8 Tech tools to make you more productive at work

We all want to be more productive at work. Productivity means more success—at both the individual and organisational levels. 

Just take the Gartner’s 2024 Global Software Buying Trends report, which names productivity as the #1 motivation for purchasing new software. Productivity ensures that tasks are executed efficiently, deadlines are met, resources are maximised and the workload is well-managed.  

Without a doubt, software can help us be more productive and more efficient at work. Let’s take a look at eight tech productivity tools that so many of us can’t live without.  

1. Communicate efficiently with Slack

Slack is one of the best and most popular tech productivity tools because it streamlines team communication and collaboration. Its instant messaging and organised channel functionalities foster quick decision-making and focused conversations. 

It also archives conversations, making it easy for users to locate information quickly. Slack seamlessly integrates with many other tools, which can help users access data, automate workflows and manage tasks without switching to different platforms.      

2. Manage team tasks with Trello

Efficient organisation of tasks and workflows is a pillar of business productivity. Trello adopts a visual approach to task management. It uses customisable boards, lists and cards to represent project status and the responsible party.  

The flexibility of its boards helps you organise your tasks in a way that best suits you and your team. 

Its simple drag-and-drop interface helps users quickly update the status of tasks. Other features such as due dates, reminders, checklists, direct comments and integrations allow you to centralise relevant conversations, keep your team on track and streamline your workflow.       

3. Go face to face with Zoom

Zoom has emerged as a staple among business productivity tools by facilitating connectivity and seamless communication. It eases collaboration among remote and hybrid teams through instant face-to-face communications, enabling quick meetings, brainstorming sessions and detailed conversations.

What’s more, large meetings can be divided into smaller focused discussion groups with breakout rooms feature. Participants can share their screens in real time, and meetings can be recorded, shared and reviewed to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks. 

Zoom integrates with many other systems, allowing users to manage meetings within their workflow without hassle.      

4. Keep track of time and priorities with Toggl

Time tracking is a great way to increase productivity at work, keeping time usage and task prioritisation at the forefront. 

Toggl is a time-tracking tool that provides detailed insight into your time usage, showing how much time is spent on different projects. This can help identify productivity patterns and any inefficiencies. 

It’s also possible to set time-based goals and track your progress to ensure you meet any deadlines. An interesting feature is the Pomodoro timer which encourages users to work in focused bursts followed by short breaks. This technique can boost concentration and eliminate distractions. 

Thanks to the integration feature, Toggl fuses perfectly with many other platforms.    

5. Organise notes efficiently with Evernote

Capturing, organising and retrieving information efficiently can enhance your work process. Evernote is a trusted note-taking tool that allows you to create and store different kinds of notes, documents and other information in a central system. It also allows users to organise the notes using groups and tags. 

Evernote boasts a strong search feature that allows you to find notes or content within notes instantly using only a keyword or phrase. Images and PDF files can be scoured for specific keywords, making it easy for you to locate information quickly when you need it. 

Its integration and sharing feature makes it ideal for clutter-free workflow and collaboration.     

6. Manage awards, contests and employee recognition programs with Award Force

If you design award programs to recognise your employees or you’re in the business of managing awards, contests and similar programs, Award Force is a must-have. This user-friendly awards management tool boosts your productivity by functioning as the central platform for all awards-related operations. 

Award Force makes automation easy with  automated workflows for submission, judging and communication, all of which can free up time for other tasks. Users can perform bulk actions, such as sending messages or qualifying entries, saving considerable time. 

Award Force features built-in communication tools that facilitate seamless interaction among all participants. The platform also integrates with other tools allowing seamless transfer of data.         

7. Organise files with Google Drive

Google Drive is an excellent cloud-based storage tool that can increase productivity by allowing you to create, store and edit files online. With Google Drive, you can get more done quicker as multiple team members can work on the same document simultaneously. Files can be organised into folders—along with its search capability, important documents can be easily accessed. 

It offers different templates for documents, presentations, spreadsheets and forms which erase the need to create such content from scratch. Since it integrates seamlessly with many other tools, users can easily work on different data within the platform.           

8. Prioritise password security with 1Password

While proper password management is a good cybersecurity practice, it can also improve productivity. 1Password is a popular tool that simplifies password management in different ways. The tool automatically generates strong unique passwords for your different accounts, making password generation easy and fast. 

1Password stores passwords in encrypted value and auto-fills the credentials when needed. This saves you the stress of keeping track of the passwords and eliminates the hassle of entering them manually. The platform offers Single Sign-On (SSO) integration for businesses and integrates with other tools, allowing seamless password management and importation of passwords from other password managers.

A boost in productivity can give you and your organisation a competitive advantage. Learn more about how you can boost productivity with Award Force.