Productivity apps help supercharge your business, smash through workflows, and get more done in less time, with less stress. We cover the 10 best options for your business in 2023.
The apps and tools we use on a daily basis have a big impact on how much we can get done. Complicated and cumbersome apps can result in delays, miscommunications, and reduced productivity.
The best productivity apps, on the other hand, help employees manage and prioritize their tasks, quickly and easily find all the information they need on a daily basis, and effectively communicate with team members and leaders. This not only makes workers more efficient, but it also helps reduce stress and limit the risks of burnout.
Likewise, productivity apps with tools for managing teams and projects, delegating tasks and tracking progress, and supporting employees with resources and training are a boon to busy managers.
In this article, we look at the 10 best apps for productivity available today, with Connecteam leading the pack as the best all-in-one productivity app for workers and managers.
If you don’t have the time to read through our research, jump down to our quick comparison table.
Our Top Picks
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Best all-in-one productivity app
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Good for hybrid office teams
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Good for freelancers and personal tasks
What to Look For in a Productivity App
Productivity apps come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and the apps in this list cover a wide range of functions and use cases. As a general rule, though, the best productivity apps will share these core features:
- Intuitive and mobile-friendly. For productivity apps to be effective, they must be simple to use, both for workers and managers, and accessible from any device. This not only ensures their effective use but also promotes worker buy-in and simplifies onboarding and training.
- Customizable. No two businesses or teams are the same. A customizable user interface and flexibility in terms of functionality means you can adapt an app to suit your needs—not the other way around.
- Price. Productivity apps range from the highly affordable, like Connecteam, to the excessively expensive. In particular, per-user plans can quickly become very costly. Compare features and costs to make sure you’re getting the most—and best—features for your dollar.
- Security for both employees and businesses. Privacy rules and user permissions help guard against accidental or intentional leaks. These keep your customer data, internal policies and practices, and employee data safe from prying eyes.
- Automations. These can greatly improve efficiency and help eliminate human errors. Any productivity app worth its salt will allow you to build custom automations, freeing you and your employees from repetitive and error-prone tasks.
- Scalability. When the tools you use don’t scale well, it can cause real problems across your organization. Transitioning to a new tool after hitting certain milestones also causes unnecessary stress. Opt for an app with features for teams both small and large, and you’ll be set for the future.
- All-in-one apps like Connecteam allow you to manage everything with one simple tool. There are big advantages to this approach: All your information is in one place; teams can communicate contextually around tasks and projects; and employees benefit from a consistent, simple user experience.
The 10 Best Productivity Apps of 2023
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Connecteam — Best all-in-one productivity app
Connecteam is the best all-in-one productivity app for businesses, managers, and workers. It includes powerful tools for managing teams, projects, and tasks—including task management, time tracking, and checklists. Workers can access all the information they need for their shift as soon as they clock in, including daily tasks and dynamic forms.
You’ll also find a full communications suite, with secure instant messaging, company-wide and team updates, surveys and polls, and a knowledge base to store all your company documents. In addition, you’ll have access to Connecteam’s features for managing and promoting company events.
Finally, you’ll find tools for rewarding and recognizing achievements, HR document management, onboarding and training, time off management, and more.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the best productivity tools Connecteam has to offer.
Manage and assign tasks to employees, teams, and shifts
Connecteam stands out as a powerful task management app that’s easy to use. You can create and assign tasks to teams, individual employees, or a particular shift. There’s also an option to create recurring tasks to save you time and effort.
Detailed descriptions, unlimited subtasks, and video, image, and file attachments ensure employees have all the information they need as soon as they clock in—and right from their mobile devices.
Due dates, reminders, and real-time notifications help keep workers on schedule and managers in the loop about progress and delays. Similarly, as a manager, you can view all your team’s tasks in one place, organize tasks with tags, and filter them by tag, completion status, assignee, and more.
Keep projects moving forward with digital forms and checklists
Checklists provide an intuitive way for employees to work through daily, weekly, and monthly workflows. Connecteam makes it easy to create checklists with tasks, dates, images, and even employee eSignatures and geolocation—a must for safety checks, opening and closing procedures, and more. Take advantage of checklist templates for even greater productivity.
Digital forms are another great way to ensure work is being completed properly and to standard. With Connecteam you can accurately keep track of cleanliness, safety standards, inventory, deliveries, and more in real time. Connecteam’s forms are simple to build and can change dynamically based on worker input.
As with tasks, you’ll receive real-time notifications as checklists are completed and forms are submitted.
In-app chat and updates feed for smooth communication
Connecteam offers secure one-on-one and group conversations through its built-in chat feature. You and your team can share files, videos, images, and more within conversations, and push notifications ensure everyone stays up to date.
