Remember when meetings outside of the office meant dragging stacks of documents, projects, or presentations everywhere? We’ve already forgotten just how important paper used to be. Fortunately for the modern worker, those cluttered days are long gone.
The influx of mobile technology has put user experience front and center for consumers. Our day-to-day is certainly more convenient, but it’s that same technology has also reshaped how we do business in the workplace.
How we communicate, how we collaborate, and when and where we get work done—
technology touches it all. The office space of yesterday has been taken over by several advancements — and we aren’t complaining.
Here are five ways to create a user-friendly workplace with the latest tech tools so you and your employees can do more with less:
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Collaborate in the Cloud
We’re used to sharing files in email attachments and jumping into phone meetings, but there are better ways to share and collaborate over files simultaneously. It’s all thanks to cloud-based file sharing.
Cloud-based file sharing tools like Google Drive and Egnyte eliminate common frustrations when it comes to sharing and collaborating on files with colleagues and clients. Easily upload, share, access, and manage files and word documents across teams. Not to mention, employees can access work-related files remotely and from any device. How’s that for user-friendly?
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Get Flexible with BYOD
The BYOD trend (not to be confused with BYOB — although that wouldn’t be so bad, either) is taking the modern workplace by storm. In fact, a 2014 study by Tech Pro revealed that 75 percent of companies permit or plan to permit BYOD in the workplace.
So what is it exactly? BYOD is Bring Your Own Device, a workplace policy that allows and encourages employees to work from their own smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
Not only does BYOD save companies money on operating expenses, it also gives employees the workplace freedom and flexibility they so often crave. There’s no better way to create a user-friendly workplace than to allow employees to work from devices they know and love. The key to making BYOD work for your business is to set up acceptable use and security policies to ensure that work performed on personal devices is done effectively, efficiently, and securely.
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Stay Healthy with Wearable Tech
Employee wellness isn’t just a personal issue. It’s a business issue. We know all too well that sick employees leads to more sick employees if they don’t properly take care of themselves. The sooner employers make employee wellness a company initiative, the better.
One way companies are taking charge of employee wellness is with the use of wearable devices. Take Autodesk, for example. In addition to participating in the Global Corporate Challenge, the software company encourages its employees to track their wellness using pedometers. Make it a competition, too! Nothing encourages engagement like a battle of fitness between departments.
Investing time in keeping employees healthy will come back to you as better work output overall.
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Streamline HR Processes with Software
What’s the opposite of a user-friendly workplace? A workplace that still relies on outdated methods for time-consuming human resources processes.
Common headache-inducing procedures like new hire documents and benefits enrollment information can be made easy for employers and employees alike through automation and digitization. By streamlining essential HR processes, employees and managers spend less time sifting through stacks of paperwork and more time crossing items off their to-do list.
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Keep the Conversation Alive with Real-time Communication Tools
Modern technology has taken employee conversations so much further than the water cooler. Workplace relationships are vital to employee happiness and job satisfaction. According to a 2014 Globoforce report, 89 percent of respondents said work relationships matter to overall quality of life.
Real-time communication platforms like HipChat and Sqwiggle make employees feel more connected to their coworkers — without derailing their whole day with in-person side conversations. Chat tools keep communication open and avoid unnecessary meetings (which we could all use a little less of).
What are some other tech tools designed to create a user-friendly workplace for employees? Let us know in the comments below!
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