The Digital Work Experience: Five Ways You Can Enhance Your Tech Skills in Office

As we head into 2021 with an enhanced mental focus, we take note of the fact that technology is a more dominant figure than ever before in our daily lives. We utilize apps for entertainment and essential services while counting on social media and search engines to connect us to our surroundings and provide solutions to our problems. The notion of being able to live without a smartphone or digital connectivity is one that we frankly wouldn’t be able to imagine.

The workplace has a central position within our day-to-day routine. Whether you’re a Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer working in an office, or work from home sales associate with a personal desk arrangement in place, the modern work experience has become more digital. As a result, there are numerous on-demand technological skills that you can utilize to make your daily work experience more organized and less stressful.

Dig Deep into Data

Data is everything these days. Our search engine history is logged, categorized, and analyzed by marketing firms for million-dollar studies. Location data is used to pinpoint nearby businesses on the road or help with directions when utilizing map applications. It makes sense that getting a handle on your data analysis skills–especially in 2021–would give you a leg-up for your daily work routine and overall occupational capabilities.

Read: Google Career Certificates Can Replace Four Year Degree

Analytical skills are more than just collecting and looking at a company’s data. Analyzing information, seeing patterns in incoming data, and finding proper solutions with a structured approach are critical factors in the analytical process. To start, having a skill set in critical thinking, communication, and creativity will already put you on the fast-track towards better understanding data analytics.

Learning the mechanics of specific analytical tools such as Google Analytics will also help you immensely. The Google Analytics Academy online offers free courses for beginners that educate them about their system and helps new users learn the basics of data analytics and the right features to use.

Perfect Project Management

You may not think that managing projects are considered a “technological skill,” but there are numerous ways in which project management has been modernized in the current office environment. Being able to organize tasks, track progress, manage time, and monitor daily workflow for on-time proposal delivery is vital for any organization. And with more employees working from home, collaboration tools are essential for delegating individual duties and keeping a log of who has which role.

Read: 10 Project Management Tips To Take Organizations To The Next Level

You may currently find yourself managing a group of employees, where communication between them is a bit difficult. If so, then there are numerous collaboration tools available to you to keep track of proposal progress and monitor projects from initiation to completion.

These include:

• Monday.com
• Wrike
• Scoro
• Easy Projects
• FunctionFox

Each of these tools comes with either a 14-day or 30-day free trial, so you can test them out and see which one’s interface and customizable dashboards work the best for you. Remember: it’s all about having the right digital tool that enhances your skill set and makes your on-the-job tasks less complicated.

Skilled Up with Socials

You may not be a social media manager or blogger in your current role, but building on your social media skill set can be an added asset for the digital workplace. At this point, most Americans from grade school to senior citizens know how to write a moderately captivating social media post. Adding on aspects such as inspiring messages, visual content like images or video, and topics of discussion that encourage conversation all factor into a post with more attention paid to it, rather than one created with little effort.

Similarly, having those fundamental social media skills can help with the digital work experience, as shareability is essential in 2021. A copywriter who knows how to presentably share his or her company work on a professional social media platform like LinkedIn, for example, may create an engaging post with well-thought-out language that generates more clicks.

Meanwhile, a graphic designer who understands the importance of visual content may make a separate artistic piece with the right resolution and filters for a photo- and video-sharing service like Instagram. (80% of marketers, Social Media Examiner found in a recent study, use visual media in their social media marketing)

If you work as a social media manager or simply wish to try them out, apps such as Buffer and Hootsuite help arrange and schedule social media posts. Creating engaging content focuses on the creative side of your brain. Knowing how to utilize social media’s connective assets can also be a monumentally effective enhancement that gets your company–and your work–more highly noticed in a competitive field.

Marketing Mechanics

We touched on the topic briefly, but marketing is a crucial topic to know in the current age. Digital connectivity has further expanded its scope. No longer is mass media such as newspapers and TV relied on solely to broadcast information and sell advertisements. With the expansion of technology has come new ways that businesses communicate to individuals–and this is transforming even more rapidly in 2021.

Read: 4 Performance Marketing Strategies To Consider For 2021

With Google used for billions of searches a day and product ads posted on millions of display networks, it will significantly help you have some grasp of digital marketing, no matter which business you’re in.

There is a multitude of YouTube videos and online classes that can educate you about some of the key areas in digital marketing, including:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising
• Brand Onboarding
• Content Management Systems (CMS)
• Networking
• Social Media Marketing

Online tech is a mainstay in promoting products and services, and digital marketing will only continue growing. Your employer will consider it a plus if you have one of or multiple skills in this area.

What’s the Code?

Even if you’re not in a programming role at work, having a basic understanding of current coding can work wonders for you and help better integrate yourself with the digital work experience. Programming language and coding are vital assets in the tech skill set that can help move you forward in your company, especially if you collaborate with members from other departments who actively use tech for their work-related tasks daily.

Understanding programming languages like HTML and JavaScript can be huge advantages if you work with web development or design. Other aspects such as coding for mobile operating systems, network security, and troubleshooting can also pay huge dividends in the future. Integrating yourself better with programming and coding may not make you the next Silicon Valley CEO overnight, but it will certainly help strengthen your tech abilities.

The digital work experience is one that requires adaptability and integration. These skills may not seem like obvious ones at first. However, if you put the time and effort into educating yourself about the basics, you’ll be ready for digital connectivity at the workplace–whether in the office or at home–and on your way to a more successful career.

Author:

Jennifer Bell is a freelance writer, blogger, dog-enthusiast, and avid beachgoer operating out of Southern New Jersey.