As a manager, you have full control over team chats. You can delete inappropriate or confusing messages, restrict who’s able to message whom, and ensure conversations stay on track.
Chats integrate directly with all the operations features mentioned above, so you can have distraction-free conversations around projects, tasks, shifts, and more.
Finally, rest easy knowing your chats are stored securely in the cloud and never on employees’ devices. Messages and media can’t be exported or saved onto workers’ devices, and employees instantly lose access to chats when they leave your company.
Keep all your documentation, guides, and policies in one knowledge base
Connecteam’s knowledge base allows companies to create, store, and manage all their important documents in a centralized location. Team members can access it from anywhere, at any time. That said, managers and admins can control who sees what with access logs and user permissions.
Enrich knowledge base articles with everything from text to links to images, videos, and audio files. You’re also able to organize files with folders and tags, share staff policies and procedure manuals, track inventory with spreadsheets, and more.
All your data is end-to-end encrypted, and there are no limits on the size or number of files you can store in Connecteam.
Drag-and-drop scheduling and an accurate time clock
Maximize productivity by ensuring the right people are on the job and shifts are neither under- nor overstaffed. Connecteam’s drag-and-drop scheduling tool makes this easy to achieve.
You can create and publish schedules in minutes—choosing from Connecteam’s large library of templates or drafting your own. Create recurring schedules and set them to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly. Connecteam will automatically notify you of any scheduling conflicts or overlaps. Likewise, your workers will get alerts when their schedule changes or a new one is published.
Workers can see their schedule on their mobile devices, make requests to swap shifts, and see all the documents, forms, and checklists they need as soon as they clock in.
Speaking of which, Connecteam has a time clock that’s accurate down to the second and simple to use. It’s GPS-enabled as well, so you can make sure everybody’s in the right place at the right time, and that lone and field workers are safe. You’re also able to create geofences around job sites and restrict clock-in and clock-out to those areas.
Connecteam also offers built-in overtime and break management, automated timesheets, automatic reporting, payroll integrations, a kiosk app, and more.
Rewards and training, HR documents, and much more
Connecteam brings together the best productivity features for teams of all sizes. Use rewards and recognition tools to reduce turnover and keep employees engaged, and manage all your HR documents and ensure currency and validity.
Plus, create dynamic training courses to upskill employees and boost efficiency, gather feedback with surveys to help streamline workflows and keep workers happy, and much more.
Connecteam also offers a free for life plan – Try Connecteam here!
Key Features
Store and share unlimited how-tos, policies, guidelines, and docs
Scheduling, real-time notifications, and GPS-enabled time-clock
Pros
Highly customizable for any business in any industry
Simple to use, available anywhere
Built mobile-friendly from the ground up
All-in-one solution
Cons
Needs internet or wifi access to work
Pricing
Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Start your free trial -
Hive — Good for hybrid office teams
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Hive offers tools for project and resource management and planning, time tracking, goal tracking, and client engagement. It’s built specifically for remote and hybrid teams, so it works well for deskbound workers but may not be well suited to deskless teams.
Project management features include tasks and subtasks, support for sprints and agile methodology, and dependencies, which can be visualized on Gantt charts and calendars. Hive also includes communications tools, such as in-app, contextual chat, video chat, and forms. Similarly, Hive Notes is a collaborative document editor for meeting notes, checklists, and project updates, with AI features.
Hive does include tools for time tracking and even digital timesheets, but you’ll need a separate app for scheduling. That said, it’s quite customizable and includes project and action templates, custom statuses, and notifications. There are also automation features, such as the ability to create tasks and assign owners, and team analytics.
Learn more about HiveKey Features
- Project management with subtasks, sprints, and Gantt charts
- Chat, video calls, and forms
- Automations and templates
- Team and company-wide goals
Pros
- Built-in AI for docs
- Custom dashboards for teams
Cons
- Free plan has limited storage, no forms, and no time tracking
- Per-user pricing gets expensive with larger teams
Pricing
Starts at $16/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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Todoist — Good for freelancers and personal tasks
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Todoist is a popular task management suite that’s especially useful for individuals, such as freelancers, and organizing personal projects and tasks. It features natural language task creation. For example, “Read work emails every day at 10 am” will schedule a recurring daily “Read work emails” task for 10 am.
Users can create tasks, add subtasks, organize tasks by project, share projects with friends or colleagues, add priority levels, and create filtered views. Unfortunately, reminders are available only on the Pro plan.
