How Does Productivity Software Work?

Every organization uses SaaS applications to boost operational efficiency and increase output. According to BetterCloud’s 2021 State of SaaSOps Report, the average business uses 110 SaaS applications.

What you must have taken from these explanations so far is that productivity tools come in different shapes and sizes and are used in different business areas.

Technology has grown to the point that there are tools for every department. From marketing to finance, using digital resources are now a core part of any professional’s job.

So, businesses simply need these tools to function efficiently.

Freelancers and individual employees also need apps to cater to different needs.

Let’s cover different categories of productivity tools and how they come in handy.

Time Management

Time management applications or time tracking tools help businesses and employees to monitor time spent on work. 

But apart from collecting data about work time, time management tools also empower organizations to be more efficient with payroll, business intelligence, budgeting, and workload management, especially in remote work environments.

Here’s a breakdown of the uses of time management applications.

Payroll

Time tracking applications track billable hours for workers paid by the hour. The data is then used to automatically create timesheets, making payroll easier. For freelancers and contract workers, these applications can also create automatic invoices.

Project Budgeting

Time monitoring data shows the average amount of time it takes staff to complete a specific project. This information allows organizations to accurately estimate manpower budgeting and provide the right quotes to clients.

Workload Management

Knowing how much time each worker spends on a task helps managers to optimize how they assign jobs. It also helps with efficient shift management.

Accountability

A time tracker can keep workers more accountable since they know their work time is being monitored and they have to show how much work they completed. This improves focus and dedication.

Better Scheduling

Time monitoring tools show you where your time is spent. This way, you’re able to find and remove time-wasting activities that affect productivity.

Project Management and Workflow Automation

Project management and workflow automation is another area where businesses can leverage specialized tools to boost productivity. 

These tools are called project management solutions and they come with different offerings that cater to businesses of different sizes and structures.

Project management platforms help organizations to automate workflow, enhance collaboration, and make task tracking and workload management more efficient.

What can project management tools do for you?

Workflow Automation

Project management tools facilitate automatic workflow to make sure workers don’t have to worry about the manual and repetitive tasks of handing completed jobs over to the next person. 

Once work is submitted, the tool automatically alerts the next team member on the workflow and they can start work immediately.

Task Management

Project management tools use calendars, timelines, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards to show you a clear view of completed and pending tasks. 

The tool provides data to allow you identify the tasks that each worker has to complete to meet the organization’s overall goals. That way, you’re able to plan and assign work more efficiently.

Collaboration

Most project management solutions are designed to allow team members to comment on tasks and procedures and share files. That way, changes can be implemented seamlessly and everyone will be kept up to date.

Real-Time Reporting and Progress Updates

Managers and supervisors don’t have to request progress updates through email anymore. Project management solutions have real-time reporting systems that send instant alerts about deadlines, project progress, and changes to tasks and assignments. 

Some applications even allow you to customize progress reports. You have the option to use metric systems like key performance indicators.

Resource Management

Apart from your team’s time, you have to track other project resources, including materials, outsourced agencies, and other financial expenses. 

Project management solutions have features that allow you to outline and track planned and scheduled resources so that you don’t overuse or underuse resources. Organizations can use the tool to plan and implement guidelines on how to use these resources to curb waste and maximize impact.

Manage Project Milestones and Objectives

Project management tools allow business to create objectives, milestones, and goals from the onset of the project. These progress points make it easier to track and execute the project.

Financing and Budgeting

Leaving the work of crunching your financial numbers to a computer can save you a lot of time and stress and help you clean up your bookkeeping.

From creating and tracking client invoices to monitoring and tabulating inflows and outflows, there are different ways accounting and budgeting tools can transform your business finances. Let’s show you they help.

Consolidate Financial Data from Different Sources

You can use accounting and budgeting tools to import and pull financial data from multiple institutions. This way, you get to know how much you have at hand to efficiently manage your budget.

Integrate with Project Management Tools

Accounting software can integrate with your project management solution so you can easily track expenses, set up budgeting for projects, and efficiently manage project finances. That way, you don’t have to be going back and forth between both applications to get things done.

Create Custom Reports

Most budgeting and accounting applications allow you to implement customizable reports. These reports show your investments, cash flows, networth, and spending how you want it. You can use subcategories and sort your numbers how you see fit.

Account Reconciliation

Accounting and budgeting tools are equipped to reconcile your accounts when all is said and done. You can use them to audit your spending so you can find leaks and plug them. 

Payroll

Accounting programs can help you get on top of your payroll so that workers can be paid on time and without issues. These applications can integrate with time management tools to use created timesheets to:

• Generate pay stubs
• Calculate employees’ remunerations and deductions
• Work out PTO and UTO
• Create tax forms
• Deposit salaries electronically

They reduce payroll errors, save time, boost transparency, and get rid of the need to outsource. Payroll accounting programs also contribute towards lower turnover because employees who don’t experience payroll issues are less likely to leave.

Marketing

There are many different tools dedicated to different aspects of digital marketing. From using analytics tools and keyword research platforms to leveraging social media tools and email marketing software, digital marketers can save time, boost productivity, and significantly increase lead generation.

How do these apps help marketers?

Automation 

Using social media and content automation tools, digital marketers can prepare content in advance and the programs will post them on the selected dates and time. This way, marketers can boost productivity by creating marketing materials without worrying about posting.

Analytics

Analytics tools provide metrics and valuable information to help digital marketers to shape and adjust strategies for boosting site traffic.

Email Marketing

With email marketing tools, marketers can efficiently manage their emailing lists and automate accordingly. The tools prevent emails from going straight to spam folders and provide helpful analytics on email marketing performance.

Search Engine Optimization 

SEO site auditing platforms help search engine optimization specialists to reduce guesswork and find content gaps. They also provide valuable data, showing how sites perform on search engines and what to fix. This way, SEO experts can get to work and effectively resolve issues to boost web traffic.

Task Management and Scheduling

Scheduling and task management programs provide workers with a level of structure. Apps that fall into this category are calendar and to-do list programs. 

These tools are designed to help workers identify their tasks for the day, list them, and create schedules. Most to-do list programs come with built-in or integrated calendars.

What are to-do lists used for?

Task Prioritization

Completing tasks when you should is one of the most effective productivity hacks for workers. Most employees and freelancers waste time on activities that don’t draw them closer to their goals, making them work too much without achieving anything worthwhile.

With to-do lists that encourage task prioritization and discourage procrastination, workers will be empowered to inch closer to their objectives after completing each task.

Scheduling

Efficient scheduling involves knowing the right timeblocks to allocate to important jobs. To-do lists come with integrated calendars that allow workers to set start and due dates so they can have a visual overview of their agenda.

Reminders

Setting reminders means that you won’t forget important tasks and will be notified of deadlines. You can also customize reminders in to-do apps to notify you about tasks ahead of time. For example, you can set the calendar to send a notification 15 minutes before a meeting.

Recurring Tasks

You don’t have to set repetitive events or tasks manually. You can use to-do apps to set recurring tasks, saving you time. 

For example, you may have meetings by 8 am every Wednesday. You can tell the tool to remind you of those meetings in just one command.