7 Productivity Tips for Data Entry Teams to Enhance Efficiency and Accuracy

Data entry is a tough job that requires doing a lot of tasks repeatedly until all your mental capacity is exhausted. 

The nature of this work requires data entry teams and professionals always to be looking for new tips and tricks to automate and ease their workload. However, this is easier said than done. 

That is why we came up with this post to show you 7 easy productivity tips to follow and apply in daily work routines for data entry teams. Ultimately, your teams would have enhanced efficiency and accuracy in projects.

7 Tips to Uplift Your Efficiency and Accuracy in Data Entry 

Below, we have mentioned 7 techniques that you can follow to uplift efficiency and accuracy in your data entry work.

1. Organize your Work Desk and Digital Files

When there’s a lot of clutter on your work desk, you will spend more time distracted and less time working. When you’re not able to access the crucial documents at hand quickly, you’re bound to miss deadlines and disrupt your workflow.

The same goes for your digital files; the hygiene you follow to store work documents matters when working on a computer, laptop, or any other related device.

Think in terms of making folders and subfolders of your files with a proper naming scheme so that other members of the team can also access the docs when needed. 

Consider using cloud-based collaboration tools like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive for real-time file updates and version control. These tools will also help you minimize data duplication and streamline your workflow. 

Coming to folder and subfolder nomenclature, below is an example to guide you a step further.

Example:

1. Magenta Client
   1. SpreadSheets
   2. Mockups
   3. Fiscal Reports

The given folder and subfolder naming schema follows a proper structure. A client named Magenta has their spreadsheets, mockups, and fiscal reports saved in respective subfolders under the parent folder. This technique will improve your team’s productivity as they’ll get to work quickly and efficiently.

2. Automate Repetitive Tasks

Today, many automation tools, including the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tools, can significantly reduce your team’s data entry workload. These automate repetitive tasks like digitizing receipts, handwritten notes, printed files/documents, etc., reducing manual workload and effort.

In this aspect, tools like the image-to-text converter, embedded with OCR technology, can quickly transcribe documents into editable, updatable, and storable forms. The OCR tools also support batch processing, meaning converting many image files to editable text forms simultaneously. 

Similarly, a JPG to Excel converter can extract tabular data from scanned invoices, financial statements, or any image-based documents and directly convert it into structured spreadsheet format, saving time and ensuring accuracy in data entry.

Pair these tools with data validation features like Excel’s built-in Data Validation or third-party tools like Talend to automatically flag formatting errors or inconsistencies during input, reducing post-processing corrections.

Hence, you can conveniently populate spreadsheets, databases, etc., using the extracted textual information from OCR tools and validate data for accuracy, significantly reducing your manual efforts.

Besides OCR tools, your team can also use tools like Zapier to automate workflows by setting macros and other triggers. However, this solution might be more applicable in a workspace that is more comfortable at handling complex tools and software (more on that later.)

3. Utilize Keyboard Shortcuts

Clicks take more time, but keyboard shortcuts are faster. This isn’t us saying that, but a lot of experts in the field. 

According to the experiment designed by KeyCuts, an average, entry-level data analyst would be 4.5x more productive in Excel tasks if they used the designated keyboard shortcuts. Imagine if ALL individuals on your team would do the same – oh boy, the amount of revenue that you’d generate more!

Keyboard shortcuts save time and make you more accurate at your work. Think about it; there’s always a possibility of you slipping up a click and ending up in the wrong place. On the other hand, a CTRL + P shortcut would always lead you to the print screen of a document in MS Word or any other word-processing software.

For even greater efficiency, explore tools like AutoHotkey to create custom shortcuts for repetitive actions unique to your workflow like auto-filling frequent entries or toggling between applications. 

Don’t overlook browser shortcuts such as CTRL + L to jump to the address bar, if your team works more frequently with web-based data entry tools.

4. Prioritize Time Management

Time is money, money is time. This is a known fact for many industries, including data entry. 

