Dual Monitors = Increased Productivity

George Ulbrich, Manager of Information Technology   email
August October 2010

If you and your employees spend hours a day working at computers, here is an easy way to save time and resources while increasing productivity.  It may sound excessive, but most people who have dual monitors can't imagine working any other way.  By adding a second monitor to your computer, you can avoid much of the wasted printing you currently do.  But that's only the beginning.

Suppose you are working on a document, such as a sales projection or a budget, and you need to compare it to last year's.  You could print one and have the other on the screen, wasting paper and ink.  Another option would be to pull up both, minimize one and toggle between them.  That works, but it's inefficient.  With two screens, you can have both right in front of you at once.  There is less chance of error and much less time spent going back and forth.

How much increased productivity can you expect by using dual or multiple monitors?  Some say 20 percent, while others, like the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, say 50 percent.  Either way, the results are worthwhile. One researcher estimates that she paid for her additional screen with increased productivity the first day she converted to two monitors.

Here are some specific tasks in which dual or multiple monitors can increase production and hopefully eliminate the need to print altogether:

• Performing a comparative analysis between documents like budgets, projections and statements;
• Creating reports by reserving one screen for resource materials while typing the information on the other;
• Monitoring e-mail on one screen while working on the other;
• Researching complex issues with multiple sources; and
• Conducting phone interviews while referring to research on one screen and taking notes on another.