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Avoiding Office 2010 Upgrade Pitfalls

January 21, 2011 By

In case you missed it, Forrester Research Group released a report in December warning of the pitfalls when upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010. And it’s what we here at PC Helps have been saying all along — as far back as Office 2007 upgrades.

We think the FAQ is a wonderful thing. But a FAQ cannot stand on its own.

As reported on recently by CIO.com’s Shane O’Neill, the Forrester report outlines four pitfalls to avoid during upgrades: underestimating compatibility issues, leaving workers to figure out the migration with no assistance, assuming workers will use the software’s new features, and neglecting to emphasize peer-to-peer learning.

Here’s what we’ve been saying: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Office 2010 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Cutting Corners the Right Way: 4 Productivity Tips

January 13, 2011 By

Although December can be frantic, January is likely the busiest time of year. We start thinking about taxes and springtime, and most people have recovered from their yuletide hangovers and are ready to return to full productivity levels. Here are a few clip-n-save tips from our tech folks on getting stuff done in an organized manner.

How-To: Quick Launch, Shortcuts, Save As and Jump Lists.

1. Adding Items to the Quick Launch Toolbar
Microsoft Windows (2000, XP, Vista, 7)

This feature gives users one-click access to favorite applications without cluttering the desktop. And because it is always visible at the bottom of the screen, it saves them the hassle of having to close every open window to find an application shortcut. [Read more...]

Filed Under: How To, Time-Saving Tips, Worker Productivity Tagged With: , , ,

The Ribbon, Revisited

November 5, 2010 By

Jensen Harris, director of program management for the Microsoft Windows User Experience Team, explains on his blog some of the logic that influenced the design of the ribbon interface:

Three-plus years later, why is the ribbon still an issue?

“[One] way we use the data is by looking for frequently used features that are hard to get to today. Any time we see this, it represents people overcoming the user interface to use a buried feature because it’s so important.

“A great example of this is ‘superscript’ in Word. In Word 2003, it must be added to the toolbar manually through customization. Yet, even as a non-default toolbar button, it gets more clicks than 30% of the buttons on the Formatting toolbar. The opportunity here is to discover the things that people love and that even more people would use if they knew they could.”

Harris makes oodles of sense. (So much so, it makes me want to uninstall my copy of OpenOffice.) Still, almost four years after it was unveiled, Microsoft’s ribbon continues to confound end users and IT departments.

And “confound” is not an exaggeration: According to a recent report sponsored by Dell KACE and conducted by Dimensional Research, of those IT leaders surveyed, 45 percent said their greatest concern in upgrading to 2010 is the ribbon.

So, three-plus years later, why is the ribbon still an issue? [Read more...]

Filed Under: migration, Office 2010, Windows 7 Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Workplace Today: On Fake Happiness & Forced Morale-Boosting

March 30, 2010 By

As the daughter of a professional photographer, I know all about the feigned grin. I knew when the smile was necessary, and thus obliged, mostly to get the picture-taking over with so I could get about the business of playing with my dollies.

I read in a piece recently about one age-old way to increase productivity, one that does not require smile police or a morale militia.

So I understand how the employees of Japan’s Keihin Electric Express Railway Company feel. In the past year or so, the company installed cameras with special scanners at 15 of its stations to measure its workers’ smiles. The scanners, which are made by Japanese company Omron, analyze facial characteristics and rate them on a scale from 0-100 based on “eye movements, lip curves and wrinkles,” according to reports.

It may be a little over-the-top (there were plenty of Orwellian references when it was first reported in July), but it’s just an example of the lengths to which businesses are going to ensure that their workers are doing what they’re told and not slacking on productivity.

New technology measures workers' smiles.

Meanwhile, at France Télécom, they’re taking a different tack. The third largest telecom company in Europe and the main provider for Gauls will begin doling out bonuses for top management based on morale. Yes, morale.

It’s a response to the recent rash of employee suicides, and the company is hoping a new emphasis on worker satisfaction will turn things around. (According to Wikipedia, between early 2008 and early 2010, 34 France Télécom employees committed suicide, some of whom left behind notes blaming “stress and misery” at work.)

It seems that the recession — with all its furloughing, salary-freezing, cost-cutting, downsizing, et. al. — is finally getting to the world’s workforce. Sadly, cutting costs blindly can have unfortunate consequences.

I read in a piece recently about one age-old way to increase productivity, one that doesn’t require smile police or a morale militia. It’s called giving them the tools to get their jobs done, and giving them advancement and learning opportunities. That’s an idea worth smiling about.♦

For more info about smile scanners and other musings about Big Brother, read this piece from the Economist magazine.

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Filed Under: Worker Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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