What Can You Gain from AI?

 AI is a major topic lately, whether it’s on the topic of new and upcoming chatbots that are capable of generating text or making art that can compete with even the most skilled of artists. AI is commonly targeted as a culprit in stealing jobs, as well, and with these applications becoming more sophisticated over time, it’s no wonder people aren’t sure how to react to these developments.

However, AI has advanced to the point where even small businesses and individuals can take advantage of it to at least some degree. In fact, you might already be doing so without realizing it. Let’s discuss how AI is used in business and what could be next for AI in the workplace.

AI Makes Important, Monotonous Tasks Easier and More Efficient

Process automation has been happening as far back as the advent of the wheel and in agriculture, but AI takes this concept one step further by taking existing information and adapting it. Most of the automation you see in the workplace is process automation, which takes tasks that humans usually handle—tasks that aren’t necessarily productive or engaging—and automates them, saving time and money that could be better spent on other, more productive tasks that are more suited to them. These tasks might involve innovation or other aspects of the creative process that are not-so-easily automated.

AI Provides Insights Faster Than the Alternatives

Businesses run on data, so if it’s organized, it’s more manageable and usable. Finding the time and resources to do this, however, is something that can be difficult for businesses, especially without it leading to considerable user error. AI uses algorithms to make this process easier and more efficient, and some systems can even use existing data to extrapolate potential outcomes and predict what could happen in the future. AI is able to quickly identify patterns that the human brain might not pick up on, but this doesn’t make the human’s role in the process any less important. The AI needs human input to work properly, after all.

AI Assists with Customer and Client Communication

AI can help businesses better manage their outreach efforts by recalling past conversations and communications, effectively providing individuals with personalized experiences. Using an AI to keep track of this information saves your business time and resources while making your services that much more convenient for your consumers. AI can also operate as a chatbot for your business, helping customers with some of the more frequently asked questions and making support more accessible and convenient. This idea, called cognitive engagement, is one reason why AI is such a popular tool for communications and support. It gives workers, whether they are doctors or IT technicians, more time to focus on providing the best service they can.

The Password Manager Boosts Organizational Security

There are so many threats out there that there are positions dedicated within companies to protecting network infrastructures and managing cybersecurity strategy. This alone should be enough to get you to take it seriously. With your employees controlling the “keys to the castle,” i.e., passwords, you need to make sure that you have a solid password strategy in place so as to not inadvertently put your company at risk.

A Great Password Manager is Well Worth the Investment

Simply put, a password manager helps you remember all of the passwords you use throughout the day without having to actually remember them. Password managers are the exception to the rule that you should never write down or save your passwords, as they are software solutions protected with full-fledged, military-grade encryption.

Considering that the average user needs to remember dozens of passwords, having a safe place to store them is a huge benefit.

The password manager will be much more sufficient for protecting your passwords than a notebook, or a file on your computer, or even in your brain, for that matter. Since the passwords you use are going to be complex, and they will be protected by an extremely strong master password, you can know that your credentials are safe and sound, away from prying eyes. All of your passwords will be easily accessible to you through the browser plugin or a dedicated desktop or mobile application, so there is no need to stress about forgetting an important credential or getting locked out of your account.

Password managers also make it easier to share credentials between one-another on the off-chance they need to, like for a shared productivity application account or web service account.

In summary, a password manager…

• Helps you to use sufficiently secure passwords
• Assists you in creating passwords that are more secure
• Enables your entire organization to access shared resources easily

Paying Attention to Your Cybersecurity Is Just Good Risk Management

Small businesses have plenty of problems as it is without the added stress that poor security practices can bring about. Small businesses often overlook security because they deem themselves too small to be of any value to a hacker, but this outlook is short-sighted and irresponsible at best. Let’s go over why you’ll need to make security a priority for your business.

How much sensitive data does your business actually store on its network? We bet it’s more than you think. Whether it’s payroll records, bank account numbers, personally identifiable information, information about vendors or clients, you surely have data on your network that a hacker will find valuable. Here are some reasons why you need to make security an important part of your business practices.

Proactive is Better Than Reactive

Any security discrepancy could put your workday at risk, and it could be from something as simple as someone clicking on the wrong link or downloading the wrong attachment. Such a simple mistake could make a world of trouble for your company if you’re not prepared to handle it. Any solution you can implement to keep your company’s infrastructure safe makes it less likely that you’ll suffer from a security breach, thus reducing the time you spend reacting to them in the process.

Secure Your Business’ Future

Nobody wants to work with a business that doesn’t take its security seriously, especially if that business is housing important financial or personal information on their network to provide you with a good or service. The same can be said for your clients. If you aren’t careful with your security, any clients affected by negligence will leave poor reviews and tell others about their experiences, thus leaving you with slim pickings for potential new clients in the New Jersey community. It’s better to play it safe and implement security tools to protect your business now so you don’t suffer the consequences later.

Protect Your Assets

Of course, the lost productivity and lost customers are only the tip of the iceberg for the fallout of a data breach. Depending on your industry, you may also be subject to fines associated with various regulations and rules you must follow. If you don’t want these fines to break your budget and overwhelm your organization from both a financial and legal perspective, then you’d better be prepared to cough up some change for security solutions before you are affected by a data breach.

Solving Your Business Problems Isn’t Always Simple

 

Remote work doesn’t come without its fair share of issues, but with a little creativity and ingenuity, you can help your remote employees overcome them. Let’s examine structured problem solving, a particularly helpful approach to issue resolution that can help your team be more productive throughout the workday.

Structured Problem Solving Explained

When you take a good look at business problems, many of them appear to be large and difficult to approach. This is where structured problem-solving comes into play. This technique can help you break down your large and difficult tasks into smaller and more manageable chunks, allowing you to slowly chip away at the bigger, overarching problem. It sure beats letting it consume you.

One method of structured problem solving that is particularly helpful is called DMAIC, which is short for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. With this approach in mind, you’ll be able to break down complex problems and make them much easier to handle.

How Does DMAIC Work?

• Define which process it is that you are experiencing issues with, where your opportunities for improvement lie, and what goals you want to reach.
• Measure how well your process is performing.
• Analyze the process to identify where the shortcomings are.
• Improve upon the shortcomings by resolving what causes them.
• Control the newly devised process to ensure performance is maintained.

That’s the long and short of it. If you apply this process for the variables in your complex, difficult problem, you’ll be more likely to find the best way to solve it.

Communication Remains a Remote Work Challenge

Your in-house team and your remote team need to be able to communicate effectively, but this is challenging when there is a very real distance between them. Communication is easy enough in the office thanks to multiple communication tools, but it’s also supported by the fact that people can just talk face-to-face when needed. Remote workers don’t have this option.

If we follow the model outlined above, we can define the problem as a lack of communication shared between employees, with the goal being to improve communications between employees in different locations. We can then measure the frequency of employees communicating both in-house and remote.

The next step is determining which part of the process is not working for your organization. In this case it’s workplace communication, and determining what the root cause of it is will be crucial. Is it the tools used during the process that is holding things up? What about a potential leadership or training issue? You can’t leave any possibility off the table.

Once you have information to work with, you can start solving the problem by slowly making changes that advance your goal. You can try adding new tools to your infrastructure, or providing better training courses for your team. Follow up every so often to find out if the issue has truly been resolved, then adjust accordingly over time.