work really well.

7. REVIEW, UPDATE & SECURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY

Last but not least, this is the time to really dig in and take stock of your technology stack, systems and security. Ensuring that your team has access to all the technology they need when returning to the office is vital to maintaining productivity and business success. Net Activity has created a technology checklist that will help you to efficiently implement new procedures and ensure your team is not hindered in their work.

You can download the checklist PDF here. Check out the checklist below and reach out anytime if you need help on any of the points.

Hardware Management Checklist For SMBs

✓ Clean your computer components

Wipe down monitors with a clean, static-free, non-abrasive fabric such as computer component-specific microfiber cloth. You can use the same type of cloth to wipe down mice and other peripherals, but for those tight nooks and crannies such as your keyboard surfaces, a can of compressed air will do the job.

Regular wipedowns are good because dust buildup can block computer air vents and affect their performance. Also ensure that your workstations are getting adequate ventilation and don’t get direct exposure to sunlight and other heat sources.

✓ Manage your cables

If you’re not giving your computers’ cables the attention they deserve, now’s a good time to do so. Aside from wiping the thick coat of dust off of computer cables, consider using cable management solutions that unclutter and untangle messy wires. Cable organizers don’t just organize and secure your cables, they also help ensure your PCs run quieter and are less prone to overheating as a result of blocked air vents.

Planning to relocate or upgrade in the near future? Organizing your computers’ cables now will make future relocation and upgrading processes much easier.

✓ Review and update your inventory

Keeping stock of all your hardware helps you manage hardware life cycles and purchases, identify items that are near their end of life, and ensure you avoid duplicate purchases of items already in stock.

Your inventory list should include all owned and leased devices: PCs and laptops, printers and scanners, tablets and smartphones, and modems and other network hardware. Update all your assets’ serial numbers and keep track of their respective users and location.

✓ Maintain your printers

Clean the interiors and exteriors of your printers, including paper trays, which are sure to have accumulated dirt from years of use. You should also repair and/or replace parts and accessories such as print heads and cartridges that are no longer in good condition. Should you decide to do a complete printer maintenance, check for the latest software updates for your printers and install them immediately.

✓ Implement a hardware policy

This is also a good time to create a technology guideline that your employees can follow to ensure they work efficiently. These guidelines reduce the need to spend on unnecessary repairs, keeping the succeeding year’s checklist shorter. With clear instructions on the proper use, replacement, and storage of your hardware and devices, you’ll be better able to manage your hardware for years to come.

With a more organized IT hardware inventory, you have one less thing to worry about. Want to get more in-depth hardware management advice? Call the experts at Net Activity today.

How does the human cloud benefit SMBs?

If the prevalent image of a startup is a couple of guys in a garage (think Amazon, Apple, Microsoft), the emerging picture of the workforce of the future consists of skilled talents collaborating in the cloud. Thanks to the human cloud, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can now eliminate the barriers associated with traditional workspaces and enjoy cost-effective solutions.

WHAT IS THE HUMAN CLOUD?

The human cloud is a working platform where staff performs white-collar tasks from any location and on any device. Collaboration, file sharing, or discussions on projects are done in a flexible and productive manner, rewarding team members solely for their output.

BENEFITS OF HIRING ON THE HUMAN CLOUD

Companies looking to take advantage of the human cloud are entitled to the following benefits:

1. Low cost
   The human cloud helps save time and money spent on traditional employment processes. Hiring is fast and easy, and you pay for the skills you need on a transactional basis.
2. No overhead
   Hiring through the human cloud requires no overhead for office space, thereby enabling firms to stay lean and profit-focused. By becoming virtual, teams can work independently from anywhere. Remote collaboration via the human cloud is a game-changer that benefits companies, such as startups, that are inclined to spend fewer resources to build their business infrastructure.
3. Get skills on demand
   Employers can contract for micro-tasks, such as copying text from business cards, to larger tasks, like selling products for a fee, to even more complex projects such as software design and programming.
4. Global talent pool
   Even startups can be multinational today, so they are no longer limited by geography in finding key talent with specialized skills. Business can leverage overseas creative, administrative, engineering, and other high-level talent to build a well-rounded team. A good idea can come and be executed from just about anywhere.For instance, Foundr Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Nathan Chan started a passion project that enabled him to interview some of the most influential entrepreneurs around the world, which he shared through his monthly digital publication.
   For Chan, the launch of this successful project would not have been possible if it wasn’t for human cloud service and freelancing platform Elance. Elance allowed him to leverage overseas talent and build a solid team of graphic designers, audio/video editors, and writers. All tasks and projects for each issue of his magazine run through the platform, which also conveniently processes payments for his contractors.
5. Easy collaboration
   Using an online platform gives SMBs the ability to manage projects through virtual workrooms. Collaboration software can be extremely important and even mission-critical for remote teams to work efficiently.

