Why is collaboration so important? You may ask, ‘I already have a strong team of professionals, so what could be more beneficial to my business?’ Glad to let you know that a formidable team of experts who collaborate is much more beneficial! 

Collaboration extends beyond teamwork. Unlike teamwork, which entails a team working together to meet the goals and objectives of a project, with each member having distinct responsibilities and not necessarily sharing common values, collaboration differs – it requires more! Collaboration takes a deeper level of engagement. With collaboration, team members share common values and work towards one goal in the most efficient, respectful and sustainable way, and team members do not have to be forced or coerced to cooperate. 

In a survey carried out by Fierce Inc. in 2011, they found that 86% of employees and executives cite a lack of collaboration as the top reason for workplace failures. What this tells us is that to attain team success, especially in this digital transformation age, building strong collaboration is a necessity.  

Just as humans have love languages that speak to them, resonate with them, and help them solidify their relationships, collaboration is the love language that unites high-performing teams. Collaboration improves trust, increases productivity, and lets creativity and innovation thrive. Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to explore how businesses can embrace collaboration to empower their team, build harmonious working relationships, foster trust, share common values and drive success.  

Communication and Trust – The Foundation of Collaboration

The cord that binds any great relationship together—be it romantic or professional—is communication and trust. In a survey on collaboration conducted by Slack in 2018, almost all 7,000 workers surveyed across 17 countries opined that seamless communication with their colleagues was the main factor that fostered good collaboration, buttressing that communication is fundamental to thriving teams and achieving collective goals. 

1. Open & Transparent Communication 

Businesses face several challenges, including unplanned circumstances, almost on a daily basis. These challenges often require swift responses or solutions, which often come from team members. Poor communication will hinder the provision of collaborative solutions to solve challenges. 

In addition, without clear communication, there would be misunderstandings and misalignments, delays in meeting project goals, and teams would generally struggle. To thrive as a team, businesses must prioritize open communication and ensure that every member of the team has unrestricted access to all necessary information. 

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson. 

How can businesses foster better communication? 

• Create a Positive Work Environment: A work environment with a positive culture, such as team-bonding exercises and first-name policy, irrespective of employees’ cadre or position, can promote better communication. 

• Adopt Collaboration Tools: Slacks, Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams are some collaboration tools that can help your team achieve seamless communication. 

• Setting Clear Expectations: When expectations are clear, and every employee knows what’s expected and the roles they have to play, it becomes effortless to communicate and collaborate. 

• Encourage Active Listening: Employees who feel valued, heard and seen are likely to communicate because they know that their words count. 

2. Building a Culture of Trust 

Trust is the pillar on which collaboration rests. It enhances team unity and strength and also empowers employees to take ownership of their roles and collaborate more effectively. Without trust, teamwork feels forced and unnatural, and innovation is hampered.  

Building Trust to Enhance Team’s Success 

• Encouraging autonomy while maintaining accountability: Allowing team members some level of autonomy that allows them to take ownership of their role, help to develop competence, trust in their abilities, and help other team members trust in their capacity to deliver on assigned tasks.  

• Recognizing contributions and celebrating wins: Recognizing and celebrating deserving employees or team members will encourage employees to perform better, increase productivity, and build trust, assuring employees that their inputs will not go unnoticed. 

• Providing constructive feedback: Constructive feedback – whether positive or negative depicts genuine interest, which can help build trust.   

• Do not micromanage Employees: Encouraging team members to take the lead and take ownership of tasks from start to finish implies a high level of faith in the team’s capabilities. 

The Role of Technology in Strengthening Team Collaboration 

Technology is changing how businesses collaborate. With the rise in remote and hybrid workplaces, digital tools play an essential role in keeping teams connected, engaged, and productive. 

1. Cloud-Based Collaboration 

Just like love knows no boundaries; modern collaboration tools are breaking traditional norms, eliminating geographical barriers, allowing teams to collaborate seamlessly, and ensuring the smooth running of projects regardless of location or time. These tools allow teams to work together from anywhere in the world.  

Whether in physical offices or remotely, below are some top collaboration tools: 

• File-sharing platforms such as OneDrive and Google Drive enable instant document access and edits. 

• Team Collaboration Tools such as Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace. 

• Project Management Tools like Asana and Trello help keep tasks organized and transparent. 