For teams, workers can delegate tasks to others, get notifications for due dates, organize tasks into Kanban boards, and attach tags and labels. Todoist also lets users add tasks via email, add comments and files, and create a feed to display tasks in a preferred calendar app.
Finally, Todoist includes some “gamification” features to help boost productivity and motivation, such as goal tracking, activity history, and “Todoist Karma,” which awards points for completing tasks.
While an able task manager, Todoist doesn’t include other business features, such as chat, time tracking, or documents.
Learn more about TodoistKey Features
- Organize and prioritize tasks
- Share and delegate tasks and boards
- Todoist Karma adds a gamification element
- Natural-language task creation
Pros
- Works equally well for business and personal life
- Plenty of different ways to view an organize tasks
Cons
- Limited business features, especially for larger teams
- Free plan limited to 5 projects
Pricing
Starts at $150/month, for 50 users Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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ClickUp — Good for cross-team collaboration
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Clickup strives to be an all-in-one solution for productivity and business operations. It includes tools for tasks, whiteboards, dashboards, chat, goals and documents—all of which can be divided up into different “spaces.”
Each space can be viewed as a list, board, or timeline. It’s well-suited to software developers, marketers, engineers and designers, but doesn’t include specific features for managing field workers and deskless teams.
That said, it is highly customizable. In fact, some users have found the learning curve to be a bit steep when getting started. The newest version, ClickUp 3.0 (invite-only at the time of writing), will include universal search, custom task types, and a central inbox. It will also include AI features for document creation.
ClickUp includes internal chat, forms, events and meetings, automations, and support for sprints.
Learn more about ClickUpKey Features
- Projects and tasks with different views
- Whiteboards for collaboration
- Docs with AI features
- Internal chat with mentions, links and files
Pros
- Highly customizable
- Large template library
Cons
- Steep learning curve when starting out
- No timesheets, scheduling, or surveys
Pricing
Starts at $7/member/month Trial: No Free Plan: Yes
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Airtable — Good for database-style data management
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Mac
Airtable is a platform for creating custom applications to fit a variety of business use cases. Part spreadsheet, part database, it allows users to create relationships between different kinds of data—such as users and tasks—and visualize these as boards, calendars, and spreadsheets.
Airtable’s “Interfaces” offers businesses new ways to store, share, and collect data from employees and customers. It also features a comprehensive automations builder and its own script runner (only available on more expensive plans).
Like ClickUp, Aairtable is customizable but can be very complex to use. For example, you would need to “create” a simple task management system that includes projects, tags, subtasks and more. In this way, it’s not as intuitive for basic productivity functions as other apps on this list.
That said, it is possible to create apps for many different scenarios. Just be prepared to invest a good chunk of time into learning the ropes and getting everything set up. The mobile app, as well, is a bit cumbersome when it comes to viewing and storing records, which may make it less useful for field and mobile-first workers.
Learn more about AirtableKey Features
- View records as a spreadsheet, calendar, Kanban, and more
- “Interfaces” offer an interesting way to work with data
- Extensive automations builder
- Advanced filters and sorting
Pros
- Built for customizability—create apps for many situations
- Many integrations and large app store
Cons
- Complex and requires time to create basic productivity apps
- No built-in chat
Pricing
Starts at $10 per, user per month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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MindMeister — Good for brainstorming
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
MindMeister is a collaborative mind mapping app. It allows users to brainstorm and visualize ideas and workflows and manage associated tasks. It includes a library of themes, a variety of layouts and connectors, chart and list views, presentations (forthcoming at the time of writing), and templates.
Users can add notes, images, and files to connectors and nodes—which are individual ideas, tasks or concepts in your mind map. Collaborative features include commenting, version history, and share links. In addition, users can customize topics and connections with images and emojis and change their appearance.
MindMeister offers email notifications, real-time sync, and the ability to manage user permissions. There’s also an “Outline Mode” to view maps as bullet points and a “Focus Mode” to remove distractions. Plus, MindMeister has various integrations, including with Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace.
Learn more about MindMeisterKey Features
- Various themes available
- Chart and list views
- Collaborative features and third-party integrations
Pros
- Highly customizable and visually appealing
- Free trial and free-forever plan
Cons
- Limited functionality in free version
- Reports of a steep learning curve for new users
Pricing
Starts at $7.53/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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Scribe — Good for creating documentation
Available on
- Web
- Windows
- Mac
Scribe allows you to create how-to documents by recording your screen as you go through a workflow. The application follows your actions and screen, and then creates a set of step-by-step instructions that can be shared with team members and customers.
It’s well-suited to teams that work on a computer but would have limited utility for workers in deskless industries like food and beverage, construction, hospitality, and healthcare, as most workflows in these industries happen in the physical world.
