PC Helps Blog » recession

Goodbye Software Suite, Hello Apps

Jenny Sweeney — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:30:21 +0000

Remember when “increased productivity” was a phrase no worker in the business world wanted to hear? About two years ago, during the height of the economic depression, the last thing employees wanted to hear about were ways to increase productivity, or how to “do more with less.” To them, it was just code for taking on more work for the same pay.

With a waning recession, the notion of increased productivity isn’t so frightful — especially not if it means getting your mitts on a neat new iPad.

But today, with a waning recession, the notion of increased productivity isn’t so frightful — especially not if it means getting your mitts on a neat new iPad and the accompanying apps.

With the growing acceptance of tablets in the workplace, some industry folks like Gigaom’s Darrell Etherington see the same happening with apps.

In a recent article, Etherington makes the case for BYOA, or bring-your-own-apps.

“Why is BYOA a good thing for businesses? Because it cuts down on training time, helps employees feel invested in the technical side of doing business, and will eventually save money for businesses by replacing costly licensing fees with cheaper apps.”

Etherington acknowledges that a free-for-all of apps in the workplace may be “a bit too chaotic for traditional businesses,” but he offers this advice for more forward-thinking enterprises: If you do business on the web, and if you rely upon remote employees, you should welcome this trend and make it work to your company’s advantage.

He continues: “That doesn’t mean asking IT to watch what’s being used and then mandating it across all user devices. It does mean encouraging workers to share software tool recommendations and notes about usage of tools in a way that rewards app exploration and discovery, without feeling like an unnecessary and ungrounded imposition.”

In that spirit, here’s a collection of links to top iPad productivity apps and tools:

Got any favorites of your own? Tell us about them in comments.

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

Jenny Sweeney — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:20:47 +0000

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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No Rest for the Recession-Weary

Jenny Sweeney — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:24:02 +0000

As recent as a half-dozen years ago, job-hopping was an accepted practice, and retirement and employment security were not American workers’ chief concerns. Then the recession hit, and things changed.

Job security, which used to seem so vintage, is coming back as the most desired attribute.

The recession’s sting has subsided some, but American workers and companies will continue to feel its effects for years to come. In particular, job security, which used to seem so vintage, is coming back as the most desired attribute — so much so that employees now say they will overlook a position’s limited advancement opportunities if it offers greater long-term security.

In its most recent biennial Global Workforce Study, researchers at the professional services company Towers Watson found that eight out of 10 respondents want to “settle” into a job, with about half saying that they would like to work for one company in their entire career — despite the employees’ knowledge that they are in dead-end jobs with no possibility of advancement.

This is a marked change from previous Global Workforce studies, in which researchers reported that advancement opportunities were most important.

What a difference a recession makes.

The study’s authors don’t see a shift any time soon either, but offer a few suggestions for companies looking to turn “passive” security into “active” security:

“Organizations must hone their ability to enable employee self-reliance, fostering within each person the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to effectively manage their careers, their health and their financial future outside the safety net provided in the past,” Laura Sejen of Towers Watson told Chief Learning Officer magazine.

Sejen’s colleague Max Caldwell added that, although most employees realize that they have some control over their future, it’s ultimately up to the employers to “equip [them] to act by giving them the tools and training they need to be confident and successful.”

Welcome to the new normal. What are you doing about it? Tell us in comments.♦

Read Chief Learning Officer magazine’s article here; and visit Towers Watson’s web site for more details about the study.

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Office 2007: Finish What You Started, Pt. 3

Jenny Sweeney — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:47:22 +0000

Perhaps this scenario describes your desktop software situation: Half of your end users use Office 2007, and the rest are still running Office 2003. All you’ve heard from the former are “Where’s the file menu?” and “How do I save a document?” From the latter, you’ve likely listened to endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

Third in a four-part Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

In part one of this series, I highlighted the reasons an estimated 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT departments are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. Part two offered information on how to complete the migration with minimal downtime. This post lays out a project timeline and readiness checklist.