• PLUG by Descasio offers an all-in-one, no-code automation and workflow management solution tailored for seamless collaboration and integration. 

2. AI-Powered Productivity 

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) further simplified workflows. In the most basic form, AI means machines using algorithms and data to simulate human thoughts and execute tasks that typically require human intelligence. It is transforming the workplace, acting as the cupid that streamlines tasks and enhances teamwork.  

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) can Enhance Team Collaboration 

• Faster Decision-making: Through real-time data-driven insights and analysis, AI can enable teams to make fast and informed decisions. 

• Automating Repetitive Tasks: With AI, teams can automate repetitive tasks, thereby allowing them to focus on high-value-adding tasks. 

• Facilitating Information Sharing: AI can help teams identify the most relevant information and contributors within a team, thereby facilitating information sharing and collaboration. 

• Streamlining Communication in Real Time: AI tools can help foster team collaboration regardless of distance, language barrier or time zone. For instance, it has the capability to automatically summarise main messages in a discussion; it can translate languages, transcribe meetings, and so forth, ensuring all the team members are on the same page. 

“Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs. 

Fostering a Collaborative Work Environment 

Building a collaborative work environment takes intentionality and choosing the right digital solution. Here are some tips that businesses can use to create a culture where collaboration flourishes: 

1. Create a Shared Vision & Goals 

When the goal is clear, and every team member understands the significance of their role towards meeting the overall goal, they work with a sense of purpose and alignment. As such, team leaders must clearly establish team goals and the impact of each role towards its overall achievement, in addition to fostering a sense of ownership and accountability. 

2. Prioritize Employee Well-being 

A happy team is a productive team! To foster collaboration among teams, businesses must ensure that team members feel professionally and personally supported. In other words, they prioritize the psychological safety of their employees. For instance, promote work-life balance, idea sharing, transparency and communication, mental health support, and employee equality and fair treatment. 

3. Give room for autonomy and creative freedom 

Exerting overly strict control or authoritative leadership on teams can make the work environment feel tense and make team members feel less secure and unable to express themselves. This way, creativity and innovation are stifled. On the contrary, team collaboration flourishes when the environment promotes creative freedom. 

4. Utilize the Right Collaboration Tools 

Investing in the right digital tool that promotes smoother workflows and better teamwork. But first, businesses must consider their needs.  

5. Recognize and reward team collaboration 

Whenever a team comes together and successfully achieves its goals without supervision, it is worthy of recognition. It could be as little as a shout-out, thumbs up, or a short encouraging message, but it serves as motivation for more collaborative efforts. 

Conclusion

Building strong relationships, whether in love or business, requires effort, trust, and communication. Companies that have successfully hacked this code excel by creating an environment that makes employees feel seen, valued, motivated, and stimulated to achieve more. 

As we celebrate love this Valentine’s Day, let’s also recognize and celebrate the impact of collaboration in the workplace.   

At Descasio, we believe that the future of work is built on seamless collaboration and innovative technology. Explore PLUG, our no-code automation platform, today and discover how your team can work smarter, faster, and more efficiently. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The post Colaboration Tools: The Ultimate Love Language of Productive Teams  appeared first on Descasio.

The problem of worker migration is not unique to Nigeria, as many countries around the world face similar challenges. However, the scale of the problem in Nigeria is particularly significant due to the country’s large population, high unemployment rate, and lack of economic opportunities.  

According to a recent pew research survey, 45% of Nigeria’s adult population plans to relocate to another country within five years. That’s staggering if you realise that is half of 110 million Nigerians about the age of 18. This is in addition to the 64% spike within a year in the number of Nigerians studying in the UK.

What’s worse is a greater number of these migrants are skilled workers who have left their jobs to seek better opportunities abroad, particularly in developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and Europe. 

These workers often possess specialized skills and knowledge that are difficult to replace, which can negatively impact the productivity and profitability of businesses. Additionally, the cost and time required to recruit and train new workers can be significant, which can further strain the resources of businesses.

This article aims to provide an understanding of the causes of Japa Syndrome, strategies for solving it, and how Descasio can help combat the issue. It aims to provide insights to businesses and organizations to help them combat the negative impact of losing their workforce to this unfortunate phenomenon.

