Helpful Tips to Modernising your Business

Consider the Cloud The Cloud is a new technology that has taken the internet to a whole new place.  To keep things short and simple, Cloud Computing enables people to store and use data and programs over the internet without having them physically stored on their own computer.  Investing in Cloud-based technologies can help your company become more flexible as well as increasing your ability to do business outside of the office.

Look into Automation

While Cloud technologies can help make your virtual life easier, automation can help more with the physical and even cut costs in the long run.  For instance, many online retailers now allow you to set up automatic deliveries for office supplies and other necessities.  Dictation software can assist in taking notes for meetings and there are even tools out there that will help you remember and keep your deadlines by prioritising tasks based on importance and time remaining.  Let’s not forget call handling products that will let you set a virtual assistant to handle most calls and call forwarding.

Talk to your Employees

Unless you’re literally a 1-person company, you need to be able to communicate with your employees.  Not only for the passing of important information down to them, but also up to you.  There are plenty of great options for this, from email, to calls, to face-to-face meetings, but there’s also another way.  A way where you won’t have to post a memo to a bulletin board or call a meeting with 200+ people shoved into a small room — there’s an app for that.  My personal favourite is Slack as it’s private, simple to use, free, and is readily available.  It has ways to create groups, talk to everyone at once, or even use private messages.

Most Importantly — Look at your Needs

Every company has different strengths and weaknesses and it’s up to you to figure out what you can improve on.  If you’re expanding, for instance, then setting up automated deliveries isn’t going to do any good right now because you’ll need more, sooner.  It’s also important to take employee suggestions into account.  Some might even have special skills that would help in moving some of your tools over to the Cloud. Lastly, remember to take things slow with change when you can.  Nobody wants to have to learn fifteen new things in a week to try to keep up with a rework of their job.  Implement change over time and with proper instruction and you and your employees will be much happier with your modernised company.]]>