Productivity tools for AMCs make it easy to promote consistent and productive workflows, be more efficient and provide insight into metrics and activities. These tools can help you optimize your day-to-day tasks, minimize hassle, and ultimately improve your bottom line.
Benefits of Using Productivity Tools
Managing your work or personal tasks with productivity tools for AMCs helps you achieve the following:
- Stay organized- by using productivity tools for association management companies, you can stay organized and make sure that nothing falls through the cracks. This should help you avoid mistakes and reduce confusion to keep all your clients happy.
- Streamline project management- productivity tools usually have many integrations that allow you to connect all your apps and automate some of your most time-consuming processes. In other words, you can get rid of all those manual copy/paste tasks between different apps and save time for more meaningful work!
- Collaborate with other team members- it doesn’t matter if you’re working from home or at the office; productivity tools make it possible for your team to work from anywhere with an internet connection. This helps with team collaboration and makes it easier for staff members to work remotely without missing important deadlines. It also means that staff members don’t have to be physically present at the office.
- Improved data security- data security is critical when managing customer information. You have to protect their personal information and financial data. You can create security protocols that follow industry standards and keep client data safe and secure with productivity tools.
Rolling Out Productivity Tools
With a new productivity tool, the key is to make sure it makes you more productive and not just add another burden to your already busy day. Many companies start with a single tool that helps solve the biggest problem — managing projects, tracking time, or streamlining billing.
Then, after they use their first productivity tool, they add another one until they have a suite of tools that helps them accomplish everything they need.
Identify and Prioritize Your Needs.
When you’re looking for tools to help you streamline your work processes, start by identifying where you need the most help. For example, using the Jobs-to-be-Done theory helps you establish whether most of your staff work remotely, whether you have trouble tracking time for billable hours, or if some clients are more profitable than others. Once you identify your pain points, it becomes easier to determine what type of tool would be the best fit.
Determine Your Criteria for Selecting Tools.
Generally, the more a productivity tool is tailored to AMCs, the easier it will be for staff to use. If you want to use one tool for multiple purposes, seek out one that does it all. A good indicator of whether a tool is easy-to-use and robust is how many people already use it.
When setting up a new tool, send an email to everyone in your organization inviting them to join. But don’t just send the link and hope everyone does it; give them a deadline and make sure they sign up.
Create a Shortlist
Take time to research options that fit your needs. Start by prioritizing your pain points and then analyzing the available solutions. Once you’ve narrowed down the field, take advantage of free trials or demos before making a final decision.
Assess the ROI
Some products may seem like a good fit based on their features, but it’s important to consider how much they cost and how much potential value they can add to your business. Consider whether the product will save you money or boost revenue in some other way to determine whether you’re getting your money’s worth.
Roll Out Carefully
Although introducing new tools is generally a positive development, it can be disruptive if done incorrectly. Ensure employees are adequately trained before new software is implemented and take time to address any early challenges.
Top Productivity Tools
While not every tool out there will be suitable for everyone, here are some of the most popular ones used today:
1Password
Platform: Desktop, iOS, Android, and as a browser extension
Pricing: $3/user/month, plus a business-wide setup fee of $45-$90
For most people, remembering a password is a challenge. A password manager like 1Password offers an easy solution that helps you create strong passwords and keeps them secure.
Calendly
Platform: Web, iOS, Android
Price: Free (limited) to $12 per user/month
Calendly makes it easy to schedule meetings without going back and forth with emails, saving you time. The app integrates with Google Calendar/Office 365, Outlook, Salesforce, and Zapier for scheduling webinars or other events. Calendly also offers optional features like appointment reminders and automated rescheduling.
Bear
Platform: macOS, iOS
Price: Free (limited) to $1.49 per month or $14.99 annually
Bear is a note-taking app that helps you organize your thoughts in a clean interface with markdown support so you can easily format your notes. It also works across devices for seamless editing on the go, which is great for taking meeting notes on your phone or tablet during an on-site meeting at an organization’s headquarters.
