Have you ever attended a time management course, walked away, and thought ‘yes, as of tomorrow I am going to master these productivity hacks and work more efficiently, stick to my core hours BUT get more done’?

Then the very next day you arrive promptly, grab your coffee, and spend the next 10 minutes catching up with your colleagues and telling them all about the great course you went on yesterday….

So, why is it that when there’s a holiday period coming up, we’re miraculously able to work faster?

Is this our culture, do we all perform better under tight timescales? Can we learn from other cultures?

Inc.com investigated the correlation between the number of hours worked per week and the nations GDP. It’s well publicized that consistently working more than 40 hours per week can be detrimental to your health. But, it also impacts your productivity. The top nations for productivity all work less than 40 hours per week on average with Germany topping the productivity chart working a 35-hour week on average.

Why are they so productive?

An article on knote.com investigates the culture of a German workplace. Germans on average work 35 hours per week and have an average of 24 days paid holiday a year, so how are they so productive?

Their business culture is the simple answer. When they are at work, they give 100% to their job. They don’t have a chat at the coffee machine, check their social media notifications or gossip with the person sitting next to them.

Not only do they work less hours per week and benefit from better holiday entitlement, but they also maintain better and more active social lives.

They believe in keeping work and personal lives separate, maintaining off hours as off hours.

The German government is even contemplating a ban on work emails after 6pm to counter the accessibility smartphones have enabled!

Tips to be more productive

A few small changes can help you to be more productive

• Cut your work day short – Adding a time limit puts pressure on to get the task complete, it forces you to be efficient.
• Stop multi-tasking – Switching from one task to another can actually cause you stress, focus on one task at a time.
• Race the clock – Competition is a great motivator, setting a timer even if just for 10 minutes can boost productivity.
• Write it down – Trying to remember everything is exhausting. Keep notes and a to-do list leaving your brain to focus on what you need to do now.
• Workout before work – You can think better for 2 hours after aerobic exercise. So working out before you get to the office can get you off to a very productive start.

Do it all with CloudCall

If you’re a CloudCall customer, we have three easy ways for you to make more calls, increase pick-up rates and train new hires, through CloudCall. And if you’re not a CloudCall customer, well, maybe you’ll want to be after hearing this! We’d go as far as saying these productivity hacks are ‘life hacks’, depending on how you use your phone systems.

You can utilize all three productivity hacks to increase your team’s productivity and get the most out of CloudCall.

1. Save valuable time with Voicemail Drop

If your team are making a lot of outbound calls each day, don’t waste valuable time leaving a voicemail each time someone doesn’t pick up the phone. This leads to ‘voicemail fatigue’, meaning the quality of each of the messages suffers significantly, the more you do them.

But fear not! CloudCall is here to save the day. Using our Voicemail Drop feature, you can  click on the Voicemail Drop option, allowing you to leave a pre-recorded voicemail.

This ensures each member of your team are leaving a high-quality voicemail every time. “What about personalization?” We hear you ask…We’ve covered that too. Before you click on Voicemail Drop, you can add any sort of personalized message you like, then drop your pre-recorded message and the contact will be none the wiser!

With all the extra time your team will save, they can reach a higher overall call volume. Once the voicemail is dropped, the call ends and the agent can move on to their next task.

2. Increase pick up rates with local presence

We’re all guilty of it. We see a number calling and they’re based the other side of the country so sometimes we decide not to answer. But when we see a local number and we think hmm, this must be relevant, so we answer the call. Well, welcome to the future, folks!

CloudCall offers our users an option called Local Presence. Using this option allows you to change your caller identity during an outbound call, to get as close to the area code as possible (without them having to get a restraining order).

Having a recognizable area code show up on the client’s phone will increase pick up rates for your team on initial calls. “Is this spoofing?” No, it’s not. Unlike spoofing, which mimics the first six digits of the contact’s phone number (and isn’t a real number), CloudCall offers real numbers.

Purchased from CloudCall, these are real numbers. If your contact tries to call the number back, it will go directly to you or your colleagues instead of not connecting, as it would spoofing.

3. Help new hires reach full productivity, faster

As if we hadn’t already sold it to you enough – there’s more! Here’s the last of our productivity hacks…

Instead of training your new hires on conference calls or using a call splitter to allow colleagues to train on a call, you can use Call Monitoring to get them up to speed.

In the Supervisor Panel, clicking on a live call will allow Call Monitoring. The Monitor feature will allow you to silently join the call. This allows new agents to listen to calls in real-time without the other agent or the contact being notified in any way. Clever, right?

With Call Monitoring, employees can get comfortable with generic conversations being had without directly interfering with calls. You can also use the Whisper function, allowing you to talk to your new agent whilst they are on a call, offering guidance and support without the contact knowing.

This feature is especially useful in the current climate, where training and development may be taking place remotely. Call Monitoring will make your new colleague feel prepared and more connected to their new team.

*Remember to allow new hires access to the Monitor feature within the supervisor panel.

So, why not try these productivity hacks and see if you can start to achieve more by working less. And If you want to take a closer look at what CloudCall has to offer you, you can book in for a demo here.