Fortunately, there are plenty of tools and resources to help you meet that goal. On the downside, you may not have a lot of time to look at what’s out there and figure out whether it’s the best solution for you.
Don’t worry – we’ve taken the time to curate four apps that could be a game-changer for your business. Have a look.
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Dropbox
Do you constantly find the need to share important documents and files with various team members? Do you need a central repository where these documents live?
If you’re not getting out of your email inbox as much as possible, then you’re wasting more time than you should be. Internal communication should be simplified, and files should not be shared via email, as this tends to make an even bigger mess.
For storage and sharing of internal digital files, Dropbox offers a simple and convenient solution. This does not mean that you shouldn’t have backups stored elsewhere, like on an external hard drive, but if you want to empower your staff members to get at the files they need anywhere at any time (if they can connect to the internet), get them to install Dropbox on their devices.
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Slack
Again, if productivity is the goal, and you’re still using email for all internal communication, you’re missing the point. You should be getting out of the inbox, not finding more reasons to go back in.
There are many different tools you can use to reduce email, but in the startup world, Slack is among one of the most popular. It can be used on any device – desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Communication is essentially in real time, versus email which always has a short delay. Slack is closer to a chatroom than an inbox (if you’ve ever used IRC chat, you’ll be familiar with the format), but it keeps track of all conversations, and is entirely searchable besides.
There’s a good chance you’ll still be using email for marketing and for communicating with customers, but when it comes to talking to team members, wouldn’t you rather not clutter up everyone’s inbox with policy and procedure updates, project deadlines, shift scheduling, and so on?
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ShiftPlanning
The hospitality industry a busy, hardworking industry. That’s why you can’t let the small things fall through the cracks – especially when it comes to managing and overseeing shifts.
ShiftPlanning is an app that allows you to schedule your staff at the times that you need them, and again, do it all without having to rely on email. Plus, you don’t have to get your team members to punch a timeclock either – it’s all built in. Your employees will also receive notifications so they can keep updated on when they’re needed and when their shifts are.
If you’re serious about boosting your productivity, stop using messy spreadsheets and email (or hardcopy calendars) to manage everyone’s schedule. Get an app like ShiftPlanning to reduce errors and boost productivity.
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AppHotel
You need to a way to keep track of your employees and the tasks they’re overseeing. You also want to monitor and analyze important metrics month to month, without calling in IT or marketing experts to extract data and calculate it on your behalf.
AppHotel does a bit of everything – you can set up individualized accounts for all your team members, prioritize and monitor the progress of tasks and projects, send task notifications to your employees, and view data in real time. It even lets your employees communicate with guests to get more details about their bookings.
AppHotel offers an easy way to stay connected, track the progress of tasks, and improve productivity by identifying bottlenecks and tweaking processes. They also have a suite of other apps specifically for the hospitality industry.
Final Thoughts
Do less. As simplistic as this might sound, a lot of executives, managers, and staff members waste time on things that don’t matter. It’s time to prioritize. Productivity is not just about efficiency, but about prioritization. So, spend more time doing the right things.