Still, Scribe offers an interesting way to create documentation for complex or repetitive tasks that might take place at a main office.
Learn more about ScribeKey Features
- Record Chrome, Edge, or any app with Desktop version
- Generate how-to guides with links and screenshots
- Customize guides with text and annotations
- Share via PDF, HTML, Markdown or embed in a Wiki
Pros
- Easy to use
- Save time creating documentation
Cons
- Fairly expensive for larger teams
- Offers no other business functionality
Pricing
Starts at $12/user/month, for minimum 5 users Trial: No Free Plan: Yes
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Basecamp — Good for project-focused tasks and comms
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Mac
Basecamp is a cloud-based project management and collaboration platform. It offers tools to manage projects, tasks, and deadlines—including to-do lists, messages boards, schedules, file storage, group chat, and project templates.
Basecamp’s chat is contextual: It takes place within projects, where you can also share docs and files. Basecamp also supports rudimentary scheduling—but only for key dates and milestones, not for employees.
To-dos allow you to create tasks and subtasks and assign them to team members. You can also see a team member’s activity history. Communication is broken up into threaded message boards and a real-time “Campfire” chat.
Learn more about BasecampKey Features
- Main hub to see all projects
- Message boards and instant messaging
- To-dos with due dates and assignments
- Store and share project-related files
Pros
- Large library of integrations
- Multiple views: calendar, lineup, Kanban, etc.
Cons
- No time tracking, forms, or surveys
- Fairly expensive for small teams; no free plan
Pricing
Starts at $99.00/month Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: Yes — For a single user
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Expensify — Good for tracking expenses
Available on
- iOS
- Android
Expensify is an expense management, invoicing, and payroll app. It includes receipt scanning, credit card import, support for multiple approvers, travel integrations, tax tracking, and auditing and compliance. There are tools for invoicing, including bulk invoicing, integrated payments, and customer-facing communications.
Expensify also offers its own bank card that connects with the app and features 4% cashback, plus a 50% savings on Expensify plans.
Accounts payable features include bill scanning and automated payments, as well as automated payroll processing.
Finally, you can create, submit and approve expense reports, and enact manual or automated reimbursements.
It’s a capable expense management application, but there are no tools for tracking tasks—even expense-related ones. On the plus side, it’s relatively inexpensive.
Learn more about ExpensifyKey Features
- Receipt and bill scanning
- Automated payroll
- Quick expense reimbursements
- Create and send bulk invoices
Pros
- Comprehensive expense management
- Expensify Card offers financial advantages
Cons
- No support for managing expense-related tasks
- Users report delays in credit card synchronization
Pricing
Starts at $5/user/month Trial: No Free Plan: Yes
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Slack — Good for channel-based chat
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Slack offers channel- and thread-based communications for teams. Teams can create channels for projects or topics, send direct messages, and share files. Users can also communicate over live audio and video calls, with screen sharing. Slack also features integrations with a large number of other apps and services.
Slack also features universal search, and you can narrow down searches by filtering by individual or project. Managers and admins can apply individual user permissions and determine what channels users can see. However, there are no user groups per se for quickly and easily adding users or hiding channels from specific groups.
While it integrates with other productivity apps, Slack doesn’t offer any built-in task management features. In addition, while messages are divided up into channels, as a stand-alone chat app, it’s difficult to have contextual conversations around specific tasks or shifts.
Learn more about SlackKey Features
- Organize conversations into channels
- Share channels publicly or with individual users
- Share files via chat and pin attachments to channels
- Video and audio conferencing
Pros
- Boasts a wide range of integrations
- Easy to set up and use with teams
Cons
- Limited security features (not end-to-end encrypted)
- Per-user pricing gets costly with larger teams
Pricing
Starts at $7.25/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
Compare the Best Productivity Apps
Topic |
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Reviews |
4.8
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4.5
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4.6
|
4.7
|
4.7
|
4.7
|
4.9
|
4.3
|
4.4
|
4.7
|
Pricing |
Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users
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Starts at $16/user/month
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Starts at $150/month, for 50 users
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Starts at $7/member/month
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Starts at $10 per, user per month
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Starts at $7.53/user/month
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Starts at $12/user/month, for minimum 5 users
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Starts at $99.00/month
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Starts at $5/user/month
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Starts at $7.25/user/month
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Free Trial |
yes
14-day
|
yes
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yes
|
no
|
yes
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
30-day
|
no
|
yes
|
Free Plan |
yes
Free Up to 10 users
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
For a single user
|
yes
|
yes
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What Are Productivity Apps?
