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Mac vs. PC: Which is Best for Productivity?

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Since the turn of the century, there has been a divide between computer users through commercials, internet arguments, and office place debates: Mac or PC. Everybody has their own personal preference, and in the end, both platforms are more than sufficient for everyday use and productivity. However, there are a few objective differences between the the different operating systems that can appeal more to office workers. Here is a guide to help you choose which ecosystem will make your office the most productive:

Price

Let’s get this out of the way first: as everyone knows, Apple’s computers are more expensive than a similarly-specced Windows PC. The base-level iMac, with 2.3 GHz of processing power, 8Gb of memory, and 1Tb of storage space has a starting price of $1399 CAD. A desktop from HP with more memory, a higher processing speed, and the same amount of storage costs $599 and frequently goes on sale. At less than half the cost, the Windows-powered computer is a much better deal than the iMac. For this reason, a PC would best suit an office with a tight budget, or one that uses their computers mostly for web browsing and simple tasks. However, the Apple’s premium price is not just due to higher margins. Macs are known to have excellent build quality and reliability in comparison to their PC counterparts and can take a higher workload for a longer period of time. For offices with demanding needs from their computers, it might be important to look past the price and analyze some of the further benefits of Apple products.

Software

Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Apple’s OS X both come with a host of software, either stock or as an add-on with the purchase of the computer. The most famous and beneficial on the Windows side is included Microsoft Office, which includes the latest document-writing software including Word, Excel, Publisher, and more. These programs are world-famous for a reason; they are one of, if not the best at their respective functions. Windows computers also include Edge, an internet browser designed to work with the operating system. Edge features significant features and improvements over the previous web browser, Internet Explorer, and offers a clean layout with fast performance. To add onto this, there are a number of third-party applications that are available only for PC such as the Sony Creative Softwares (Sony Vegas, Sony Catalyst, Sony Acid), FL Studio, Fences, and more.

However, Windows faces solid competition from Apple on the software front as well. A suite of documentation software similar to Microsoft Office is free with every Mac product purchased. iTunes, the App Store, and iMessages all come with OS X, allowing seamless integration with iPhones and other Macs connected with the same apple ID. You’ve probably heard before that Apple products are preferred by creators and artists, and a big part of that is from some of the optional apple software. Final Cut Pro is one of the leading video editing software, exclusively available to Mac users. Other programs such as CSSedit, Coda, Espresso, Textmate, Quicksilver, Alfred, Things, OmniFocus are also preferred by coders, designers, and creators. Learn more about Apple’s free programs on their website. Finally, Apple’s web-browsing app that competes with Microsoft Edge is Safari. With an equally appealing interface and decent performance, Safari is more than sufficient. Safari and Edge go head to head, and both work absolutely fine for normal use.

Each office should look into what software they can benefit from, including the many different options offered. Keep in mind, however, that much of the software is cross-compatible.

Cloud Features

Creating and storing files, sharing across devices, and accessing documents from anywhere, are all useful features for many workplaces around the world. These features are offered for free to a certain extent with both operating systems in this comparison, extra features can be added for a small price. Apple’s iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive each offer 5 GB of cross-device storage with their computers. To upgrade to 50GB per month, it will cost only $0.99 per month on iCloud and $1.99 per month on OneDrive. A 1TB option is also available from Apple for $9.99 monthly. While iCloud’s prices are more appealing at first, OneDrive offers some features that may be more useful for productivity and sharing among co-workers. For example, a bundle including Microsoft’s full Office 365 Suite and OneDrive storage is $9.99 a month for five users, each of whom gets 1 TB. This means a small business can share files among up to 5 employees with virtually unlimited storage space. OneDrive expands further to offer custom cloud storage options for any sized business. Overall, the importance of cloud storage depends on how each business can use it, and both competitors offer similar products at nearly identical preference. Be sure to research iCloud, OneDrive, and other third-party options thoroughly before making a final decision.

