Reaching optimal efficiency is any leader’s dream. Having a team with high morale who work hard to accomplish goals isn’t as easy to achieve as one might think, however. If you’ve done the team building exercises and made sure your team feels hears, all while using an appropriate style of management, but still feel productivity could be improved upon, it might be time to look into tools to support your team. Supporting your team through ensuring they have the proper tools not only gives them a leg up technically, but will also show your team that you see them as worthy investment.
Teams
Microsoft Teams is an incredible tool that brings collaboration and data together. Your team will communicate effectively, work together seamlessly, customize the workspace based on their needs, while keeping everything secure. Teams acts as a workspace in itself where teams can create chat groups based on projects or teams, share the latest version of a document, schedule and carry out meetings, and so much more. If your employees are constantly in and out of different platforms and applications to work on tasks, Teams is a one-stop-shop to bring it all together.
SharePoint
SharePoint, which integrate with Teams, is a file sharing platform. SharePoint is a secure place to store, organize, share, and access information. That means a document’s entire lifecycle begins and ends with SharePoint. You store it securely, keep it organized, share with stakeholders through Teams, and maintain one true version at all times. Your team will be able to access these documents from any device anywhere. SharePoint creates efficiency in a number of ways. It alleviates that age old question, “Is this the latest version?” SharePoint also offers version history and backup protection.
Power BI
Microsoft’s Power BI is a Business Intelligence tool that connects you with your data, supports better decision-making, and allows for simple data visualization. Power BI integrates with Microsoft Teams, as well, pulling a lot of powerful tools in under one roof. The reporting and dashboard features of Power BI are intuitive and flexible, allowing your team members to view the data through a lens that best serves them. This data is pulled in through various sources that you connect to Power BI. Having this top-of-the-line tool at your fingertips will allow you team to run efficiently and powerfully.
TINYpulse
Switching gears with this tool, TINYpulse is a way for you to get feedback from your employees. Weekly questions are posed then your employees answer anonymously, without fear that their true thoughts will do them harm. TINYpulse allows for employees to also send public messages praising and thank each other for a job well done or going out of the way to help each other. These “cheers for peers,” are an excellent morale-boosting tool. Employees can additionally send the leadership team suggestions on any subject at any time. They can choose to do so anonymously or not.
15five
15five is a goal-setting and list-making tool. Used to set quarterly goals with weekly goals aligned, this is a great way to track process, keep your team on the same page, and allow them to see how their individual contributions play a bigger part in the whole of the company. 15five keeps things simple and straightforward and helps team members narrow down what is important to focus in on. Each team member sees their quarterly and weekly goals together and are able to track progress on their quarterly goals through their weekly reports.
These tools represent a mix of platforms for doing work and platforms for staying connected, organized, and motivated. Through ensuring you team is able to work efficiently and feel heard at the same time, you’ll be sure to boost both morale and efficiency. Your team’s productivity can be greatly aided when the right mix of tools is realized. These five tools are a great place to start!