The term “productivity apps” refers to a wide range of applications that businesses and individuals use to boost their productivity. This can be accomplished by making it easier to manage projects and tasks, offering tools for communicating effectively, allowing for the automation of complex or repetitive tasks, and organizing files and information in an accessible way.
The general idea is that productivity apps take everyday workflows and information and make them easier to manage. Task management, note-taking, file sharing, time tracking, scheduling, and internal communications are all examples of productivity tools that allow teams to work more efficiently and effectively.
How Do Productivity Apps Work?
Different kinds of productivity apps offer different tools to businesses. Typically, though, you’ll find separate functions and features for managers and workers.
Managers may be able to create and assign tasks, for example, and provide context for their successful completion—such as how-to videos and guides, best practices, and safety procedures. Likewise, a manager may be able to quickly draft and publish a schedule, enriched with checklists, forms, and surveys. Finally, they’ll have control over who sees what and when.
In this way, productivity apps work by making it easier for managers to delegate, track, motivate, and support workers.
Likewise, employees benefit from productivity apps by having a clearer understanding of what’s expected of them. Tasks and subtasks break complex projects, daily routines, and opening and closing procedures, and more into simple, step-by-step instructions. Contextual conversations and file sharing and storage allow them to see important information as needed, without distractions.
Productivity apps work for employees by consolidating everything they need to do their jobs and accomplish more in less time, with fewer risks and less frustration.
The Benefits of Productivity Apps
Greater productivity!
It goes without saying, but the main benefit of productivity apps is that they increase employee productivity. The tools described above—and the fact that teams have everything they need to work effectively, wherever they are—greatly reduces delays and boost efficiency.
Easier collaboration
No matter where your employees work from, productivity apps make it easy to keep track of their actions and responsibilities. You can delegate tasks, communicate with workers, and ensure everything gets done without ever having to be in the same room as your team.
Better communications
These apps provide context for business chats by allowing managers and workers to share files and updates, send group and private messages, and even, in the case of Connecteam, open chats directly from tasks, shifts, and checklists. This helps reduce distractions and makes the topic of every conversation clear from the start.
Better time management
Great task management doesn’t just ensure important tasks aren’t missed. It also allows managers and workers to prioritize tasks and complete them in a timely manner. Plus, time tracking and scheduling features help teams stay on track, no matter the setting.
Less stress, greater motivation
Finally, these apps help reduce the stress and frustration many workers experience when they don’t have access to the tools and information they need to do their jobs correctly. Some productivity apps, such as Connecteam, even include features for motivating and supporting workers, which has been directly linked to improved productivity.
How Much Do Productivity Apps Cost?
They vary greatly in cost, although most of them employ a per-user pricing structure. Unless the prices for these are very low, this can become costly for teams and businesses as they grow. Slack, for example, costs $8.75 per user. For a team of 30, that’s just over $260 per month.
Plus, not all productivity apps can be considered “all-in-one.” A team of 30 using Slack for communications and Airtable for project management, for example, would be looking at $18.75 per person per month, or just over $560 per month.
Connecteam approaches pricing differently. Paid plans start at just $29 per month for each of the Operations, Communications, and HR hubs for up to 30 members, and then just $0.50 per user after that. You can mix and match features as needed. Thus, for the same team discussed above, it would cost just $60 per month total for Connecteam’s Operations and Communications hubs.
Plus, Connecteam’s Small Business Plan is 100% free forever for up to 10 users. There’s also a 14-day free trial you can take advantage of.
FAQs
Are productivity apps effective?
Absolutely! The best apps for productivity, such as Connecteam, bring together all your tasks, information, and workflows into one simple, intuitive application that you and your workers can use from anywhere.
How can you increase productivity at work?
Providing your employees with the right tools to do their job is the best way to ensure maximum productivity. They should have everything they need at their fingertips right at the start of their shifts. Take advantage of tasks with deadlines, forms, and checklists to get things done quickly.
Which app can be used to increase business productivity?
Connecteam is the best all-in-one app for increasing business productivity. It has everything you need to manage all aspects of your business and teams. It comes with scheduling tools, GPS-enabled time-tracking, digital timesheets, task management, feature-rich communications, document management, reports, and more.
The Bottom Line On Productivity App
Day-to-day business operations can get a real boost from using the right productivity app. Both managers and employees benefit greatly from having everything they need on-hand and displayed in an intuitive way.
Connecteam is the best all-in-one productivity app available today, because it combines all the most important productivity features for teams into one simple app. Manage projects and tasks of any complexity, share all the necessary information with workers, motivate and reward employees, schedule productive shifts, and more.