Every modern office would not be complete without sophisticated (and straightforward) tools that increase productivity, effectivity, and efficiency. However, tools are more than just that. They become instruments to create a healthier work environment, better collaboration, closer connection, and greater employee engagement.
In today’s office, these five must-have tools are well-known for the benefits they bring to employers, employees, and customers alike.
High-Speed Internet and Servers
No one can argue the value of a fast internet connection or Wi-Fi network and server. It allows for better accessibility and connectivity, quicker updates, and smoother workflow, which results in higher productivity. In this fast-paced world, businesses with slow connections will be left behind, so installing a high-quality signal booster is a great solution.
The internet gives companies many avenues to reach their intended audience, promote their business, sell their products and services, find valuable talents, keep track of trends, communicate with investors, all without leaving the office.
Business leaders, employees, and customers know the importance of staying connected with the rest of the world, and it’s the internet that lets that happen.
Collaboration Apps
A collaborative culture promotes a healthy environment, employee engagement, open communication, and productivity in the office. One Huffington Post blog article went as far as to argue that collaboration is the answer to creating amazing companies.
Millennials and the succeeding generations’ workers look for different things in a career from those that their predecessors were looking for. And it’s not more money. They want flexibility, development, and involvement, which are key components in a collaborative workplace.
In the modern office, collaboration apps, like Slack, G Suite, Microsoft 365, Workplace by Facebook, and HipChat, thrive because they allow new-generation workers the mobility to work anytime and anywhere. They also share information with ease, enable real-time communication among team members in different locations, and update and manage documents.
Creating a collaborative culture in the workplace empowers employees. They are the backbone of every business. If employers take proper care of their employees, their business are bound to thrive.
Office Automation System
An office automation system allows you to control your workplace devices, security, environment, and energy consumption, even away from office. Here are some of the crucial actions you can do remotely with an office automation system:
- Turn lights on/off or intrinsically safe lighting
- Lock gates and doors
- Activate security alarm
- Regulate energy consumption
- Control audio and video devices
- Access CCTV live feed whenever, wherever
- Set up automatic alerts to yourself and to authorities
All these you can do with a centralized device—your phone, your iPad, or your laptop. With an office automation system, you can stay updated on the workings of your business’s office when you’re traveling.
It helps ease the worry of being away from the office if a crucial situation arises. The automation system also works well at home.
iPads and Tablets
Mobility has increasingly become one of the top priorities of the new-generation worker. As a result, portable workstations or computers, like iPads and Android tablets, are essential for the modern workplace.
Although their functions are more or less similar to smartphones, iPads have the advantage of a longer battery life and bigger screen display, allowing for more room to view sheets, read PDF files, type quick reports, browse photos, among others.
With a work iPad, employees can create separate work and personal matters. They don’t have to connect their personal phones to their work accounts to check emails, office files, and the like.
Using iPads also reduces paper use. Now you don’t have to print multiple copies of one report. You can make it accessible to several people at the same through a cloud-based file-sharing app.
Security and protect is paramount when using portable devices, like iPads. Fortunately, durable iPad cases can protect your device from the occasional klutz episodes. Some cases even have functional feature like a mini keyboard, which makes jotting down quick notes and report drafts so much easier.
Ergonomic Chairs
An average person who works in the office spends at least 8.6 hours a day sitting down, factoring in mealtimes and commute. Employees spend about 8 hours in the office, and about 67 percent of that time is spent sitting down.
Several studies have reported that sitting down all day has serious consequences to your health, including back and neck pain, organ damage, muscle degeneration, to name a few. That’s why it is important to take breaks from time to time, to walk around and stretch.
Ergonomic chairs also lessen the damage of long hours spent sitting. Such chairs are designed to support the posture, reduce the risk of neck and back pain, lessen the pressure on the hips, and promote comfort without sacrificing alertness, which makes them ideal for office use.
Stay Productive!
Tools are made to help with completing tasks effectively and efficiently. In the modern office, tools are valued not just for their ability to make things easier, but also for their potential to improve overall well-being of the company and its employees.
Despite their well-known benefits, high-speed internet and servers, collaboration apps, office automation system, portable computers, and ergonomic chairs are still just tools. Their effectivity relies solely on how they are used. That’s why, before introducing new tools to the office, always educate and explain to employees how they will benefit from them and how to use them. Sophisticated tools will be useless without well-versed users.