With today’s technology, it’s difficult to find a bad option for workplace computers. For 90% of tasks, any modern computer is well equiped for productivity. However, workplaces that rely more heavily on technology may need to intensively weigh their options to determine whether Mac or PC is best for them. Overall, a company with a low budget that doesn’t use computers for functions, that are more advanced than documents and video, fit the profile to use Windows computers. Windows is also beneficial when sharing and editing documents among employees that are essential to their operations. It may be worth the upgrade to Mac for workplaces that have demanding needs from their computers, do to extensive editing on videos and pictures, and need reliability from all their technology.

TeamHeadquarters runs on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on both PC and MAC.

Benefits of Connecting Through One Software App

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The amount of responsibility a business owners job holds can generate a significant amount of stress from the countless tasks they deal with on a daily basis. The to-do list is almost never-ending and consists of keeping clients happy, tracking your employees, payments to make, sales to close and many, many more. Having software from different providers, to try and manage certain jobs can become difficult to keep track of. Although, this can be eliminated when connecting through one software app.

A typical business uses multiple software applications in order to keep everything up and running such as one for clients accounts, one for ordering supplies, one for transactions and the list continues on. Software depending on the provider and service can be extremely expensive; companies try making you think it’s worth it to buy one software for a certain task. However, at times this can get confusing to have multiple different software serving many different functions. Although there’s nothing wrong with this, it may end up hurting your wallet in the long run and keeps you disorganized. The solution is a one-stop-shop software application that manages all of your documents, payments, accounts and many more, all in just one software.

As a developing business, your money can be easily spent. One day you may have a great steady income, your business is thriving and the next, you’re scrambling to make money, struggling to pay employees and making budget cuts. In the world of business management, any of these situations can happen. If you’re tight on money and looking to make budget cuts that won’t be detrimental to you and your company, you could start by asking yourself “How many of different software apps am I using?” If you’re using multiple costly software apps that are breaking your bank account, your business could benefit from replacing all of these different software apps for an all-in-one software.

Do you find both you and your employees are getting confused about where documents are located, and which software to use for a certain task? If so, you’ll benefit from having all your information in one place with peace of mind that your documents, tasks, support tickets, client information or payment information aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Not only will this lead to better organization and also lead to less stress about where items are stored. This also helps you save time, so you can prioritize more important tasks rather than taking precious time out of your day to find that one document you’ve been looking for.

In the end, having an all-in-one software can not only be beneficial for your wallet, but also for your stress levels because all of your resources can be easily accessed at the click of a button.

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Businesses Should Use SMART Goals Too

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SMART goals are one of the best way to set, organize and achieve personal goals. Since the concept was first introduced in the early 1980s, it’s been imprinted into the brains of North Americans through schools, books and workshops. For those that need a refresher, SMART is an acronym for the qualities that goals should have. They should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Using each category as criteria and as a guideline, broad goals can be outlined with detail and smaller targets can be set to reach the endpoint. SMART goals have proven very effective for educational, personal, and financial planning when used properly. Anyone with targets to reach should try the method, however, its use isn’t limited to individuals and small groups. Businesses and organizations can also benefit from the outstanding power and structure that SMART goals provide. Sales targets, projects, productivity, and quotas can be empowered using the 5-step outline. SMART can be used by all levels of employees and managers and offers a great way to maximize, track, manage, and review the targets that businesses set for their employees or for the overall company. Here’s how SMART goals can apply to the workplace and improve productivity.

S is for Specific

Without a specific desired outcome, it becomes difficult for businesses to set a goal and actively work towards it. The point of setting goals is to reach something at the end, not just to work for the sake of work. To set specific goals, organizations should agree on what is desired of a task, or what can be gained by having a continuous objective. Goals that seem general or broad to some of the workforce will limit their motivation to achieve, and therefore will be less effective.

For example, ABC Inc. realizes that employee retention and job satisfaction rates are dropping, and decide to make an effort to improve quality of their employment experience. Instead of aiming for “higher workplace morale”, a specific target would be to “grant employees more freedom to choose what they do in the workplace”. This allows ideas to come more quickly and will improve the speed at which goals are achieved.

