Often in small to medium businesses, there are two critical operations for success - sales & marketing, and operations/systems. We've previously posted a series of articles on what we believe are the most important - and effective - steps you can take for sales & marketing success.
Now it's time to move on to the operational aspects of technology adoption. All the while, our aim to make recommendations that make the most sense both logistically AND in the most cost-effective manner. While there are certainly an increasing number of different functional areas to address in operations, we're now focusing on core functions like email, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, calendar, file storage, and others.
We have two recommendations:
First - and foremost - if you're currently using desktop computer based programs like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. and sending around these files as email attachments for review, comments, and approvals, STOP IT! By doing so, you have the most costly, inefficient communications system possible for getting work done!
Secondly - you have a number of choices for moving to an online based "office suite", and we recommend the Google suite of programs/applications. Microsoft has their Office 365 offering and others like Zoho have similar "office suite" programs. Any of these will work, and we wouldn't argue with whichever might be your personal preference. The important thing is that your "suite" be web-based and offers real-time collaborative capabilities. These two properties will make an exponential difference in your productivity and efficiency.
Over the next series of posts we'll provide additional information about the benefits of using an "online suite" such as Google Workspace (e.g. the "googlesphere"). We're not going to provide detailed instructions on how to use each of the applications - after all, you can always engage us to train you - but rather we'll show you the possibilities. Things you wouldn't imagine on your own. Things that will make a difference and make you more efficient both personally and for your business.
Buckle up. We're about to launch you into the "Googlesphere"!
