Finally, we’ve waved goodbye to2020. The year that will go downin the history books for thatcatastrophe of epic proportions.

And we know, this new year may not see us wavinggoodbye to the virus, but at least we’re all a littlemore used to this new way of living.

So with the relief of this new year, there also comesthe annual kickstart. A boost in motivation when itcomes to our health, our habits, and of course, ourwork.

As a business owner or manager, it’s likely you willbe setting yourself more goals than the average Joe.The growth and success of your business lies onyour shoulders. And that’s before we start talkingabout the growth and development of your team.

How are you going to ensure a new level ofproductivity across your business this year?

If this isn’t something you’ve already considered,don’t panic. As always, we’re here to help you out.

If you have considered it, we can help you too, bymaking each step that bit simpler.

You are about to feast your eyes on our ultimate guide tobusiness productivity in 2021 >>

As with most things, we’ll start with goals andplanning. After all, if you don’t know where you’regoing or have a plan, you won’t get very far.Your goal needs to be as specific aspossible. In fact we like theacronym SMART, which says goalsshould be:

• Specific: Very clear on what you want to achieve

• Measurable: You know when you’ve got there

• Achievable: Can be completed

• Relevant: Helps your business with its long-term aims

• Timebound: Has a deadline

So where do you start when itcomes to planning? Well, it’sprobably deciding on what yourplan is, right? And for that we needto create a mind-map orbrainstorm some ideas.

Microsoft Planner is a great tool tohelp you do this. You can create aplan, along with your team, assignand discuss tasks, and even trackyour progress with charts.

We also love Microsoft Whiteboardfor the beginning stages ofplanning.

The clue is in the name; it’s avirtual whiteboard, blank to let yourcreativity flow. It has so many otheruses, but developing a plan with amind map is one excellent way touse it. It allows you to jot downyour own ideas, invite others tocollaborate and add their owninput, and add to it as and whenyou need to.

Next we need to break that plandown into actions. You know whatcan help?

Your to do list.

Who doesn’t love a to do list, right?You can create them for any periodof time you like; daily, weekly,monthly etc. And just tick off eachtask as it’s completed. When yousee actions being marked as doneit’s a really satisfying feeling (this isyour brain being flooded with thereward chemical dopamine).

GOALS ANDPLANNING

Make it a habit to look at your todo list every morning (or create anew daily to do list each day) soyou know what your mostpressing tasks are for the dayahead.

As an aside, sometimes you’ll havesomething on your to do list thatkeeps being moved over to thenext day and the next, and thenext… being constantly put off. Weall have those jobs we just want toavoid. Do the worst/hardest jobsfirst and then you make the rest ofyour day easier!

Add tasks day by day

Break them down into manageable

Share lists and assign tasks to

Set reminders

And even attach files

We recommend Microsoft ToDo. It ’s a great tool forkeeping your to do lists all inone place, giving you accesswhenever and wherever youneed it. You can:

actions

members of your team

As an added bonus, you can also makeyour lists look more exciting withcoloured backgrounds.

The next thing that any good planneeds is some expense management.We all have to work within a budget,whether it’s big or small. Keeping trackof what you’re spending and the costsyou have coming up makes it easier tosee exactly where you are with yourbusiness finances.

There is loads of different softwareavailable to help you keep a track ofyour costs. You probably already useone that also helps with your invoicingand tax calculations. Since we’rebeginning a new year, it might be timeto assess whether the software you useis working for you.

Does it make life easier or are youfinding yourself more stressed out withit than you should be? Does it talk toother software that you use within yourbusiness? Does everyone who needsaccess to it, have access to it?

PRODUCTIVITY

It’s said that if you do something enough times iteventually becomes a habit. What better new habitsto adopt than ones that make you more productive?We can’t think of many.

If we all had more hours in theweek, we’d all be more productive,wouldn’t we? So you simply need tofind more hours in the week to getmore things done.

Easy.

You don’t think so?

Well we’d like to prove you wrongon this one. You see, if you manageyour time better, you can seeexactly where you’re wasting time.For example, you could identifyjobs you’re doing each day thatsomeone else could be doinginstead.

You might find that something youthought was taking you minutes aday is actually taking a lot longer.

Or you could spot things you’redoing that are simply wasting time.

