This is the second article in a two-part series on productivity apps for admins by Julie Perrine. You can read part 1 here.
As an administrative professional, you need to be productive and organized wherever you go. But hauling around your work laptop 24/7 isn’t exactly practical. The solution? Smartphone apps! Here are my 10 app category favorites. [Read more…]
This article is part one in a two-part series on productivity apps for administrative professionals by Julie Perrine.
While there’s certainly a case to be made for banning phones from the workplace – confidentiality concerns, Facebook faux pas, employees who spend more time on Snapchat than spreadsheets – some smartphone apps, when used properly, can make your job a lot easier. The following are five apps you probably already have on your phone, and how you can use them to be more productive.
1. Audio recorders. Have you ever been in a meeting where the information comes fast and furious or sat across from your executive as he or she verbally dumped out the details for an important trip or memo they need drafted? Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a way to record those words, rather than giving yourself carpal tunnel syndrome attempting to scribble down notes? [Read more…]
As a manager, you might be concerned that the smartphones that employees seem to have attached to their hips might tempt them to spend time on Facebook or Twitter rather than tend to their job duties.
As it turns out, these small technological devices can actually help to keep your workers safe while on the job. Whether your employees bring their own phones to work or you have issued smartphones to everyone on your team to help stay in touch, check out the following ways that smartphones can help everyone stay safe:
When it comes to hardware improvements, mobile phones have advanced a lot in recent years. A great example of this is battery life. If your workers are out at remote locations where they cannot easily charge their smartphones, a generous amount of battery time will allow them to stay in touch with you back at the main office. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge features 36 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time. Workers can use this flexibility to call in updates, report any problems they have encountered or simply check in to let you know they are okay.
New smartphones come with cameras that allow users to take still shots and videos whose quality rivals that of many professional devices. The smartphone camera is a terrific tool to use during inspections or investigations or anything that requires documentation. For example, if you are concerned with the way your employees are performing a particular task, you can snap a photo or take a quick video.
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest can also be used to boost workplace safety. You can set up closed social media groups on the site of your choice that are available only to your staff. Employees who are working in the field can use their smartphone internet connection to access the social media site and communicate with other employees. This “virtual” office will let you see who is consistently checking in and posting updates; those who rarely show up in the closed groups can be given a friendly reminder to use the closed group to let everyone know where they are.
Most newer smartphones come equipped with a GPS feature that can really boost the safety of your employees. In addition to helping ensure that your workers will be able to get to remote locations and/or clients’ homes thanks to GPS directional advice, the feature can also help you to keep tabs on where everyone is.
There are several apps that will allow you to track phones; these include Find My iPhone, the Android Device Manager and Find My Mobile. If you have not heard from an employee in some time and are getting concerned, you can use one of these apps to help track where the phone and employee are currently located. Or, if an employee is out in the field and he calls in to say that he is completely lost, you can use the tracking feature to see where he is and give directional advice on how to get back to the office or to the appointment.
Mentors & Masterminds, a dating service for administrative professionals looking for their perfect mentor match! Tune in and hear Tara’s story on how this project was formed and where it’s going. It’s an interesting journey and we would love to know, is this something you’ll be using to advance your career? [Read more…]
Companies are going after global talent now and that means hiring remote workers. However, managing a remote team requires a framework that needs to allow for all team members across different time zones to collaborate effectively.
A simple solution to this problem is to use a project management system that helps capture all your ideas in one place. By delegating tasks to individuals, you can track their efficiency. All communication regarding a task should be done on that tasks card.
Trello allows us to manage all our tasks in one place. By prioritizing each task and designating a reasonable time to the task we’re able to manage our effectiveness.
We have decided to kill email and have instead resorted to using only our project management system for all internal communication. We haven’t regretted it so far.
We also use time-tracking software to better understand where most of our time is being spent on. Screenshots allow us to provide proof of work and many times has even helped us recover data.
Does work seep into your life, after hours and on the weekends? For many people under age 44, unfortunately, that is the case. And with this blurring of lines can come an unease at both the office and home.
There are a lot of reasons for this anxiety. Many of us feel an urgency to emails—that we can’t wait or put it off, that we must respond immediately. Very few of us wait very long to attend to electronic communication. Although the problem crosses genders, it seems to be more of an issue for men, as well as a bigger issue for those that are younger. Just a few percentage of people say that action isn’t nearly always required at once. We’re checking email after hours and on weekends, too. And nearly one-fourth of us in middle age are checking it while we’re supposed to be taking a vacation.
