Employee Productivity Software: Which Solutions Improve Everyday Productivity?
There are several software solutions that claim to improve productivity. But how do you know which ones can genuinely impact productivity versus merely saying they do? While we touched on some solutions in a previous blog, here we’ll take a deeper dive into the employee productivity solutions that actively work to improve productivity in everyday company operations.
1. AI Add-Ons
AI add-ons to office suites often work better than standalone AI solutions. In fact, AI has become an integral part of our workflows. Still, it will have greater value if it is integrated with the office suite your team already uses. For example, if your business runs on Microsoft, you will want to use its Copilot solution with Office. If you’re a Google Workspace shop, the optional AI add-on is Gemini for Workspace.
This can get confusing because Microsoft and Google offer basic AI functionality with Office and Workspace. However, to really take advantage of AI features that help write emails, create presentations, create meeting transcripts, and write documents, you have to purchase either their Copilot or Gemini add-ons, which are available at an additional cost per user.
In-app AI features keep your team from context-switching between ChatGPT and your office apps and your company data firewalled. The Microsoft and Google solutions are comparable to each other and offer various features that standalone apps also do, so use these as your base and only start adding other solutions to fill any gaps.
2. Project Management Software
You probably already have a project management software solution in place, such as Asana or Trello. If, instead, you’re relying on spreadsheets and documents, you are missing out on powerful tools that can clarify who is doing what, when they’re doing it, and who they need to collaborate with.
When used correctly, project management tools give management significant oversight into where projects are in terms of completion, where everyone is resourced, and other valuable data that can simplify managing even a small team. If you already have a tool like this and struggle to get adoption, schedule more training to help make people more comfortable with it. Another great strategy is to identify your heavy adopters and have them act as mentors or guides for those who may be struggling with utilization.
Project management tools improve productivity by clarifying task assignments, setting deadlines, and sending reminders when work needs to be done. If you use your project management tool correctly, it’s nearly impossible to forget tasks and details. Many can also double as a time management and tracking app rather than using a separate solution for those tasks.
3. Employee Productivity Software
How do you know you’re improving individual, team, and organizational productivity? When you start using Prodoscore. Now, you can quantifiably measure if your new tech is actively improving productivity, and keep it, kill it, or offer additional training as needed. Prodoscore will pinpoint who is using what apps and highlight if there’s an opportunity to streamline processes. Plus, the data helps to verify the ROI of the tools you’ve invested in. Prodoscore makes it easy to see which tools are valuable to your team and which aren’t in a quantifiable way that will enable you to make data-driven decisions.
On a macro level, Prodoscore helps measure team productivity and provides each employee insight into their own data so they can actively work to improve. The software runs in the background and doesn’t require any input. By involving employees, Prodoscore ensures transparency and offers a non-invasive approach to improving employee engagement - which also improves productivity.
It helps you reward top performers and understand how to support underperformers who want to succeed. In the past, these people may have been let go, which means wasted time and resources. Prodoscore will help you determine whether an underperforming employee needs help or is disengaged from the business.
Apps You Can Keep Out of Your Tech Stack
Be careful about loading too many apps into your company's tech stack to improve productivity. Context switching between software solutions is actually a productivity killer, so keep it as basic as possible. Most knowledge workers need a productivity solution like Microsoft Office or Google Workspace and a project management tool.
Time management and scheduling apps have been rendered useless with their functionalities included in project management and productivity apps. In fact, you may be using standalone apps right now that have functions that are available in either Gemini or Copilot.
Of course, if individual employees really find that time management or similar apps help them with their work, don’t take it away; just don’t add more apps if you can avoid doing so.
Whatever you choose to use to improve your productivity, refrain from adding too many tools that your people have to sign into separately.