As more startups and SMBs become familiar (and comfortable) with the advantages of the human cloud, the future of work means that location is not the most important factor in determining who will contribute to your business’s success. A worldwide network of online contractors is now ready to serve you with the qualifications, skill sets, and shared enthusiasm you seek to turn ideas into valuable products or services.

For more information on how to leverage cloud technologies or collaboration software, get in touch with any of our cloud specialists.

Number Of Microsoft Edge Browser Users Are Surpassing Firefox

At long last, Microsoft has a web browser that the market seems to like. Their new Chromium-based Edge browser has enjoyed rampant growth over the past twelve months, seeing its market share increase by 1300 percent for the year. It should be noted that one year ago, Chromium-based Edge had a market share of just 0.57 percent, and their rampant growth has seen that increase to 8.03 percent.

Google’s Chrome browser, which currently holds a 67.14 percent market share is by no means in immediate danger of losing its position as the dominant browser on the web.

Even so, it would be a mistake to discount the new Edge browser’s progress. It’s essentially the same as Google’s Chrome browser in that it uses the same engine and can make use of all of Chrome’s extensions. Plus it’s got a few native features that make it unique. So it really is a good browsing option, and its recent flurry of growth has seen it surpass Mozilla’s Firefox browser, which currently holds a market share of just 7.95 percent.

To give you a more complete picture of the browser market breakdown, here are the top five contenders:

• Google Chrome: 67.14 percent
• Apple’s Safari: 10.11 percent
• Chromium Edge: 8.03 percent
• Mozilla’s Firefox: 7.95 percent
• Edge Legacy: 0.44 percent

With a constellation of other, smaller browsers (Brave, Opera, and a handful of others) each claiming a tiny slice of the market.

When Microsoft first released their latest version of Edge, it was believed that Google’s Chrome browser would take the biggest hit, but the reality is that Google’s market share barely budged, but Firefox seems to be slowly dying.

Later this year, Microsoft will begin forcibly retiring Legacy Edge, which should see it vanish from the list entirely, and it’s likely that most of those users will stick with the new Edge browser. At this point, it’s impossible to say what the future holds for the market long term, except to say that Google’s browser should retain its title of King of the Hill for the foreseeable future.

When It Comes To Your Technology Policies, Don’t Forget These Three Details

If you haven’t kept your most up-to-date policies and procedures written down somewhere, you absolutely must correct this as soon as possible. A written guide to your business’ policies and procedures is crucial, as it is intended to give your team a resource to turn to for an answer to any questions concerning their employment. Let’s go over some things you must include in your written employee handbook.

All Business Requirements and Responsibilities

It simply needs to be said: your employee handbook should be the consummate resource for any questions your employee has about their employment and the conditions of such. This ensures that each member of your team will at least have access to a resource that provides a lot of information that they will need, such as:

• FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) information
• Non-discrimination policies
• Sexual harassment policies
• Worker’s compensation policies

Furthermore, it should also provide them with a guide to your internal policies, like:

• Paid-time off policy
• Payment times and promotion/review policy
• Employee behavior expectations
• Employee dress code
• Benefit structure
• Remote work policy
• Social media and employee device policy

It also isn’t a bad idea to include some content to help set the tone of your organization for your employees. For instance, including your company’s mission and history into your handbook and endorsing the company culture you want to encourage is a good way to set the tone from the get-go.

Consider Your Layout

For your handbook to be optimally useful, you need to organize it so that it is as useful as you can make it. Arranging its contents to feature the most useful information at the very beginning can make them, well, more useful. Explaining all your policies in great detail and summarizing them in depth will help to do this, as well.

Update It

Here’s the thing: circumstances change over time, which means that you may eventually have to amend your policies to match. This is especially the case when the cause of these changes is based in the development of the technology that is available to businesses. As these changes are important to keep up to date with, your handbook will need to be adaptable… which, as you may have predicted, means it should be digital.

While it may seem silly to focus so much on what seems to be such a small detail, a good handbook can set the tone for your entire administrative and IT strategy. For assistance in creating the IT policies that will do your business the most good, give Net Activity a call at 215-503-5150.