In the not-to-distant past, employee productivity faced numerous challenges on a daily basis. Common issues plaguing workers have included distractions from multi-tasking, time lost to repetitive tasks, and difficulty in maintaining team engagement.

In a comprehensive report published in 2023 by Asana, a staggering 62% of a worker’s day is “lost to repetitive, mundane tasks.” That leaves just 38% of a day going to work that truly matters. 

We’ve gotten so used to working this way, but it’s unacceptable. So can anything be done? Yes.

Today, AI tools are playing a crucial role in addressing these challenges. By automating routine processes and enhancing communication channels, AI can help organizations streamline workflows and boost employee morale.

According to Slack’s “State of Work” report, 90% of workers were “more likely to report higher levels of productivity than those who have not adopted AI.” That’s nothing short of revolutionary. Clearly, integrating AI in the workplace is the way to go.

The most notable integration of AI in the workplace is through the ubiquitous communication and collaboration platform Slack. In this article we’ll explore how integrating AI tools like Risotto within Slack can significantly improve employee productivity.

Understanding Employee Productivity Metrics

Let’s first begin with measuring productivity, because how can you tell the ways in which an AI Slack tool is actually improving your employees’ productivity without some sort of metrics?

Measuring productivity has evolved significantly. Traditional approaches often relied on quantitative metrics, such as hours worked or tasks completed. This data, while straightforward, does not capture the complete picture of employee performance. Modern approaches emphasize a dual focus on both output quality and quantity. This holistic view allows organizations to better assess the true value contributed by their employees.

When measuring your employees’ productivity, here are some key performance indicators (KPIs) to consider:

• Output Quality: Assess the effectiveness and accuracy of completed tasks.

• Task Efficiency: Evaluate how quickly tasks are accomplished without sacrificing quality.

• Employee Engagement: Measure satisfaction and motivation levels within teams.

Recognizing these shifts in measuring productivity is crucial for adapting to contemporary work ecosystems and getting the most out of your Slack-based AI tools.

Now that we know how to measure employee productivity in today’s workplace, let’s look at five practical ways to improve employee productivity with AI tools in Slack.

1. Reduce Repetitive Tasks with AI Tools in Slack

Desk workers often find themselves overwhelmed by low-value tasks, wasting precious time and decreasing overall productivity. The benefits of automating these repetitive tasks with the use of AI agents include: 1.) Time savings that allow workers to focus on more strategic work. 2.) Error reduction because no human intervention is needed. 3.) Increased job satisfaction among employees because they’ve been relieved of tedious responsibilities. Each of these benefits results in improved employee productivity.

AI agents can handle the following tasks with efficiency and care:

• Meeting Scheduling: Bots like CalendarHero can manage calendars, coordinating meeting times based on availability without manual effort.

• Information Retrieval: AI agents like Risotto’s chatbot can quickly pull relevant documents or data from shared files, saving time during project discussions. For example, you can ask Risotto in Slack about a file your coworkers shared last week, but which you’re having trouble finding. Risotto will know exactly what file you’re talking about and be able to retrieve it from the relevant Slack thread.

• Ticket Management: Automated systems can handle support requests, categorizing and prioritizing them without human intervention. For instance, Risotto automates ticket management within Slack for both IT and HR support. It answers common questions like “What’s our PTO policy?” and handles software requests like access to Asana with efficiency. Not only does this save time, but for IT aspects it improves security. We’ll discuss more in-depth how Risotto assists IT and HR in the next section.

• Employee Onboarding: Yes, with AI tools like Risotto, companies can even automate many employee onboarding tasks. To learn more about streamlining employee onboarding with Risotto, please read this article.

2. Increase the Efficiency and Accuracy of IT and HR Support with Risotto in Slack

There’s nothing more annoying than tech issues when you’re trying to get work done. From issues with a wifi connection to forgetting a password to problems with software. Not only do these headaches slow down workers in every department, they increase the workload for your IT team, while decreasing their productivity on more important IT tasks. 

With Risotto, you can alleviate many of these IT headaches to improve productivity in every department. In addition to taking on the responsibilities of repetitive tasks, let’s look at the other ways Risotto can help IT and HR:

Unified Help Desk

Risotto centralizes all IT and HR support right in Slack. Your workers don’t have to waste time sending an email, calling a department, or searching for information when Risotto can do it for them. Risotto is so smart that it learns from past interactions with your staff, continually improving its responses and efficiency. Say for instance it’s January, and many employees have questions about the new health insurance that your company is providing. As more workers ping the Risotto chatbot in Slack with similar questions about the new health insurance, Risotto will refine its answers to be even more accurate, efficient, and helpful each time it responds.

