Grove Networks Blog

Every business is constantly looking for a way to boost productivity, but it’s not always easy to find strategies that lead to higher yields and more profitability. Even the most sound strategy may take time to get going, and sometimes what seems to be a well-laid plan doesn’t come together. This month, we thought we would provide four tips on how to improve organizational productivity without many headaches. 

There are a lot of words that a business owner doesn’t like to hear. One of the worst has to be downtime as it signifies waste. This month, we’ll examine the effects of downtime and how to calculate the financial impact of a downtime event.

If there is one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us is that a person’s environment may not have as big of an effect on productivity as we once thought. That said, many businesses that were forced to disperse their workforces as stay-at-home orders were put in place, have seen their overall productivity drop by about one percent (depending on who you ask), which considering all the variables is a win for any business that needed to go that route. In fact, some employees are so much more productive than they are at the office that now that many businesses can reopen, there is a decision to be made. This month we thought we’d talk about how crucial your productivity figures are to your business and how it may have an effect on your management style moving forward.

With so many things that need to be accomplished each day, it always helps to have all the information needed to complete these tasks. If a task has no context assigned to it or no insight into how to approach it, productivity and morale are going to suffer. To prevent this, you need to properly task out your team’s goals. Here, we’ve provided some practices to help.

While there are definitely gimmicks when it comes to technology in the small business (for instance, USB-powered staplers) there are many devices and technologies that have far more utility, although they may not seem to be applicable to all industries. One example would be the digital signage solutions that have grown in popularity. While they may seem to have limited uses outside of retail, there are plenty of ways to use them to your advantage.

Many businesses need to deal with a lot of vendors in order to keep their doors open - enough that, at times, it might seem that the most time and energy is spent juggling these vendors. That doesn’t have to be the case, however, at least where your technology solutions are concerned. 

Technology has become so commonplace in the office environment that work can be done from just about anywhere on any device. This has led to many organizations implementing a remote workforce--at least some of the time. There are actually several benefits to remote work, even for the employer, surprisingly enough.

In today’s competitive business environment, you need all the help you can get. One of the biggest advantages you can achieve for your business is to take advantage of a trusted and reliable managed IT provider that can give your organization advice on how to navigate the murky waters of the technology world.

Wireless charging seems to be a perfect idea - imagine if someday, our devices would never run out of charge? This may be why such aggressive progress has been made toward building a better battery charger. However, not everyone is convinced that wireless charging will have the effects that are desired of it.

When people talk about a business’ efficiency, it’s typically referring to the ability for the organization to bring a product or service to market quickly with a small amount of wasted resources. The prevailing theory is that an efficiently-run business costs less, makes more, and grows faster than one that is inefficient. With the way business is headed--that is, with smaller profit margins than ever before--boosting efficiency has become a core business strategy. In fact, in today’s technology-driven marketplace, there are many that would argue that the efficient business is the only good business.

Cloud computing offers businesses an economical way to obtain the software and services they need. Yet, there comes a point when having too much of a good thing becomes wasteful, no matter how affordable the service may be. If a business owner isn’t careful about how they utilize the cloud, then they can unknowingly find themselves experiencing “cloud waste.”

Stress is one of those things that you can’t escape, no matter how hard you try, and it can takes a toll on your workday. Despite this, there are (surprisingly) some redeeming factors to stress to be considered.

What’s your reaction to your mobile device beeping at you? If you’re the kind of person that drops everything to see what it says, then you’re probably way more distracted at work than you should be. It’s a bad habit to look at your phone every minute or two, but with hard work, habits can be broken. Here are three actions you can take to minimize workplace distractions so you can be more productive.

Your staff’s ability to access the data they need to do their jobs is paramount to the success of your business. Are you serious about making it as easy as possible for your team to get the information they need, or is this responsibility an afterthought?

There are a lot of ways to boost your productivity in the workplace, but sometimes it can be as simple as not working. According to a study by Julia Gifford of Draugiem Group, it’s not about what workers do to get ahead of the curve, but what they don’t do that sets them apart from others around them.

When you first considered starting your own business, you thought nothing could possibly go wrong. You had so much hope for the future. But, things are a lot more complicated than that. You start to think the worst - your business is failing, and you don’t know what to do about it. When times get hard, do you throw in the towel, or persevere?

Technology is a double-edged sword. It provides businesses with powerful tools that can bring unparalleled organization and efficiency to their operations; yet, technology provides workers with a tidal wave of distractions. What's your company doing to manage this unique technological paradox?

Virtualization is all the rage in the technology world. In fact, virtual servers are practically omnipresent in modern workplaces. Why? Because they offer businesses unprecedented opportunity for growth and development. The benefits of virtualized servers far outweigh the costs, aiding businesses in expanding their goals and visions for the future.

The office might be moving toward digital filing more and more every day, but that doesn't change the fact that you sometimes need to print something out for your own needs. Some offices need a printer for hard copies of documents in the event that their system can't be accessed. Overall, having a printer around can be very beneficial to your company, but do you know how to choose between the many different types of printers?

A basic Intranet can be an invaluable tool for a budding company, and can help connect your employees over your own network. However, that's not all that an intranet is good for. It can also save you a lot of money in the long run by streamlining operations and decreasing downtime!