One of the most widely searched topics online among professionals is “How to be more productive”? People seem to be obsessed with being productive. With added complexities and more open-ended job roles, employees are incessantly scouting for tricks on how to increase their overall performance and growth. However, productivity is highly subjective and one of the more convoluted reality is that every workplace is so different, offering clear and consistent behavioural changes, processes, and systems to increase productivity can be difficult.

The dearth of technology and digitization is one of the things workers condemn when unable to reach their productivity goals. According to the Staples Business Advantage Workplace Index, “3 out of 4 respondents say their employers don’t give them access to the latest technology to do their job efficiently.” In another survey by The Economist, respondents who say their employer is either a “pioneer” or “good” at mobile use, score themselves 7% higher for productivity than those who do not.

What is Digital Transformation?

It is a business strategy aimed at boosting employee engagement and agility through consumerization of the work environment, Gartner analyst Carol Rozwell says. Ideally, your digital workplace helps individuals and teams work more productively without compromising operations. It includes computers, mobile devices and productivity and collaboration applications and, increasingly, chatbots, virtual assistant technology, personal analytics and immersive workspaces.

"The idea of the digital workplace is to bring that same simplicity and intuitiveness to employees when they're doing the mission-critical work," Rozwell says.

Influence of going Digital on Productivity:

· Going digital  enables people to come up with more innovative recourses to collaborate and discuss solutions, ideas and thoughts. According to McKinsey, Innovative collaboration techniques improve productivity across global teams. Process and networking tools improve productivity 20 to 30 per cent for global software development teams. Such tools can also be approached across multiple devices so employees can collaborate wherever they are situated. Employees can hold virtual meetings whether they are in the office, in transit, or working from home.

·If all employees kept a tab on the minute and monotonous tasks they do every day, the time spent on it adds up. Digital workplace can simplify and automate such tasks for you. For example, Today, business leaders spend about 80 per cent of the workday communicating, while their employees each spend roughly 17 hours a week fielding communications on the job as well. This means, on average, companies lose $5,246 per year, per employee, to ineffective communications. Having tools that automate and process your emails and communication helps out on this front.

·How many times does it happen that right before a huge project something goes wrong due to lack of proper coordination? You may have a different version of the same story, but it’s clear that poor project management is a productivity leak in any company, not to mention the negative impact on employee morale. This is easily avoidable with the use of work management tools such as Crrux. Team members will know who is working on what. It also clearly outlines a timeline, deliverables, and bottlenecks in the project, allowing project managers to take certain steps to maintain a high level of productivity.

·Sharing files is one of the most basic tasks employees do every day. Yet, it’s also one of the most common productivity killers. File sharing technology has been around for several years, yet many companies are still not using it to their advantage. File sharing tools also make it easy for employees to track the history of changes that were made to a document. Team members can quickly identify who made what changes and provide clarifications if necessary.

·Experts predict that by 2020, 50% of the entire workforce will be working remotely one way or another. According to a survey, companies who are “seeking to boost employee productivity should pursue mobile strategies that support the ability to work anywhere at any time.” This is why employees of organizations that invest in remote work technology that allows them to telecommute rate themselves 16% more productive. They also report 23% higher job satisfaction compared to employees of companies who have neglected to invest in good telecommuting tools.

The reality that every manager or business owner needs to accept is this: unless you’re planning to scale back on your operations, workplace demands and requirements have nowhere to go but up. That said, increasing productivity should always be the priority to meet these demands without overworking your employees.

Technology is constantly making headway. Digital workplace tools such as Crrux are created to help businesses improve productivity and achieve goals. It also makes the work more interesting for both employees and managers. It’s up to you to make a conscious decision to invest in productivity technology and integrate it into your fundamental business game plan.