That sounds great, right? So howdo you do it?

Say hello to time management andtime tracking apps. Get used tousing these every day, and you willmake yourself more productivepretty quickly. Because not onlywill you want to make the most ofyour time when you’re keepingtrack of each minute, but you’ll alsosee where the big chunks of yourtime are being wasted.

We really like OneNote as a timemanagement app. It integrateswith both Outlook and Teams, sothat you can save and shareyour notes, documents, and othercontent at the click of a button. Itmeans you can access everythingeasily without having to repeat it orhave it saved in loads of differentplaces.

As for time tracking, take a look atToggl Track. It allows you (and yourteam, if you like), to track how longyou’re spending on tasks. As wellas letting you manually time eachthing you do, you can save yourselfeven more time and let itautomatically

track how long you spend usingeach application, on discussionsand chat, and even on real-lifetasks like meetings and lunch (bysyncing with your calendar).

If you could do with spottingwhere you’re wasting time, thenthis is the tool for you. There’s afree plan so give it a go if youthink it could be helpful.

Another time tracker that manypeople love is Timeular. Thiscombines a physical device withsoftware. Many people find iteasier to remember to use, asthere’s something to sit on yourdesk.

While we’re talking aboutproductivity, what’s one of thebiggest distractions to anyoneworking in an office? Nope, notthe constant reminders to washyour mug... it’s the internet.

You’re working away when all of asudden you have an urge to quicklycheck your favourite news site. Or youremember that big event that’s comingup that you need an outfit for (or is thatjust a 2019 problem these days?!). Or youthink you’ll give yourself a 5 minutebreak to scroll through Facebook.

Before you know it you’ve lost half anhour on something that will get you nocloser to your goal.

You need a distraction killer. An app thatliterally blocks you from your distractionswhen you need it the most.

There are a few really great apps thatdo this for you, but one we really like isFreedom. Unlike some of its peers, it canblock distracting sites and apps across allyour devices, so you’re not tempted topick up your smart phone when‘computer says no’.

You can select what you’d like to block,a time frame for blocking, and select thedevices to include. The developers saythat people report saving an average of2.5 hours PER DAY when using the app.

What couldyou get done

given anextra 12.5

hours aweek?

COLLABORATION

You wouldn’t get half as much completed without theskills and expertise of your beloved team. So it’s vitalthat you have all the tools you need to collaborate andcommunicate effectively.

This has never been asimportant as it has become inrecent months. With peopleworking remotely and not seeingsome of their colleagues in thesame room it’s imperative thatcommunication doesn’t break down.

If you haven’t yet tried Teams forthis purpose, do it now. It reallydoes do it all when it comes toworking as, well, a team.

You can use it to manage yourprojects, creating different teamsfor each project you’re working on.It allows you to keep all of your filesand documents for each project allin one place (and accessible tothose who need them, when theyneed them). It even allows for videomeetings and instant messaging.

And because it’s a Microsoft 365app, it integrates with yourcalendar, your contacts, your files…everything you need can be foundin one place, on whatever deviceyou’re using, whenever you need toaccess it.

What a world we live in.

Microsoft Projects is also a handyapp for getting down to the detailand planning of your projects.You can create a visual roadmapfor new projects, plan andschedule, and view insights intoeach project and its progress.

You may also think about acompany intranet to keep yourpeople in the loop of goings on atall times. Here you can storecompany documents andpolicies, store knowledge andinformation relating toprocedures or projects, and evennews about the business and thepeople within it.

SharePoint can help you do this,and go that step further insolidifying a great culture ofteamwork within your business.

ENGAGE AND COMMUNICATE

This time we’re talking about your customers,not your team.

What are you currently doing to engage yourcustomers with your business? Could you do more?Think about things like customercontact. How often do you or yourteam speak to your customers (orprospective customers for thatmatter)? Do you send out regularemail communications ormarketing? Do you utilise socialmedia platforms to engage on amore personal level? Do youprovide learning resources forcustomers and potentialcustomers, as an added extra?

These are all things that could helpcreate a better customerexperience of your business. Youwant to do this because we knowthat the more connected a personfeels to a company, the more likelythey will be to use that companyfor longer. And to recommend it toothers.

So look at how you can utilisedifferent apps to help you connectwith your customers.