The Impact on Nigerian Businesses

The impact of worker migration on Nigerian businesses can be significant, affecting various aspects of their operations. Some of the most notable impacts include:

1. Loss of Skilled Labor: The loss of skilled and experienced workers to Japa can be a major concern for businesses. These workers often possess specialized skills and knowledge that are difficult to replace, which can negatively impact the productivity and profitability of businesses.
2. Difficulty in Recruiting and Training New Workers: Replacing skilled and experienced workers can be a difficult and time-consuming task. Businesses may struggle to find qualified candidates to fill the vacant positions, and the cost and time required to recruit and train new workers can be significant.
3. Negative Impact on Productivity and Profitability: The loss of skilled workers can lead to a decrease in productivity and profitability for businesses. This can be particularly problematic for small and medium-sized businesses, which often lack the resources to effectively replace lost workers.
4. Difficulty in retaining employees: The migration of workers from Nigeria to other countries can also create a culture of instability among employees who may feel that they too can migrate in search of better opportunities. This can lead to difficulty in retaining employees and maintaining a stable workforce.
5. Brain Drain: The migration of skilled and educated workers from Nigeria can lead to a brain drain, where the country loses its most talented and educated citizens to other countries. This can be detrimental to the long-term development and growth of the Nigerian economy.

Possible Solutions To Japa

While the issue of worker migration is a complex and multifaceted problem, there are several solutions that Nigerian businesses can implement to mitigate the effects on their operations. 

Some of these solutions include:

1. Government Policies to Address the Root Causes of Migration: The government can play a key role in addressing the root causes of worker migration, such as high unemployment and lack of economic opportunities. This can include policies to promote job creation and economic growth, as well as programs to provide education and training to workers to increase their employability.
2. Businesses Investing in Training and Development Programs: Businesses can invest in training and development programs to build a skilled and experienced workforce. This can include programs to provide education and training to current employees, as well as programs to attract and retain new workers.
3. Investment in Technology to Increase Efficiency and Automation: Businesses can also invest in technology to increase efficiency and automation. This can help businesses to become more productive and profitable and to reduce their dependence on human labour. At Descasio, we offer automation solutions businesses can adopt to mitigate the loss of workers through Japa.
4. Partnerships and Collaborations with Other Businesses: Businesses can also form partnerships and collaborations with other businesses to share resources and expertise. This can include sharing recruiting and training resources, as well as collaborating on research and development projects to create new products and services.
5. Encourage Remote working: Encouraging remote working can also be a solution to mitigate the impact of worker migration. With the advancement of technology, businesses can have their employees work remotely, even when they are in other countries. At Descasio, we offer remote tools like Google workspace to help businesses communicate seamlessly with their employees no matter the location.

It’s important to note that these solutions may not be a one-size-fits-all approach. And addressing worker migration will require a multifaceted approach involving the government, businesses, and individuals.

Conclusion

The challenge of worker migration is a persistent problem for Nigerian businesses, as it results in the loss of skilled and experienced workers and creates difficulties in recruiting and training new employees. This can negatively impact the productivity and profitability of businesses. However, as outlined in this article, there are several solutions that businesses can implement to mitigate the effects of worker migration.

It’s important to note that addressing worker migration will require a multifaceted approach involving the government, businesses, and individuals working together. Descasio can play a crucial role in this process by providing businesses with the tools and technology they need to become more efficient, productive and profitable. This can include solutions such as automation, remote work management software, and talent management platforms.

Additionally, we can offer businesses a wide range of services such as cloud migration, data analytics, and AI-based solutions to create a more efficient and productive work environment. This can help businesses to reduce their dependence on human labour and increase their competitiveness in the global market.

In summary, worker migration is a significant challenge for Nigerian businesses, but with the implementation of the appropriate solutions and the help of tech solutions providers like Descasio, it’s possible to mitigate the effects and contribute to the development of the Nigerian economy.

The post <strong>New Year, Old Challenges – How Businesses Can Solve the Japa Syndrome</strong> appeared first on Descasio.

Check Out the Top 22 Digital Tools To Try Out On Your Business in 2024

Since the start of the third industrial revolution – also known as the digital revolution age – in the mid 20th century, businesses and corporate organisations have always adopted improved ways to function digitally.

The rapid adoption of digital tools by businesses didn’t begin until the late 90s at the height of the internet boom. This golden era heralded the rise of digital products like cloud software which have transformed the way businesses and organisations store important data from meagre physical hard drives sizes of the 60 to the 90s to powerful giant servers housed by software companies like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Service and Google Cloud Platform.

