How to Increase Your Mobile Productivity When Away from the Office

Boost mobile productivity with these tips as well as cloud-based tools like Office 365.

With employees looking for flexibility in the workforce more than ever, it’s imperative that companies offer technology that allows work to be done from anywhere. A survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit found that companies that invested in mobile technologies saw as much as a 16% boost in productivity.

The cloud and tools like Office 365 give users immense flexibility

Employees today are more mobile than ever, thanks in part to smartphones that offer more power than computers manufactured just a few years ago. Having access to this high level of computing power at any moment can pay huge dividends for companies of all sizes. While employees crave flexibility, there is significant downtime that still occurs in all of our daily lives. Think about the amount of time spent waiting for a coffee, or in a carpool line to pick up kids, as well as many other times during the day where this downtime can be put to better use.

By having the tools to get work done from anywhere, you can have scenarios where your employees can quickly update a document, respond to an email, or send a chat to a colleague all from their mobile devices, regardless of location. This flexibility helps companies to become much more productive than in the past, when work was extremely difficult to complete outside of the traditional office setting.

Microsoft Office 365 offers wide array of mobile tools to help empower a distributed workforce

Below are just a few of the tools that come standard with Office 365 that allow organizations to remain connected with their employees regardless of their location or device of choice.

Microsoft OneNote

A note taking application that offers both a desktop and cloud-based version.

Microsoft Outlook

With Office 365, users can access their email from the traditional Outlook desktop application as well as through their smartphones and via the web.

Skype for Business

A messaging application that allows both text and video based chat functionality.

Microsoft OneDrive

A fully cloud-based file storage solution allowing you to store and sync files across multiple devices.

Microsoft Teams

With Teams, users can have a central messaging portal that integrates features of Skype for Business and other Office 365 tools to create a true hub for teamwork across your organization.

SharePoint

Create a cloud-based intranet that allows your employees to stay up to date and share files and other internal information from any location.

Tips to help boost mobile productivity

Use the following tips to encourage mobile productivity among your team:

Utilize multitasking on your mobile devices

Just like on computers, most mobile devices support multitasking capabilities, which can allow you to work on multiple things at the same time. Whether you’re utilizing iOS or Android devices, read up on how best to use multitasking to increase how efficiently you can get things done while on the go.

Learn how to work ‘offline’ while on the go

While WiFi is in most places, it’s still not everywhere. You don’t want your productivity to disappear when you’re not able to connect to the internet. There are many apps that allow you to work while offline and will then sync any changes that were made once your internet connection is reestablished. Check to see if the apps you use on a daily basis have some sort of offline capabilities, which can be extremely beneficial when you’re without internet access.

Bring along Bluetooth devices like a keyboard or mouse to increase productivity

Most people don’t realize that they can actually connect a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard to their mobile phone or tablet and instantly boost productivity when it comes to any type of writing. Think about the versatility of being able to answer emails or work on a complex document with the help of an actual mouse and keyboard as opposed to the touchscreen keyboard on your smartphone or tablet.

Are you leveraging the power of mobile devices to increase productivity in your company?

As you can see, there are quite a few ways that you can boost productivity by making the most of mobile devices and cloud-based tools like Office 365. If you’re looking for more direction on how to enable your employees to be productive from just about anywhere, contact the cloud experts at MessageOps today.