I know it can seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Technology can make your life easy – I promise, if you try! My motto at work is simply this – Make technology do your work for you!
What do I mean by that? Well, the devices, programmes, apps, anything used for communication should make your work more efficient and not more difficult. You need to look at what you are using and if it is making your life more difficult. Perhaps see if there is another way to use it to your advantage and benefit.
Do an analysis of the systems you use. Instead of doing things manually, is there a way to do it more effectively with an app or a programme? Have you fully explored the capabilities of the technology at your disposal? What short cuts can your technology offer you?
As a starting point look at the following checklist, work through it and answer these questions to analyse your technology use:
- What technology do you have? (hardware / software)
For example, Whatsapp, Social Media, MS Word, hard-drives, Google, Skype, Gmail etc…
- What are you currently using it for?
- How often do you use it?
- Have you explored other features / functions that this technology can offer?
Once you have answered these questions, do a bit of research. Ask colleagues if they use that particular technology and how they use it. Do a search on the internet and see what other ideas and features other people have used.
The second part is for you to look at your work tasks and ask yourself these questions:
- What information do I constantly have to manually deal with on a daily basis?
- What reports do I have to run?
- Is there constant information that is kept in different formats?
- What information do departments constantly ask for on a regular basis?
Once you have analysed your work and identified what the problem is then you can search and see if there is a solution to making it easier for you. Have a look on Youtube for tutorials and ideas. Google your problem – you will be surprised at how many people have the same issues you may have.
Talking to colleagues helps so much and a lot of really good ideas come from informal conversations. It’s also a good way to avoid gossip! Talking about the problem and asking for ideas to solve your problem can be a great way to brainstorm solutions. It’s amazing the ideas some people have.
Next week I will be sharing some ideas of some helpful tools that you can use to make your life easier in the workplace and much more organised and efficient.
Marié Mieny is an administrator within the School of IT at Monash South Africa (MSA). She has been at MSA for 13 years of which 7 years have been in the School of IT