Firstly, regular emailcommunication is key. If you don’talready send regular emails

to your customers and to yourprospects, start to do this now.

You don’t have to be in touch withyour database every day - that willactually put people off - butanywhere from once a week toonce a month is a good place tostart. Talk about new productsand services you’ve added, offersor promotions you have on, orhelpful information or tips relatingto your field of expertise.

Mailchimp is a great way to startemail marketing. You can creategood looking emails, auto-fillpersonal details like someone’sname, and send it out to yourcontacts at the click of a button.Again, it’s free to sign up andthere’s a free plan for sending tounder 2,000 contacts.

Now look at your social media.Have you updated it recently? Is itsomething that takes too long eachday to bother with? Or do youforget about it for a few weeks,

then have a surge in posts, andthen fall off again?

Be more consistent. Yes, somebusinesses will find it easier tothink of content, but you don’tneed to post every day if youdon’t want to. Just keep to somekind of regularity.

Utilise something like Hootsuiteto schedule posts in advance.You can set up a few posts to bepublished automatically each dayor week. And then add othercontent if and when you have it.This allows your social mediaplatforms to be regularlyupdated with little commitmentfrom you.

It also helps if you have a lot ofcontent to post, but don’t want topublish multiple posts each day.Schedule them when youremember and space them outover a few days.

Do you ever create anyvideo content?Video is the way we’re moving, withpeople wanting to watch video insteadof reading. Just look at the popularityof TikTok and the Instagram Stories andReels.

Microsoft Stream is a great way to utilisevideo to help you connect and engagewith your audience. Film tutorials,updates, and even host online eventswith this app to increase your customerengagement and give your clients thesupport they need.

SECURITY

We’ve saved this one till last, so that it stayswith you when you’re finished reading.

Your number one goal for 2021should be to increase and maintaina high level of cyber security inyour business. After all, you reallydon’t want your company tobecome a statistic this year.

First, look at utilising a really greatpassword manager. This shouldcreate strong random passwordsfor all of your software and apps,save them, and automatically logyou (and only you) into youraccounts.

It really is as simple as that.

No more changing passwords everymonth - and getting your team todo the same. No more jotting downobscure passwords in the back ofyour notepad. No more frustrationat the ‘incorrect password’notification. Just safe, secure loginseach time.

There are loads of passwordmanagers out there. Some charge,some offer free plans. Some can beused across a business; some arefor personal sign up. Speak to yourIT service partner to find out whichone could be the best fit for you.

Secondly, look atimplementing multi-factorauthentication for logginginto apps and software.This adds another layerof protection to your data,by giving you a one-timeusepassword as a secondstep to your log in. It’s a bitlike the way some banksget you to log in to youraccount online, using acode sent to or generatedon your phone.

Again, there are lots oftools that will help you toimplement this. But speakto your IT service partnerto find the best one foryour specific requirements.

AND THAT BRINGS USNICELY TO OUR FINALPOINT: YOUR IT SERVICEPARTNERWith the challenges that last year brought us, itshould be clear that it makes good business sense towork with a reliable, reputable, and expert IT serviceprovider. Having a partner that is available to youexactly when you need them is really important. Italso makes better financial sense than using someonead hoc.

Do you have an IT service partner?Are you happy with them?Do they work proactively for you?

If you answer no to one of thosequestions, it’s time to look at analternative partner (hello ).

LET'S MAX OUT 2021

2020 demonstrated that things in business canchange in an instant. Whether you’re still workingfrom the office, or working from home, yourproductivity is always something that can beimproved.

If you don’t have co-workers around you to help boost yourmotivation, it could be time to change some of the ways you’reworking. Give some of these apps a try - perhaps for 30 days -and see what a difference they can make for you Make thempart of your routine and give them a chance to become habits.If just one of these suggestions works for you, you’ll hopefullynotice a boost in your satisfaction, a growth in your business,and you’ll hit your new goals faster than you’d hoped. Please dolet us know if you try any of them, and how you get on.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A NEW ITSERVICE PARTNER, WE’D LOVE TOWORK WITH YOUR BUSINESS IN 2021.CONTACT US TODAY TO FIND OUTWHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP YOU.

01473 241515

info@corbel.co.uk