Are you really getting your money"s worth out of what you"ve spent on computer hardware, software, licensing, and tech support? There is one often-overlooked yet crucial area for getting the most out of your computer systems.
The users" skill.
Regardless of whether you have the latest hardware and software or not, if your staff is not familiar with the at least the following time-saving features of basic software programs, you"re losing money on your investment:
• Macros
• Templates
• Mail merge
• Shortcut keys
• Sorting, subtotaling
• Automatic formatting
• Automatic data entry
Although many office workers may be capable of teaching themselves new features of software, if they don"t know what they don"t know... they won"t think to teach themselves how to do it!
How much time would your staff save if they knew how to:
• produce professional-looking documents at the click of a button
• assemble letters and documents in seconds using boilerplate text and macros
• manage lists of information in spreadsheets by sorting and subtotaling
• use any of the hundreds of ready-made documents and spreadsheets available free of cost
How can you upgrade your staff"s skills?
Contact your local Department of Labor to see if they subsidize workforce training. Call your local colleges to see if they provide corporate training. Look in the Yellow Pages for training - preferably at your site, customized so that your staff will learn the features they"ll actually have a use for.
Or invest in some online training or teach-yourself programs on CDs.
Find an employee who loves computers and carve out some time for him or her to develop the knowledge to be your on-site guru.
Whatever method you choose for upgrading your employees" skills, just be sure that the potential time-saving benefits of all your hardware and software are being realized. You want to be sure that your computers are being used as more than just expensive electric typewriters or calculators.