Kick Out Multiple Organization Tools And Get A PIM

We’re using a lot of different communication and organization tools today. There are the basic tools, like an email client, an instant messenger and of course our phone. When you favor the latest technologies available on the market, you may even use Skype for phone calls over the internet.

The pros are that you have every tool ready to use for its special purpose. The cons are that most of these tools are interoperable which results in redundant data and often in a higher confusion. Where have you stored your business partner’s email address? Is it stored in your email program or in your contact manager? The more parts of a program will intersect with a single purpose the more you will ask yourself which program is the right one to use.

The answer is clear: yes and no. It’s depending on which tools you’re using and how adequate they are supporting you with your daily organization. Ask yourself: “How long does it take to find a contact’s email or phone number?” “How difficult is it to find a free time slot for a new meeting?” There are quite a lot of users, which still use MS Excel for planning and organization. When you’re belonging to the ones who use Excel for daily organization you should rethink your workflow process and start using tools which have been developed fort the organization (Excel is good when it comes to calculating, but not for organization).

You should better consider using a Personal Information Manager (PIM). PIMs are designed to ease your daily personal and business work. Your output will rise with less effort.

PIMs consist of an email client, an appointment, a task, contact and note manager, offer a rich set of functions especially for communication and planning. Think about a scheduler which can be synced with others and that shows you with one click when several users have time for a new meeting. Think about a contact manager with search and filter options that let you initiate a chat or Skype session with just a few clicks. Sounds good? Then take a look on the available PIMs and give it a try. The most known PIM is MS Outlook, but there are some alternatives to it like Pimero, iCal or Lotus Organizer.

Gerard Schwabe is senior project manager at soft-evolution, an innovative provider of team management software Pimero.