M is for Measurable

Objective goals are the best way to measure, track, and analyze an overall goal. Using smaller “stepping stones” along the way, it can be simple and less intimidating to reach the overall milestone. Targets that can be measured on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis will provide a precise guideline for all stakeholders involved in reaching the big goal.

Measurable goals have small targets for growth that are reached in short fragments of time, ABC Inc. could make their goal measurable with short-term steps like: “in the first month, employees should be allowed to choose what times to come into work” with more stepping stones that increase each month.

A is for Achievable

Once the quantitative aspects of a goal have been laid out, it should be considered whether or not a business can use their resources efficiently enough to achieve the desired rate of success. It is important not to overestimate in this area because too much effort into an unachievable goal can be bad for productivity.

ABC Inc. could make their goal achievable by acknowledging the restrictions on employee freedom. Certain boring or repetitive, but necessary tasks may be left out in favour of more “morale-boosting” projects, but neglecting the tedious work can falter an organization’s success. To measure how achievable a target is, organizations should take into account how achieving this goal could affect other parts of operations in a negative way.

R is for Reasonable

The fourth stage of the SMART process is another where it is essential to accurately judge the capability of a business or department. Big, broad goals are great for marketing and for huge risk-taking companies, but the majority of businesses should be logical about the size of their goals relative to the timeframe given. A big, seemingly impossible target renders the concept of SMART ineffective. Improvement is the idea of goal-setting, not necessarily perfection.

ABC in. could make it their goal to pay every employee a 6-figure salary with unlimited vacation time and full coverage benefits, allow complete control over how much work is done, and leave the company’s fate in the hands of all employees. It would certainly increase morale, however,0 their efforts must be reasonable. such a tactic would likely mean the company wouldn’t be around much longer. Something like “the ability to come to work with a smile each day, have room for creativity and control over what they do, and have strong relationships with co-workers and clients” is a much more reasonable goal.

T is for Timely

It’s nearly impossible to spark motivation across an entire organization without setting some sort of timeframe or deadline. Each goal must have a broad timeframe, broken up into smaller stepping stones along the way. If the goal is ongoing, then certain deadlines for small aspects of achievement should still be set.

ABC inc.’s low morality is an immediate issue that shouldn’t have a deadline far in the future. To make the issue timely, they should make a measurable target in the next 6 months to increase employee retention by 50%, with a monthly increase of 7% to track their progress.

Why Centralized Systems Make Your Team More Efficient

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Centralized Systems Make Teams More Effective

Constantly misplacing documents, losing track of schedules, and being disorganized seem to be often an everyday routine. However, there is a way to mitigate this problem with centralized software systems. A centralized system uses a commercial database that is stored, located, and operated from one location. This means that everything such as your schedule, messaging systems, documents, tasks, support tickets, and much more are easily accessible from one system. Not only is this beneficial to you as an individual, but it also boosts the productivity of your work team, and here’s why.

Everyone Is On The Same Page

Emails constantly being sent back and forth can become very disorganized. They pile up quickly and some of the important, crucial emails can get lost in a heap of junk mail. However, with a centralized system, notifications are seldom missed. Everyone involved within the team will be up to date on the latest tasks and support ticket updates. This way, all emails, textual updates, and documents sent back and forth between you and your team will remain within the system and can be easily located. Therefore, by using a centralized system, the line of communication between you and your team members will be stronger than ever.

Efficient Scheduling

Managing your employee’s schedules can be a difficult task, especially when a shift is unexpectedly cancelled. As a manager, you need to step in, take charge and find another employee to cover that shift. Without a centralized system, this task can become difficult due to the multiple emails flying between you and your employees, determining who can work and changing the schedule. On the other hand, with a centralized system, you can create more complex schedules that are simple for you to create and for your employees to follow. Employees can also see their co-worker’s schedules and assignments so they know who they’re working with.

