Simple is Beautiful!
Any time we have angst about our day because of the technology we use, its time to re-assess.
I chose the tagline “Making Technology Easy” for First Coast Computer Services because most clients have days where the technology they use gets in the way, or limits their ability to really enjoy the tasks that they do with it.
Over the years I have found the most enjoyment helping folks find the easiest way to accomplish what they need to accomplish. The trick is to listen and assess the need, current processes, and technologies being used. Once you know these few things, it is easy for a person not doing the task to ask questions about the pains being felt.
I “really” enjoy hearing someone tell me why things seem so hard for them. It gives us an opportunity to step back and ask questions about the task, processes, and technologies that are involved. Sometimes it is a bit of training that is required. Sometimes processes need to be evaluated and improved upon. Sometimes we have to to look very hard at the technology (applications and computers) that are being used.
Training is easy when someone can see how what they are learning will make things better. If there is enough pain in the process, almost any improvement will seem huge. I love hearing the sigh of relief when someone is doing the job with less stress about it.
Process Improvement is a critical part of growth. Most companies never scale because they don’t look at the processes they use to get the work at hand done. Sometimes “This is how things have always done” must be challenged. Just because it works doesn’t mean it is written in stone that it must be accomplished in “the current” way. There are more ways to get the job done than we imagine, and every single day new ways are added to the list. Most of these advancements go under utilized because no-one wants to rock the boat.
Technology assessments and audits are the tools of the growth engine. Once you know what every piece of hardware and software is there for, and how they all interact, you have a clearer picture of where the problems may lie. I had a co-worker who was found of saying “There be dragons there”. The idea was that we would find them and slay them, and the realm would rejoice! Doing a technology audit is a quick and painless process, and planning how to maximize effort through change is pretty easy too. The rub comes when you begin to ask folks to use it. It takes patience, listening, understanding, patience (did I say that twice?) and most importantly showing how simple things are after the change.