5 reasons to stop using spreadsheets today

Today, many companies still choose to use spreadsheets to manage sales, project, task, and financial data. However, despite being easy to use, they have a series of limitations that can affect the business and put your organization at risk.

In addition, they present several security problems, data losses, errors, and other flaws, which can be harmful, making work unproductive. After all, who hasn’t had a headache when fiddling with spreadsheets?

Therefore, in this article, we are going to address 5 reasons why you should stop using this tool and replace it with a more efficient, agile and advanced system. Look!

Check out 5 reasons to abandon spreadsheets#

1. Poor data integration#

Even if you achieve great organization using spreadsheets, they may have some limitations, such as poor information integration. If your company wishes to connect financial or sales data with other systems, for example, there may be difficulties, since spreadsheets do not facilitate this process.

In addition, in this tool, the manager will have to enter all the data manually - which restricts several functionalities - and he will only be able to save the file in limited formats.

By having an automated management system, the professional is able to save all the trouble of entering information. In this way, it is possible to improve the organization, optimize time, and increase team productivity.

2. Limited functionality#

At the beginning of your business, you may prefer to use spreadsheets because they are a cheaper and simpler system. However, as the company grows, this will need to be changed. At that moment, the manager will not be able to rely solely on summation and graphics resources. After all, the complexity of the data will increase and the use of other tools will be necessary.

Contrary to the limitations of this feature, management software provides good usability and flexibility and has several intuitive features. In addition, they integrate the entire operation of the agency into a single platform.

Using spreadsheets also demonstrates a lack of mobility and practicality. Even if you have a notebook or flash drive to carry them around or save them in the cloud, it’s still much easier to have software. It stores all information in one place and allows it to be accessed on any device and from any location.

3. Higher chances of errors#

Many professionals who use spreadsheets face problems related to program failures, corrupted or outdated files, and errors when moving information and managing large amounts of data. In addition, if the manager uses more than one sheet to organize different tasks, he may be negatively affected, since everything depends on the computer.

If it doesn’t have a good system, this may affect usability and cause crashes, such as crashes and slowdowns in the program.

A professional who has an efficient management tool can avoid these setbacks. This is because these platforms allow automatic backups and integrate all data - which prevents the loss of important information and makes the job simpler.

4. Slowness in internal processes#

When spreadsheets began to be used in companies, one of their advantages was the saving of time in the activities and the fact that they automatically entered information. However, digital transformation enabled the emergence of several other systems that optimize agencies’ tasks and increase productivity, making internal processes more efficient and faster.

In addition, these tools have new functionalities aimed at digital solutions for various tasks within an organization. This makes the use of spreadsheets outdated and slows down a business’s activities.

5. Difficulties working as a team#

Organizations that choose to use spreadsheets don’t favor integration between their teams. This is due to the difficulty in joining the data. It is possible to see this when the manager asks the following questions:

• What publications need to be submitted this week?
• How is my company’s workflow?
• Which of the employees achieved their goals?
• What activities need to be delivered this week?
• How is the “x” project going?
• What should be prioritized this month?

He can even answer these questions, but the professional will have to analyze each sheet thoroughly to reach a conclusion and this takes time. In addition, there is a great difficulty when more than one person needs to check or edit a sheet.

However, this problem can be easily solved with the use of software that optimizes marketing operations and that is developed in the cloud. They integrate the data, facilitate the visualization of the tasks of the day, week, month and year, and even allow you to automate some processes.

As a result, we realized that spreadsheets also limit collaborative work between company sectors. Therefore, it is simpler to use a system that centralizes data and makes employees streamline tasks.

Discover an efficient management system#

As we have shown, there are several reasons not to use spreadsheets, but there are other resources that can be purchased to improve the problems presented. The Wikimee platform, for example, is a great solution for advertising agencies or marketing teams.

It has a system that automates the workflow, facilitating the progress and development of tasks. In addition, it allows the control of deliveries and the management of projects. Some of its functions include:

• digital file sharing;
• material approval flows;
• product information management;
• timesheet;
• business intelligence;

Now that you understand the reasons to stop using spreadsheets, be sure to invest in automation software. This system offers several advantages, such as increasing the productivity of your team and improving company results. In this way, your business remains competitive and offers quality service to customers, ensuring their satisfaction.

If you liked this content and were interested in the Wikimee platform, contact us to learn more about our tool. It will be a pleasure to help you and your business grow!