The right software solutions or combination of software solutions can keep your workflow organized and efficient. If you are budget strapped, your business may try to avoid software that is too costly and complicated.
And we get it! Software solutions are expensive. Moreover, many of them suffer from too many complex features that your team doesn't need. However, the right software can really help streamline and simplify your needs - in many cases, they free up administrative time of your staff so they can focus on more important business tasks. In this post, we outline some simple and must-have tools that can help keep your business organized and efficient.
1) Project management tools
Monday.com, Trello, and Asana are a few of the great project management tools that help keep your people accountable. Within minutes, your teams can create workflows to run processes, projects, and everyday work. If you are running complex projects with multiple different teams where tasks are dependent on one another, project management tools makes it easier for your team to do their work.
Project management solution we love: Monday.com, Trello, Asana, Notion
2) HR tools (with a focus on people management)
For many startups, talent management can be de-prioritzed from the day-to-day workings of the business. Eventually, these companies reach a point where their talent management processes are not keeping up with growth.
Almost a quarter of startups mentioned team issues leading to failure. - CB Insights
Retaining the right talent is just as important as having the right product or service. Having the right people strategy and tools early on can help startups be better equipped to develop and motivate employees.
For companies under 10 employees, simple tools such as google sheets to manage employee performance can suffice. For larger startups or startups with more than 10 people, a people management tool can provide many benefits including:
single place to store all feedback and performance conversations
reporting capabilities that help streamlining performance reivews
people analytics to help direct training and developmental opportunities
Performance management solutions we love: Pavestep
For companies that are going through a period of increased hiring, recruitment tools can help automate and streamline much of the process by screening resumes and conducting interviews. For imformation on recruitment tools, check out this blog.
Staffing and recruiting tools we love: HireSelect, Interview Mocha, and Koru
3) Internal communication tools
Working with people can be complicated. Long email chains with numerous attached files are annoying and important details can be lost in the process. Ultimately, this results in time wasted as your teams search for the right email and right file! A study by Workfront found that 28 billion hours are lost each year due to information overload, 100 email messages can occupy over half an employee’s day, and 94% feel overwhelmed by information to the point of incapacitation.
Having a clear communication strategy as well as the right internal tools can help keep your team on track. For example, tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams can be used for day-to-day questions or casual 'water-cooler' chats, while email can be mainly reserved for client/customer communications. If you are remote team, we also recommend outlining expected response times for each of the communication tools (ie, 24 hr turnaround time for email, whereas 2 hr turnover time via Slack message during business hours and days).
Communication tools we love: Slack, Microsoft Teams
Conclusion
It is important to note that while tools can help streamline process, your project management strategy, people strategy, and communication strategy have to be clearly outlined. Technology alone will not solve problems, but rather, should be used to supplement and compliment your business strategies.
Want to know more? Our team of business consultants in Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton can help! Feel free to reach out.
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