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Technology - Friend or Foe? by John Bancroft
Technology is brilliant; or is it? It helps you to speed up mundane tasks, find, and store vast amounts of information, as well as enabling you to communicate in a multitude of ways with people all over the world. But, it can also frustrate, confuse, and interrupt you, bringing the world crashing down around your ears, whilst reducing productivity to zero.
What can you do? You can't live with it, but very few of us these days could live without it. Modern technology is alright as long as you are driving technology, and not driven by it, you can benefit immensely.
Understand your technology needs
For those who are maybe just starting out on their own and are just looking into technology for your business, it is worth spending time initially working out what you 'need'. Do you need a fax? What sort of telephone system should you use? Would a desktop or laptop be more useful? If going for Broadband, would you benefit from Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP, a way of making calls over your broadband connection) and which software package is best for you?
I bought a 'reasonably priced' laptop a couple of years ago, at the time I thought I wouldn't use it that much and so went for a lower specification model. Within 6 months, I had outgrown the laptop and ended up investing a considerable amount more in an almost top of the range model, which is still coping with my demands now.
When you buy any technology whether it is a new phone, all in one printer, computer, PDA, or new software application there is always a learning curve. More often than not is far easier and more cost effective in the long term to buy in expertise or invite a knowledgeable friend around to get you properly set up. A small amount of time and money spent on training initially could save you hours of time and a great deal of frustration.
If you are all set and ready to go, or already using technology the following dos and don'ts may help you to get more out of technology:
* 5 things that will help you
o Communication and online networking: as mentioned in a previous article there are an increasing number of online networking forums that are excellent for meeting new people, gaining knowledge, and generating new business.
o Blogging - the creation of an online web log is a great new way of attracting attention and raising your profile Typepad, Blooger, and Wordpress all come highly recommended.
o Creating Templates: in Word or any package is generally pretty easy and although it takes time to set them up initially they save you in the long run.
o Automate mundane tasks: Many tasks in desktop processing packages can be quickly automated and again it is worth investing time to see what you can do. For instance in Microsoft Outlook there are quick and easy ways for adding new contacts to your address book, by right mouse clicking on their email and saving as a new Outlook contact.
o Create email rules - you can set up alerts that will make a particular sound if for example a customer sends you an email.
o There are new phones now where you can set a different ring tone for people you speak with regularly as well as a 'caller display' function that lets you know who is calling.
o Most software packages now support drag and drop functionality making it easier to manipulate and use information. With Outlook I can drag and drop emails across to Tasks or my Calendar to ensure I hit deadlines or to quickly set up meetings.
o Back up critical documents: This is absolutely critical and I cannot stress the importance enough of backing up key information. If you lost all your data today, what would that mean for your business? For many, it would be the end as most businesses suffering critical data loss go bust within 2 years.
I strongly recommend looking at some of the online backup companies who nowadays offer very cost-effective and easy to use online back up solutions for small businesses. However, if you are a BT customer you can take advantage of their back up service, which is professionally run and offers 20GB of data for just £4.99 per month.
* 5 things that can waste your time
o Keeping your mail client open: MSN, Skype, email and numerous other messaging programmes can lead to many distractions throughout the day causing you to lose a lot of time and reduce your overall productivity.
o Answering the phone every time it rings (for some strange reason we are programmed to answer often regardless of what is going on around us). Many a time I have called somebody who on answering the phone says 'I am in a meeting, can you call me back' Why did they pick up the phone? Answering the phone automatically without thinking should be a big 'no no' particularly if you have deadlines to meet. Turn the volume down and switch it to answerphone or even work in a different room.
o Sticking with technology that is failing: There is nothing worse that just muddling through, making do, getting by with technology that isn't meeting your demands; if it isn't working get rid of it and buy something new. Again don't get trapped into the DIY syndrome, somebody once wisely told me that D.I.Y. should stand for 'Don't Involve Yourself' and rightly so in many cases!
o Computer Mentality: it can be easy to fall into the 'it has to be done on the computer' mentality, but it doesn't and quite frankly some exercises, particularly creative ones can be quicker when using a piece of paper and a pencil. You can always transfer it later!
o Gives opportunity to move away from desk, office, out into the garden.
o Losing focus: How many times have you logged on to the internet to carry out a search on one thing and then got completely distracted and ended up half an hour later lost in cyberspace and a long way off finishing the task in hand? We have all been there, but setting strict timescales for carrying out work like this can help you to get the job done quickly. You can always bookmark any interesting sites you find for a return visit later.
I am sure we can all think of numerous other things we can do to ensure we use all different kinds of technology in our daily lives, but I hope these pointers have helped. Technology is great when you are in the driving seat, it can speed up mundane tasks, increase productivity but watch you don't become a slave to technology.
Oh, have to go, 'technology beckons'. I have just had a task pop up to remind me that I need to get this article sent off today!
With thanks to John Bancroft for submitting this article - please check out his website at www.incognate.com when you're idly surfing the Net...!