If you want to maximize outcomes from your data entry team, then you must make sure that you prioritize time management enough.

You can use tools like Toggl or Tivazo to monitor the efficiency of employees on a project. This is a nosy little trick, but it can give you the average attention span of a data-entry worker and provoke the hunt for insights to improve it.

Speaking of remedies, the Pomodoro technique is worth mentioning for time management. It entails that a person should take small breaks in specified intervals (normally after every 25 minutes) regardless of the nature of their work.

To further optimize productivity, group similar tasks like numeric inputs, text formatting, etc., into separate time blocks. Sync these blocks with your team’s peak energy hours. For example, morning for detail-heavy tasks, post-lunch for lighter work, etc.

This technique minimizes cognitive load from task-switching and keeps your data entry team’s focus sharpened for longer spans.

However, with that said, apply these tips according to the work culture of your organization and shift timings; to each their own. So, keep on trying different combinations until you settle on the best time-management tactic.

5. Prioritize Your Mental Well-Being

Wait, did we just mention taking breaks and mental well-being together? Yes, we did!

If you want to excel at data entry, learn this by your heart: you need to stay physically and mentally healthy at all times. If you must step back from the hustle and bustle, do it.

Or, if you unwind by watching an episode of your favorite show for a while, do it. At any cost, you cannot let your data-entry tasks suffer in accuracy because that’s the job’s core. Lose it, and every effort will go down the drain.

Furthermore, you should look to enhance your physical comfort with ergonomic adjustments like setting chairs or monitor stands at convenient angles. Make using blue light-filtered glasses mandatory for team members to reduce eye strain during long hours, and encourage 5-minute stretching breaks every hour to prevent stiffness.

You can also encourage healthy activities like meditation and yoga for the employees to reset all the negative energies and bring your focus back to the things that matter.

6. Invest in Staff Training and Feedback Loops

As a team lead, you will probably get recruits at the workplace who have no idea what’s going on. Or veterans in the field who might feel too outdated or outlandish to try out the new software and other bling bling.

That’s why our 6th tip to boost productivity in data-entry teams is constant upskilling/staff training and feedback loops.

Try different free courses on Coursera, edX, or similar platforms and encourage your team to get relevant certifications for the in-field knowledge and upgrade their data-entry skillset. Platforms like LinkedIn Learning also offer niche courses on Excel macros or database management tailored for data entry professionals. 

Keep in mind that all of this may take a lot of time to complete. However, it is worth the wait, especially considering the boost your data entry team will get after getting upskilled in this field.

Secondly, encourage open constructive feedback sessions where you listen to the data-entry workers and hear their side of the story. Find out the processes that aren’t working too well for them, or that often have recurring errors and issues. Try to find fixes for these workflows and encourage them to develop relevant solutions.

7. Establish Rigorous Quality Control Protocols

Lastly, you must establish rigorous quality control protocols in your organization so that all the work you deliver to the clients is pristine and accurate.

For this, we recommend that you double-check the fields entered by an external team member who may have no biases involved. Or hire a third-party auditor who can identify and find mistakes in your work so that you can get them fixed later.

Complement manual checks with automated error-checking scripts such as Python-based data scrubbing tools for preliminary audits. Plus, use version control systems like Git (even for non-code files) to track changes and maintain data integrity across revisions.

Set benchmarks through rigorous testing of the quality you expect from the data-entry work. If teams meet such requirements, you can set up a reward system to repay them for their honest efforts. This will propel them to repeat that behavior, hence improving productivity for the company.

Final Words

Applying the 7 productivity tips we mentioned in this post will greatly improve data entry teams’ accuracy and speed. 

Teams can simplify their workflow and boost output quality by rearranging and organizing workspaces, automating tasks, using keyboard shortcuts, and managing time and mental well-being on priority. 

Lastly, as a team lead/business owner, it is your responsibility to invest in training your staff and implementing quality control procedures to ensure accuracy in data entry work.

FAQ’s