Take back productivity with better hardware

Ever met someone who lives for traffic? You know that one person who can’t wait to wake up in the morning so that they can sit stuck behind a slow driver in the fast lane? Or what about that colleague whose mood just lifts when they see their pointer turn into a seemingly never-ending blue rotating cursor? Thought so.

Pointless waiting is a one-way ticket to Frustration Town, just past the off-ramp at minor inconvenience number twenty-three. And in an average working day, especially in office jobs that require the daily use of computers, frustrations caused by slow computer speed can pile up quickly.

Naturally, frustrations have a way of affecting employee morale, but it also leads to a great loss of productivity. Just consider for a moment the amount of times we open and close programs in an average working day, then add the amount of times we switch between applications, open and close browser tabs, upload and download documents, and complete other small tasks. If each of these actions are met with unnecessary delay, you could be losing hours of work every week.

As much as modern technology focuses on software that allows us to engage in a variety of convenient and streamlined methods of completing complex tasks and calculations, it is the hardware that makes the executable actions possible. An effective approach to computing technologies in the workspace must view hardware and software as a delicate scale that requires careful balancing.

Here are a few simple ways to up your office’s hardware capabilities:

Faster Processing

The faster your computer can execute and process instructions, the faster it can move on to the next task or string of instructions. A computer’s Central Processing Unit (CPU), is one of the more costly components of the modern PC, which unfortunately means that many employers compromise on processing speed and make their workers much less effective, productive, and motivated.

Rapid Storage

If your office still runs standard HDD hard drives, you are lagging behind. Modern SSD drives allow for quicker reading and writing of data, which is especially nifty for opening applications and booting up your computer’s operating system. Better, faster storage makes a marked difference to the time lost in delay for many tasks that require the storage and loading of data.

Smarter Memory

Smarter and faster memory means that your computer has more access to the on-demand operations that it carries out frequently. Web browsers are especially greedy when it comes to memory, and high-end software require large amounts of memory to be available at any given moment to function smoothly.

Greater Display

The space on any screen is limited, which means that what is visible on the screen at any given moment is important. For office workers who bounce between applications quickly, more display room can eliminate the need to switch between windows. Consider using widescreen displays or additional screens for this purpose.

Software that improves hardware

Anti-virus software can protect you against malicious software that tend to slow down your computer as it runs in the background and accesses and/or manipulates your data. Outdated hardware drivers could also be impacting its ability to function at maximum effectivity, but be sure to update your drivers at the manufacturer’s website and not via a third-party website/application.

Is it worth the cost?

A study shows that in some companies, employees could lose 3-6 productive hours every week because of issues with technology. Let’s say that you value one productive hour at R250, and each employee loses 3 hours a week to slow hardware, that means you could be losing around R3 000 every month per employee. Put that into upgrading your hardware, and the pros quickly start to outweigh the cons.

Are you ready to improve productivity, morale and eliminate frustration in your office space?

References:

• https://techcentral.co.za/slow-pcs-are-killing-productivity-study/73304/
• https://www.custom-computers.com/news/just-how-much-do-slow-computers-really-cost-your-business/

This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as legal or other professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your legal adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)