Using efficient and innovative digital tools has many advantages which include customer satisfaction and retention, improved internal and external communication, time optimisation, low customer churn out rate, information centralisation, etc.

READ MORE: 10 Things You Need To Know About Digital Transformation

Table of Contents

1. What Are Digital Tools
2. The Rise of GAFAM
3. Basic Digital Tools and Systems
4. The Right Digital Tools
5. 1 DT Assessment Tool
6. 2 Microsoft Teams
7. 3 Zoom Video Communications
8. 4 Whatsapp Business
9. 5 Zendesk
10. 6 Sage Cloud Accounting
11. 7 Hootsuite
12. 8 Google Workspace
13. 9 Twitter
14. 10 Asana
15. 11 Google Marketing Platform
16. 12 Google Data Studio
17. 13 DropBox
18. 14 Microsoft Azure
19. 15 Instagram
20. 16 WordPress
21. 17 TalentSoft
22. 18 MailChimp
23. 19 HubSpot
24. 20 Trello
25. 21 PayFit
26. 22 eBanqo

What Are Digital Tools?

Digital tools are online platforms or software applications leveraged by businesses or individuals to perform quick and optimised functions that ordinarily takes forever to accomplish without them.

The Rise of GAFAM

Most businesses and organisations that have transformed or are in the process of transforming digitally have adopted the use of some digital tools owned by Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft also known as the Big 5. From cloud storage, collaboration, security, to communication tools, these tech giants have it covered.

Basic Digital Tools and Systems

Over the years, digital tools have slowly grown from performing very basic tasks easily done by new interns to more complex tasks usually undertaken by high level engineers and managers. This evolution has greatly improved and saved productivity, output and output respectively, reducing the need for busywork in the workplace.

The Right Digital Tools

Beyond joining the digital transformation wave, It’s imperative that businesses choose the right digital tool that works for them. For example, an upcoming fashion brand will quickly improve its operational process digitally with a Customer Relationship Management tool like Zendesk, while a Logistics company will prioritise the use of several management tools.

Some tools remain very necessary to integrate across industries and we’ll take a look at 21 of them. Here are 21 digital tools businesses should promptly adopt next year if they haven’t:

1 DT Assessment tool

Businesses that adopt digital technologies with no other strategy than the sheer aim to compete have found themselves in a puddle 9 out of 10 times. This underscores the importance of the digital transformation assessment tool for businesses.

The Digital Transformation tool will enable businesses to look inward and find out how ready they are to adopt technology, based on their current operational process and also provide recommendations to help businesses understand what technologies they need to adopt. Ultimately this will help to ensure that businesses can guarantee high returns on their investment in technology solutions.

2 Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is one of the most effective digital tools out there for businesses that want an all-in-one package. It gained prominence during the pandemic last year. The collaborative software, replacing other Microsoft messaging and collaborative platforms like Skype and Classroom, consist of a chat feature where users can chat seamlessly with other users both one on one and as a group, file sharing, meeting, live event and a video/audio call feature.

Microsoft Teams is itself an online workspace where Team members can get work done.

3 Zoom Video Communications

The Zoom app was pretty much an inconspicuous digital tool that gained so much traction as the go-to social distancing tool during the surge of the COVID 19 pandemic last year. This led to Zoom being the fifth most downloaded mobile app worldwide in 2020 at 477 million downloads.

The video conferencing platform is best used for remote working, distance education (usually known as webinars) and all those boring Monday meetings.

The app can be downloaded from the Apple app store and Google Play Store and also on desktops.

4 Whatsapp Business

For most individual businesses, especially on social media, the Whatsapp Business app is the go to digital tool. With features such as a business profile, catalogue to show your products and services, auto messaging, QR codes to invite new customers and other features, Whatsapp business allows businesses to enhance operations and provide them with a professional and personalised way to engage with their customers.

The messaging app was created by Facebook as a standalone application for business owners and can be downloaded from the app and PlayStore.

5 Zendesk

Interfacing with a lot of old and new customers seamlessly can be a hassle if your business has yet to integrate with the right customer service software. This is where Zendesk comes in. The tool helps optimise your customer relationship with features like messaging and live chat, ticketing system, voice, answering bot and so much more.

