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Staff productivity is often difficult to track, regardless of whether employees are working in the office or remotely. How can you know that staff are utilising best practices, and how can you assist them in achieving an optimal work output?

Gauging the productivity of staff is more complex than just checking what time people arrive for work and what time they leave. The quality of work and output provides a better indicator of the true worth of what staff add rather than the hours that they are present in the workplace.

For management to provide staff with the best opportunities to be productive they need to be aware of what improvements can be made to workflow and practices. This may be through making improvements in certain areas, or by removing unnecessary obstacles. Technology can be of great assistance to workers, but it can also become a hinderance, and often simple changes can be implemented to improve processes and to achieve greater productivity.

Staff productivity can be a difficult area to examine and address, as organisations do not want to invade a person’s privacy, as that may lead to conflict and counterproductivity.

So, what tools and measures are available to help implement and improve productivity in the workplace?

Organisations that utilise Microsoft 365 have access to a tool known as the Microsoft Adoption Score, which can assist management and staff to achieve improved productivity outcomes on a daily and monthly basis.

What is Microsoft Adoption Score and What Does it Do?

Microsoft Adoption Score is a tool available in Microsoft 365 that can examine certain areas of workflow among staff, and as it collates its information, it is able to provide a wider picture of productivity without staff members feeling like they are being monitored or spied on.

Adoption Score can provide valuable insights into existing workflows that can then be acted upon and shared with staff, with a view to improve overall staff performance and productivity. It can provide assessments of hardware-related functions, to ensure that non-human systems are working to the best of their capacity as well.

As an overview, Microsoft Adoption Score can examine the following areas in the workspace:

The Experiences of Staff

This area studies the experiences of staff and their workflow, for example, are they currently utilising best practices, or is there room for improvement in the way that they are doing things?

An example of this is the potential for staff to improve their productivity when collaborating with others by utilising online files, compared to more traditional methods. A recent examination found that staff can improve their productivity by using online files and storage when working together on shared projects. Adoption Score can help management identify instances such as these that might be able to provide improvement.

A further breakdown of the experiences of staff will allow management to investigate the following areas:

• Communication
• Content collaboration
• Meetings
• Mobility
• Teamwork

Technology and its Performance

This area examines the health and performance of your various office and system devices, checking for speed and reliability among other things. Hardware and software endpoints can be tested for reliability, and networks can be examined for connectivity issues, while Microsoft 365 apps can be updated as part of a routine or set to automatically update.

From a broader perspective, it is possible to determine whether the best technology and associated practises are currently in use, and whether they are assisting staff with their productive output.

A further breakdown of technology and the experiences it provides will allow management to investigate the following areas:

• Endpoint analytics (you may need Microsoft Intune for these)
• Microsoft 365 apps and their health
• Network connectivity

Activity Reports Available

Apart from the staff and technology aspects, Microsoft Adoption Score also features a reporting capability which can provide details regarding business activities and their continuity.

The reporting can illustrate how employee collaboration and other work activities are progressing and changing over a period and through various transitions. Such transitions may include into remote working or facilitating a return to work. It can show how these changes impact the organisations and staff’s overall productivity.

How Microsoft Adoption Score Can Help You

Application Use and Tracking

Microsoft Adoption Score can track the way your staff use Microsoft 365’s applications and provide useful information for management to make their own judgements on which areas may benefit from improvement.

This information can give an indication on whether staff are currently using best practices, and if they would benefit from the introduction of new methods of working or learning and upskilling in various areas.

Data and Information Insights

Microsoft Adoption Score also features a tool that will provide insights on how to interpret the usage data. So not only are you receiving the metrics, but also some form of context to place them in. These insights are useful to educate management on how to best use the data received, and how to best help their staff become more productive.

An example of this is the use of an “@” tag and mention in correspondence, which might increase response times among staff. This type of improvement might have been previously unknown by management, and in this example Microsoft Adoption Score can provide data on how often an @ tag is used and how much faster response times from staff are whenever they are used.

Recommended Actions That You Can Take

Microsoft Adoption Score can provide management with recommended actions to take based on the data that has been collected and provided, which in turn can lead to an increase in staff productivity.

When used in combination, the tracking of applications used; insights provided on data and information; and the actions that are recommended for decision makers to take, can form a very useful tool to help staff and management achieve overall productivity and improvements in the workplace.

Do You Have an Interest in Microsoft Adoption Score and the Improvements that it Can Provide?

If the answer is yes, then we can help you to integrate Adoption Score into your existing and future work systems and flows. An increase in work productivity is possible and we would like to help you do that. Simply give us a call or send us a message and we will be happy to assist you and your organisation make these positive advancements.