Tech Connect: Tech plus common sense can equal better productivity

There are many consultants out there who have made fortunes telling others how to make themselves and their organizations more productive.

During my years in business, I have encountered many situations in which there were productivity increase opportunities to be had by using little more than common sense.

For example, I am continually amazed at how many people working in offices are still using 15-inch monitors to do their work. I would go nuts.

One of my early tech recommendations was in a law firm. While walking through their office I noticed that their document-preparation people were feverishly going back and forth between layers of documents on their screens.

I suggested that they get two monitors for each employee instead of the single 15-inch and 17-inch monitors they were using. This allowed employees to easily go back and forth between documents because they could see two documents side by side.

For the record, two high quality 19-inch monitors can be purchased for around $100 each. One 24-inch monitor can be purchased for under $140.

Then there is that tether to the desk - your phone. With all that owners and office staff must deal with during the day, anchored to the desk with a typical phone cord, leads to lowered productivity, not to mention stiff necks.

A simple, low-cost solution is a Bluetooth headset. With, one of these, the user can walk anywhere in the office, if just to get something, during the conversation.

It is common for these wireless devices to be very clear at more than 100 feet, even with walls in the way. Think of all the ways this mobility could improve productivity for your staff.

Voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone systems hold great potential for productivity improvements. For example, some systems come with a way to pull up a window allowing you to interact with the system using your mouse to transfer calls, put calls on hold, etc. Most of these new systems also have a function where you can be called at your office and automatically connected to your cellphone.

You also can use your cellphone to listen to your voice mails on the phone server, and/or have them sent to you in a text. Think of the time saved and the improved communications you can have with customers, employees, vendors and the like.

Then, there has been much discussion about going paperless. However, there still is a lot of paper being consumed and passed around.

Scanners recently have been popping up more and more. They are convenient, but most office staff and managers are still exploring how to integrate them into office processes. When integrated, scanners offer improved productivity.

If you have a good scanner, for example, a scanned document can be automatically distributed to an email list stored in the scanner. The scanned document can then be easily stored in the electronic filing system, or just read and ignored.

So put on your technology hat and talk to your staff about how technology could make their jobs easier.

' Mike McKay is general manager and co-founder of Keystone IT; mike@keystoneit.com