6 Sage Cloud Accounting

One of the best accounting software out there, the Sage business cloud accounting platform is a truly transformative digital tool for any business that has adopted it. The software comes fully fitted with advanced inventory, stocks management, invoicing, debtor management, etc and can be used across all industries.

7 Hootsuite

Social media has increasingly become a very important medium used by companies and organisations to communicate with customers. But managing several social media accounts at the same time will require social media management tools like Hootsuite. With Hootsuite, you can manage, plan, schedule and analyse all your company’s social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube) and contents in one place.

The platform comes in 3 different plans; Professional, Teams and Enterprise and can be accessed on the web and downloaded from the app and Play Store.

8 Google Workspace

Arguably the most used digital tool by businesses and individuals due to its simplicity and seamless integration, the Google Workplace, formerly known as Google Suites is a powerful digital transformation tool. The collaborative suite includes well known digital tools like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Slides, My Tasks, Drive and a number of others that employees can use to share real time information.

The digital tools under the G Workspace package can be used independently or jointly.

9 Twitter

Before its ban, Twitter was one of the most favorite online tools used by Nigerian businesses for the quick dissemination of information about their offerings.

Its disposition to capture a lot of audience in a matter of minutes makes it a go to affordable marketing tool for small businesses.

10 Asana

Another popular collaborative digital tool businesses can use to work remotely is Asana. Created by a former Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, Asana is a web and mobile application designed to help teams organise, manage and track their work.

Unlike Microsoft Teams and Google workspace, Asana is a bit limited in features that include automated workflow and reporting, but it’s still a great option especially for small-scale businesses and startups.

11 Google Marketing Platform

This is one of the best digital marketing tools for any B2Bs or B2Cs looking to gain visibility and traction.

The Google Marketing Platform offers solutions like Data Studio (check below for more information), Analytics for reporting, Optimize to test your app or web products and Surveys for fast and reliable opinions from your customers for both Small businesses and Enterprises comes loaded with a lot of rich offerings.

12 Google Data Studio

The first data analytics digital tool on the list, the Google Data Studio is a data analytics tool like no other. Simplistic in its usage, the tool is used for converting data into customisable and visualisable informative reports and dashboards.

A product of Google Marketing Platform, the Data Studio features include Data Connectors for seamless integration with other Google platforms like Google Sheets and Google Ads, Data Transformation to transform raw data into meaningful information and Data Visualization.

13 Dropbox

As the name implies, it’s a box where you can drop stuff. Well, it’s a little more than that. It’s a gigantic, remotely accessible box where you can drop and access any of your files.

With Dropbox, you can easily share different files, no matter how large or small, with the rest of your teammates, making it easier to collaborate and co-create. Dropbox can be easily accessed from any computer, mobile device or web driver and its creators assure users of optimal security during file transfers.

14 Microsoft Azure

Build applications to meet customer demands using AI and machine learning. Test, deploy, manage and scale applications up and down depending on demands.

Do all of this and even modernize your existing applications with Microsoft Azure.

15 Instagram

Do we even need to go deep into this one? I’m guessing no. But we’d do it anyway for the sake of those who aren’t still in the know. One of the most important tricks with marketing and digital marketing is understanding where exactly your customers are and meeting them right there.

With this in mind, think of who your ideal customers are, think of what they’d most likely be doing during the day at every moment when they get a breather from work. If you can picture them scrolling through Instagram feeds, then you already know your business page should be one of those feeds they’re feeding on. (hmmm. So that’s why they call them feeds. Oh! you just learnt something extra. I should get a tip for that).

This tool enables users to create websites or blogs for any purpose and helps manage the contents deployed on the website after creation for great SEO ranking.

16 WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems. As of May 2021, 41.4% of the top 10million websites around the world uses WordPress.

This tool enables users to create websites or blogs for any purpose and helps manage the contents deployed on the website after creation for great SEO ranking.

17 TalentSoft

TalentSoft is a cloud-based HR software that enables Human resource managers to have better interactions with other managers across the organization as well as employees. The tool has a wide range of features that caters to different HR functions like, recruiting, employee engagement, onboarding and more.

TalentSoft adapts to HR practices across different countries and organizational structures, making the tool effective for talent management on a global scale even whilst it respects local requirements.