24/7 Support Availability

This unified help desk is also available 24/7 to offer support whenever an employee may need it. For instance, say an employee wants to read HR-related documents over the weekend, they can ping Risotto in Slack to ask where they can access the docs. Risotto will respond quickly with instructions to find the files and a link.

Having support any time of day is also valuable to a distributed workforce working in different time zones.

Intelligent Ticket Deflection

As discussed above, Risotto handles the ticket management of repetitive tasks, but what about more important issues?

Risotto is intelligent enough to know when it can resolve an issue on its own–like someone asking a simple HR question relating to benefits–and deflect it away from your IT and HR teams’ workload. For support tickets it can’t resolve, like a serious HR or IT problem, it will escalate the ticket to the appropriate team. And because Risotto is addressing the tier-1 tickets, your HR and IT departments can focus on those important support tickets.

This is part of a broader strategy outlined in our “Help Desk Guide to Improving Ticket Resolution with AI.”

Identity Governance and Access Management

Risotto in Slack can also streamline identity governance and access management for your IT team. Risotto simplifies the processes, replying to access requests from employees right in Slack, granting access to them, and managing the duration of their access. This enhances security because it reduces human errors and ensures that there are no lapses or delays in rescinding access.

For more detailed information about Risotto and IGA/IAM Automation, read our “Quick Guide to Access Management Automation for Compliance.”

Across the board, from IT and HR to every department, Risotto’s AI chatbot is a win-win for everyone at your organization and their productivity. And improving employee productivity with AI tools in Slack also has another benefit–improved employee satisfaction.

3. Enhancing Communication with AI Tools in Slack

Effective communication is the backbone of any successful company. And improving communication improves employee productivity. 

Slack is designed for communication and, therefore, already offers robust features. However, with AI tools, you can improve employee productivity even further through enhanced communication. These tools can improve communication in a number of ways, including:

Real-time Language Translation

This is particularly beneficial for companies with diverse teams or those operating in multiple regions, as it helps bridge language barriers and fosters a more inclusive environment.

Context-aware Suggestions

Context-aware suggestions can help employees craft clearer messages, ensuring that communication is effective and efficient. Apps like Lexa AI refine Slack messages and reduce misunderstandings that cause errors and waste time.

Communication Co-pilot

AI tools can also facilitate better collaboration by summarizing discussions, highlighting key points, and tracking action items. This ensures that team members stay aligned and informed, even if they are not present in every conversation. Risotto’s chatbot can retrieve relevant IT and HR information from such conversations and provide answers when prompted by an employee in Slack who wasn’t present for a conversation.

Personalized Communication

Moreover, integrating AI tools can lead to a more personalized communication experience. For instance, AI can analyze individual communication styles and preferences, allowing for tailored suggestions that resonate better with each team member. This personalization can enhance engagement and encourage more open dialogue among employees.

Sentiment Analysis

Finally, the implementation of AI tools in Slack can also provide valuable insights into team dynamics and communication patterns. By analyzing data on message frequency, response times, and sentiment trends, organizations can identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to foster a more collaborative culture.

4. Streamlining Project Management with AI Tools in Slack

Project management can often become cumbersome, especially when multiple teams are involved. AI tools integrated into Slack can streamline project management, and therefore, employee productivity.

AI project management tools in Slack like workstreams.ai can:

• Provide real-time updates.

• Track progress.

• Facilitate collaboration.

• Automatically update team members on project milestones, deadlines, and task assignments.

• Analyze project data to identify potential bottlenecks and suggest solutions.

Centralizing project management within Slack enhances collaboration and reduces time spent on status meetings and email updates, getting your team back to work that matters with increased productivity.

5. Data-Driven Decision Making with AI Tools in Slack

In the age of information, data-driven decision-making is crucial for business success. AI tools in Slack can help companies gather and analyze data more effectively, providing valuable insights that inform strategic decisions.

For example, AI tools like Agentforce can analyze communication patterns within Slack to identify trends, such as which teams collaborate most effectively or which projects face the most challenges. This data can help managers make informed decisions about resource allocation, team dynamics, and project prioritization. By leveraging data insights, companies can optimize their operations and drive productivity.

Conclusion

Using AI tools in Slack is a no-brainer for organizations looking to improve employee productivity. The advantages of using AI agents for workplace productivity include increased efficiency, enhanced collaboration, and data-driven insights.

A prime example of this is Risotto, an AI-powered IT co-pilot that streamlines IT support within Slack. Risotto automates ticket management, answers common questions, and handles software requests, significantly improving efficiency and security in the process.

Book a demo of Risotto to dramatically improve your employees’ productivity.