Companies are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve employee productivity. Such a feat can be challenging due to the increased expectations that come along with advances in technology. New inventions are designed to help streamline business operations, but the wealth of information can prove to be overwhelming to some employees.

Email in particular is an important aspect of business communication. On average, an employee sends or receives 109 emails a day and spends 28 percent of his or her working hours processing these messages. It's a staple for everyday interaction, and workers can conquer their communicative clutter by filtering the unimportant emails. Quick Parts, for example, helps address repetitive emails without the headache of having to deal with them regularly.

The growing reliance on technology means employees need to communicate more, and in a smarter fashion. Now that staff members have the ability to interact regularly, some information may fall through the cracks. Businesses can keep everyone on the same page with a unified communications system like Lync that combines instant messaging, voice and videoconferencing tools into one program. Now that 1 in 5 employees works from home on a regular basis, companies need these extra tools to create a more accessible workplace.

Effective company collaboration isn't just important because it improves collaboration, but it's also been linked to a beefed up bottom line. More specifically, strong communication between employees was found to have increased annual revenue by 55 percent at companies with enterprise social collaboration tools, Information Week recently reported, citing Aberdeen's "2013 Next-Generation Communications (NGC) Study."

A great way to offer all team members access to a centralized database of information and resources is through Microsoft SharePoint. For remote workers, employees can collaborate and share ideas through a cloud-based note taking application like OneNote.

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