18 MailChimp

Your business is incomplete without an email marketing tool. One of the most popular digital email marketing tools out there, MailChimp is virtually used by any business – including news platforms and podcast hosts – with a moderate or large customer/audience base.

The MailChimp features which include Audience Management for segmentation and targeting, Creative Tools for content creation, Marketing Automation and Insights and Analytics allow for seamless and faster interaction with customers and integration to other digital tools.

19 HubSpot

Very few digital tools offer so much comprehensive digital interaction for businesses the way HubSpot does. The HubSpot platform packs a big punch; it combines customer relationship management solutions, inbound marketing solutions and other digital solutions into one package and can be integrated with other popular digital tools.

The platform also offers easy to use free features to help businesses grow their audience base online.

20 Trello

Trello is a visual collaboration tool where users share and manage projects. Unlike most collaboration tools on this list, Trello’s unique offering is in its powerful visual perspective to remote work.

Not considered as a go to option for most businesses due to its limited features, it’s still an attractive option for users who want a fun and simple interface to work on.

21 PayFit

A list of digital tools for businesses is not complete without a payroll management tool like PayFit. The tool completely takes away the hassle of manually preparing and processing payment of employee salaries and entitlements from Human Resources managers by automating the process using various features like employee portal, onboarding and reporting and exports.

22 eBanqo

AI chatbots are increasingly becoming the go-to customer interaction tools and one of those platforms that offers such tools is eBanqo, a conversational AI solution that helps businesses automate customer enagagement and deliver services instantly on messaging appss like Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, Google My Business and Whatsapp, meeting customers right where they already engage.

eBanqo offers four features:
– FAQ Bot that makes it possible for customers to get instant answers to questions.
– Self service chatbot that allows customers to resolve issues themselves.
– Live Chat feature for customer service agents to chat with customers irrespective of the channel the customer is engaging on
– Broadcasting feature to send outbound messages to customers.
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The post 22 digital tools to use for your business in 2024 (Updated) appeared first on Descasio.

7 Business Automation Tools to Subscribe to in 2022

The benefits of business process automation, which is the use of technology to accomplish monotonous and tedious tasks, are immense for businesses looking to edge out the competition.

Picture yourself sitting on your cosy office chair with both legs comfortably stretched on the shiny marble desk and a digital clicker on the left hand that lets you solve all work-related tasks from negotiating complex deals with clients to the complex art of making a cup of coffee without thinking so much about the task (unlike the task I’m currently on). Gotten a picture yet?

Let’s take it a notch higher, imagine if all you do daily at work to complete your task is punching the buttons on the aforementioned digital clicker the same way you scroll TV stations at home endlessly with a TV remote control.

You must be swelling inwards at the possibility of being in such a working environment (don’t type that letter!), but I hate to be a bearer of bad news; a futuristic device like a digital clicker only exists in movies. It will probably take a hundred years to create such a device.

Key Stats About Business Automation

Back to reality, more organizations are abandoning manual business processes and jumping on the train of automation. According to a 2020 Mckinsey survey of business leaders from a wide cross-section of industries, 66% were piloting solutions to automate at least one business process, up from 57% two years earlier. Also, in a recent survey carried out by Frevvo, a leading Business Process Automation software company, 78% of business leaders believe that automating tasks in the organization increases productivity for everyone involved.

These key stats show the level of commitment and investment business owners put (and are still putting) in automating their business processes to achieve the desired results.

Business Process Automation

The benefits of business process automation, which is the use of technology to accomplish monotonous and tedious tasks, are immense for businesses looking to edge out the competition. According to a 2021 report by Zappier, another BPA software platform, on the state of business automation, 88% of small businesses say automation allows them to compete with larger companies by allowing them to move faster, close leads quickly, spend less time on dead-end works, limit errors and offer better customer service.

There are over a thousand and one business processes across industries that have been automated. From performing simple work tasks like sending an email to a prospective customer to complex accounting tasks of reconciling financial records, automating business processes is as critical as death and taxes.

But to steer your business or organization on the path of automation, the right automation tools must be used. These tools are essential to the growth and success of a company.