Increased Productivity

When using a non-centralized system, locating document after document and email after email can be extremely time-consuming. For example, an employee has a task due at the end of their shift. To their surprise, they have misplaced some documents that are crucial to said task. The employee will keep searching until they have found the item they’ve been looking for. As a result of searching for these items, an employee will have wasted precious time that could have been spent on their assignment. Instead, with a centralized system, documents are neatly stored in organized folders that can be easily found by searching for titles or keywords. Having a centralized system ensures employees can focus more on the task at hand, rather than locating items, therefore, increasing productivity.

Reduced Conflict

When only a few higher-ranking people in a company are in charge of making decisions for the larger group, not everyone will agree with the decisions being made. Employees can get upset and if the disagreement further continues it will eventually lead to conflict. To avoid this, a centralized system makes it easier to communicate with all your employees and receive their thoughts and recommendations on changes or ideas within a company. Everyone’s ideas can be stored in one place and a rational decision can be made.

In the end, centralized systems are key to having an efficient team. They ensure everyone is on the same page, increase productivity, and reduce conflict within the workplace. Centralized systems can help keep your team stay organized and on track.

Why You Can’t Stick to your Schedule

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Sometimes, it seems like we can never follow our schedule and get all our tasks done on time. Our goals seem realistic until we’re an hour behind on one project while we should be working on another. Having a punctual and predictable schedule for the day is key to measuring and improving productivity. Here are a few reasons you end up falling behind, and some quick fixes to make your schedule more accurate.

You don’t plan for enough break time

Very few people are able to spend an entire day working without taking any breaks. If you are one of these people, feel free to schedule your day without any downtime between tasks. However, if you’re like most of us, plan for a few minutes before and after each schedule entry to recalibrate and prepare. Stand up and stretch or take a short break and play an instrument or listen to your favorite music.

Your goals are too broad

To make the most accurate schedule, break each broad goal into as many small tasks as possible. Not only will this improve your schedule’s accuracy, but it will also help you to stay focused on the specific task at hand and improve your productivity.

You assume your day won’t have distractions

Along with each day could come traffic jams, emergencies, late alarm clocks, late buses, or so much more. Even if you’re sure you’ll get everything done on time, accidents could happen and you could fail to reach your goals for the day. When creating your schedule, remember to leave some room to account for various unexpected delays.

You overestimate your productivity

In a perfect world, productivity could be estimated by tasks divided by time. However, we can’t always tell the speed at which we will complete the day’s duties. Be honest with yourself when making your day’s schedule, and don’t overestimate your ability to work.

Your workspace isn’t organized enough

If time is money, then minutes wasted looking for a pen, paper, or any other materials you need to accomplish a task is comparable to setting a pile of cash on fire. To shave a few minutes off of each project, make sure you know where you keep all of your materials and avoid relying on your co-workers to lend you anything. While you’re at it, organize your desk to minimize distractions and lost documents.

You lose track of time

It happens to everyone; conversations last too long, twenty-minute business meetings last an hour or a desk organization becomes an intensive cleaning. Plenty of seemingly small tasks can last much longer than intended and eat into our day. When scheduling for a busy day, try to eliminate small tasks that could take too much time. If they’re absolutely necessary, be sure to get to the point as soon as possible and don’t be afraid to cut a task short when there are more important things to attend to.

You don’t have a sufficient scheduling software

Written schedules have been a handy office tool for decades, but online schedules are the best way to optimize your productivity, save time, and minimize risk. Applications Outlook Azure Calendar offer significant features that will improve your ability to follow your schedule to the minute, such as notifications, cross-device compatibility, integration with TeamHeadquarters, and shared calendars.

We’ll never be able to predict exactly how our day will go, but for every time we miss one of our goals for the day, there is a way you could have prevented it from happening. Use the tips above and enjoy a much more accurate scheduling experience.

Making Good Use of Project Dollars

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Making good use of your project dollars is key

The simple mindset on a project in terms of budget is … we have a budget, we manage the project daily, we try to stay on target (and by target I usually mean 10% either way), and we manage scope so we aren’t giving work away for free and causing budget overruns. Sound familiar?

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