Google Docs
Platform: Web application supported on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge web browsers
Price: Free
Google Docs is an online, free word processor and presentation software. This online suite allows you to create documents or presentations, share them, and collaborate with multiple team members (of varying permission levels). The tool also has a number of built-in integrations with other Google services, such as Google Drive and Gmail.
Slack
Platform: macOS, Linux, and Windows
Price: Free demo and $6.67/month pro version
Slack is a communication platform that helps teams work better together. It integrates with a few different platforms to make your team more productive including Google Drive, Dropbox, and Twitter.
Zoom
Platform: Built-in integration with Google Drive, Microsoft Azure, and Dropbox.
Price:100% free for up to 55 participants
Zoom is a cloud-based meeting and collaboration tool that takes a lot of the hassle out of calling clients. Its features make it unique from other video conferencing platforms, such as iOS and Android apps, phone dial-in capability, and support for multiple languages.
Unrollme
Platform: Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, MSN, Hotmail, Windows Live, and iCloud email
Price: $6/month
Unroll.me is an email unsubscription service that helps you consolidate all your subscription emails in one place. It lets you unsubscribe from those spammy newsletters while keeping the ones you actually want to read. The unroll.me Chrome extension provides an easy way to unsubscribe from multiple mailing lists at once.
Boardable
Platform: Web app
Price: Free for public organizations, $99/month for private organizations, and $499 per month for 100 board members.
Boardable is a meeting engagement platform. It gives you one place to manage your Board of Directors and Committees, and it will even help you schedule meetings, set agendas, and keep track of attendees.
Trello
Platform: Evernote, Confluence, Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox
Price: $17.50 per month
Trello is a free project management tool that organizes your projects into boards and makes them visual. It’s a great way to manage ongoing and complex projects, as well as a good method for keeping track of your daily tasks.
HubSpot
Platform: Gmail and Outlook integrations
Price: Professional plan at $890/month
HubSpot is a leading inbound marketing software with 17 products to assist you in growing your business. The marketing automation and CRM platform are designed to increase your website traffic and grow your business.
Basecamp
Platform: web, iOS, Android
Price: $99/month
Basecamp is a project management tool for teams. The main goal of Basecamp is to focus on helping teams get work done. It is a very visual tool, engaging every member and administrator in the organization regardless of their background.
Forest
Platform: Chrome extension
Price: $1.99
Forest is a tool that helps you increase your productivity by helping you focus on what’s important. It functions like a Pomodoro technique timer by breaking up work into 25-minute intervals with 5-minute breaks between (20/5). It’s fast, simple, distraction-free, and even fun to use. You can use it as a timer or a notepad on all your devices because it lives in the cloud and is automatically backed up every time.
Spark
Platform: Linux, Mac Os
Price: $6.39/month premium version
Spark is a free, open-source email creation app that lets you create lightning-fast emails in seconds. Create emails to win hearts and promote your sales. Spark helps you find the perfect template – simple, clean and professional – to match your brand and style.
AMO
Platform: Web-based platform
Price: Free 30-day trial followed by monthly pricing packages depending on the number of users.
This web-based platform helps you manage your calendar, bills, and invoices and track your time and expenses. It’s easy to use, has a customizable dashboard so you can see what matters most, and is secure. Best of all, it’s free!
How AMO Will Save You Time and Money
AMO is a productivity tool for association management companies. It’s designed to help you save time and money by making tedious tasks quicker, easier, and more affordable.
It’s a unique framework that includes strategies for automating the processes that are normally most time-consuming. You can get back to what you do best: helping your clients.
If you are tired of wasting time on the tedious tasks that slow down your business, you should consider switching to AMO today. Contact us today to get a demo of our tool and see all the productivity tools for AMCs you can use to help you maximize your time and money while running your organization.