Here are 7 Business Automation tools your company can subscribe to in 2022:

Types of Business Automation Tools

1. Hubspot
2. Zapier
3. Wordsmith
4. Microsoft Power Automate
5. Netsuite Financial Management
6. SolveXia
7. IFTTT

Hubspot

HubSpot CRM platform is one of the most effective automation tools out there for businesses looking to grow their customer base at scale. It’s a marketer’s/sales expert’s delight! The platform can virtually automate all marketing, sales, and customer service processes, including capturing quality leads, sending targeted emails to prospective and existing clients or customers, blog and social media content creation and management, and customer service management.

There are five inbuilt software to get your marketing automation journey started on the HubSpot platform; the Marketing software with features like Lead generation, Market Automation, and Analytics will help you grow and convert your online visitors and run complete inbound marketing campaigns at scale, the Sales software with features like advanced CRM, Meeting Scheduling and Quotes will help you close more deals faster, the Customer Service software, Content Management software with an SEO recommendation and a Drag and Drop feature and Operations software.

It also offers integration capabilities with your favourite online tools like Gmail, All HubSpot inbuilt software comes with different pricing bundles that suit your budget needs, but you can request a demo if you are in doubt of their automation services.

Zapier

One task that truly gets tiring even for the genius walking among us is regular coding which keeps one from doing the tasks that matter. This genuine challenge is the reason no-code-based platforms like Zappier were created.

Zappier does the tricky backend coding task for you so you can concentrate on the task that matters. Its functionalities include connecting two or more everyday used apps like Teams and Gmail, creating seamless multiple workflows and automating repetitive tasks that save hours of work.

It offers flexible pricing plans that fit your company’s needs.

Wordsmith

Every business process has been automated one way or another and that includes content writing. You probably think it’s impossible to come up with an automation process for writing, well think Wordsmith. As the name suggests, this is a content automation tool that transforms data into insightful narratives. Call it the Shakespeare of numbers and you won’t be wrong.

It automatically expresses data across your organization in the most informative and conversational written tone. Powered by artificial intelligence, Wordsmith enables you to get a better understanding of your business by creating clear, concise, and insightful analysis that helps you make better data-driven decisions.

Big companies like Associated Press, Microsoft, Yahoo, and PwC use the tool to generate billions of content every year.

You can subscribe to the paid plan of $250 per 1000 articles to get started.

Microsoft Power Automate

Most Microsoft applications usually pack a punch. Some of these applications offer some form of automation; the Microsoft apps are a low-code development tool designed to create apps. Microsoft lists help manage and customize workflows. Microsoft Sway creates interacting infographics and presentations using an inbuilt design engine. But none of these applications offers an end-to-end automation process as the Microsoft Power Automate.

With Power Automate, you can create an entire automated workflow and business process. It also offers thousands of prebuilt templates to start automating common business processes.

With features like Flow where repetitive and time-consuming multistep, guided processes are automated with pre-built connectors, AI Builders to create intelligent automation and insights by building and publishing AI models without a single line of code or requiring data science skills and Process Advisor which record and visualizes end-to-end processes, Power Automate is the ultimate automation platform.

What’s best is that you can automate on the go with Power Automate Mobile. You can also seamlessly connect your workflows with other Microsoft 365 applications. Pricing for Power Automate is flexible across features.

Netsuite Financial Management

One of the most demanding business processes for most organizations has to be Accounting processes. Accounting tasks are arduous and if not done rightly, can spell financial doom for any business. This is why businesses need accounting automation tools like Netsuite Financial Management to navigate the intricacies of financial processes.

Built for large organizations in mind, NFM helps automate complex financial processes such as budgeting and forecasting, bank reconciliation, asset management, revenue management, compliance management, payables and receivables and so much more.

The software solves the challenges that come with manual processing, data accessibility, accuracy, and compliance with features like Revenue Recognition, Planning and Budgeting, Accounting, Billing, Financial Reporting, Financial Consolidation and Governance, Risk, and Compliance.

Pricing for NFM is flexible and based on the number of users per company.

SolveXia

As seen with the previous tool above, the most important business process automation is arguably the one that involves financial processes. Most hardly cater to the needs of small businesses but a few, and one of those few is SolveXia.

As the name suggests, SolveXia solves complex financial problems including revenue management, expense analysis, reconciliation, and much more using a powerful financial automation suite.

The automation software is suited for large and medium-scale businesses with more complex financial processes.

IFTTT

Here’s one automation platform social media small businesses can jump on. IFTTT, which is short for If This Then That, helps small businesses connect all their online assets.

Mostly it’s used for personal use but it has some amazing workflows for small businesses. For example, automatically add all email attachments to Google Drive or other tasks like that.
IFTTT can be used to automate various aspects like social media, email marketing, blogging content, and more. It offers a standard package for free forever.

Last Words

Fictional narratives aside, automation is not a sort of glitch in the Matrix or a robot from the future, it is a big deal for businesses looking to improve their revenue base and speed up work processes. It isn’t also meant to replace workers but to compliment them, freeing them up to do the work that matters for the organization.
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The Best Digital Tool to Invest in Right Now

Technology has come a long way since we first had a glimpse of what it could do. While that may sound cliche, there’s a whole lot of truth and mind-blowing detail wrapped in that simple statement. At the initial stage of technology’s arrival, we familiarized ourselves with hardware like printers, desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and lots more, and we used them to complete simple tasks with basic software for messaging, keeping time, taking pictures, and saving dates on our calendar. However, with time, the software has evolved massively and that has started an entirely different revolution under which anything can be made possible and easy too.

READ MORE: 21 Digital Tools To Use For Your Business In 2021.

Today, there are over a billion applications on the different app stores that exist, enabling us all to do just about anything we can think of.

Surviving through the pandemic has been hard, but with technology, businesses have been able to shut the doors to their physical offices and open a wider door online. Teams that have been dispersed across the world have been able to bridge the distance using collaboration software, complete million-dollar projects right from the comfort of a couch and celebrate wins – whether big or small – together.

Riding on the wings of this technological revolution, we at Descasio have continued to create tailored solutions for businesses of all sizes across Africa and beyond. Transforming businesses through technology has always been our goal. To see local businesses gain the digital advantage and begin to play on the global field is all that we live for.

To make that transition process easier, we recently launched a tool that allows business owners to run an X-ray of their business to find out which bones are cracking and which ones could use a little bit of firming up.

Typically, this solution helps businesses conduct a self-assessment, see what areas they need to improve on, see how technology can help them achieve better results in those areas, understand what technology solutions will be more appropriate for them, and get recommendations on the next steps to take in achieving their desired business outcome. In this simple guide, we’ll be showing you how to use our Digital Transformation Assessment Tool.

1. Visit https://assessments.descasio.io/




Our Digital Transformation Assessment Tool can be accessed via your web browser on smartphones and PCs of all kinds, i.e. IOS, Android, and Windows. To access the tool, open your web browser and type in the URL as seen above. Or simply click here to be redirected to the tool.

2. Sign up

Sign up in one easy step by filling in your desired email address and a unique password. We are very big on security. Hence, we’ve done everything possible on our path to ensure that this tool is 100% safe for users. However, we encourage healthy security practices for all our customers and so we advise that you do the following both here and elsewhere;

1. Create passwords with a minimum of 8 characters.
2. Write some letters of your password in uppercase. It doesn’t always have to be the first character, you can mix it up to reduce the chances of hackers guessing your password.
3. Use special characters (*, ‘ , ^,
4. Do not share your password with any unauthorized or unknown user.

Select the appropriate answer for each question
To make the assessment easier and faster for users, we have provided a set of options for each question. This way you wouldn’t have to spend long hours thinking of the best way to construct your answers and can complete the assessment in as little time as 10 mins. However, we implore users to select the most appropriate answers for each question as it relates to them, as this will impact on the accuracy of the report that will be issued to them at the end of the assessment.

a. Monitor the progress of your assessment

Easily monitor the progress of your assessment by watching the progress bar on the bottom left of your screen.

b. Pause and resume your assessment

Need to attend to urgent tasks right in the middle of your assessment? Not to worry. You can easily hit the “Save & Continue Later” button at the bottom right of your screen to save your assessment and resume later.

Get a report on your business’s digital maturity profile

Now to the main tea – the report. After ticking your way to the end of the assessment, hit submit and do a little stretch. Your digital maturity report should be waiting on your screen as soon as you look back down.

Get recommendations on how to improve your business across critical pillars

In combination with actionable insights into your business’s current position on the digital maturity scale, you will also be getting recommendations on how to improve your business processes, customer experience, and products to help you meet your business target.

Now you know exactly what you need to do, so don’t gamble. Don’t hesitate. Take your digital transformation assessment today.

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