You want successful transition to Office 2007 and early ROI. In order to meet those goals, you need to keep your employees informed and trained before, during and after deployment. With a plan in place, you will minimize or eliminate dips in productivity and give your workers confidence to use the tools they rely on every day. This is what you should expect from a migration partner:
Before

Educate employees about what’s to come via e-mail, newsletters or the company intranet
Create an employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
Offer instructor-led, Web-based training
Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Office 2007 audio and video tutorials
Train internal IT staff on basic, intermediate and advanced Office 2007 frequently asked questions
Alter voice response unit (VRU) message to address specific migration calls

During

Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
Offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Office 2007 audio and video tutorials
Provide immediate, expert support on Office 2007 applications, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Deliver “type 2″ and related topic training to all employees during and following support calls
Offer live, Web-based training sessions covering specific applications: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Select group, individual or customized sessions

After

Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
Continue to offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Office 2007 audio and video tutorials
Solution-based call details, productivity measures
Call analysis identifying targeted training needs
Quality assurance program measuring user satisfaction, call complexity reporting and downtime analysis
Monthly e-mail newsletter featuring Office 2007 tips, tricks and shortcuts

If you were surprised by the amount of work that goes into a migration, remember that you are part of the way there. It’s not a simple upgrade, but it can be done with minimal pain.

Stay tuned for part four, our free, downloadable Migration Assurance Program Kit.

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Office 2007: Finish What You Started, Pt. 1

Jenny Sweeney — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:58:20 +0000

Part one of a four-post Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

According to a leading industry source, more than 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT infrastructures are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. The reasons are many.

The Recession: During the past two years, IT budgets were cut and some employees were let go, leaving Office 2007 deployments incomplete.

Misjudgment: IT leaders were unaware of the amount of work that went into a migration. A dearth of internal resources to handle increasing call volume and demand for training halted phased rollouts.

Choice: IT leaders who weren’t mandated to deploy Office 2007 to the entire company chose to migrate in more of a “drip” fashion. Only those who requested the upgrade received it.

It’s not just user frustration you have to worry about either. Managing a staff that is running two versions causes pain for the company in other ways: compatibility issues, limited return on your Office 2007 investment and a semi-knowledgeable internal help desk.

Below is a sampling of the most common Office 2007 issues for end users.

All Apps:

1. Completing basic tasks such as opening and closing files, applying formats, printing and setting application options.

2. Inability to customize the ribbon and Office bar.

Excel:

1. Sorting and filtering data in a completely changed interface.

2. Applying conditional formats in a completely changed interface with many more choices.

Outlook:

1. Confusion due to partial implementation of the new interface and changes in the parts that resemble the 2003 interface.

2. The difference between opening and previewing attachments.

Word:

1. Formatting changes in documents both on conversion and in compatibility mode.

2. A thoroughly revamped mail merge feature.

PowerPoint:

1. Custom animations created in earlier versions not working properly.

2. Changes to the way templates, masters and slide layouts work.

The pain doesn’t need to be great, however. With a plan in place, you can cost-effectively finish your Office 2007 migration while minimizing the end user and help desk learning curves.♦

Stay tuned for part two, which will give you the information you need to get it done.

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Case Study | Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program | Migration Readiness Checklist | Migration Competitive Analysis | Contact PC Helps

The Real Cost of Offshore Outsourcing

Jenny Sweeney — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:36:45 +0000

The economic downturn may be lingering here in the United States, but in India, the financial situation is quickly becoming rosy. According to an article published today on MSNBC.com, India-based outsourcers such as Wipro, Infosys and Tata experienced a surge in U.S. contracts during the last quarter and are responding by hiring more workers and lifting salary freezes.

IT will gain a new nickname, the “No-Help Desk.” Employee morale will suffer.

That’s great news for the Indian workforce, but bad for U.S. companies. While the short-term cost savings from offshore outsourcing may appear to make it an attractive solution, here’s what all-in-one outfits like Wipro and others will deliver in the long-term:

Poor customer service: The “help desk” becomes a place where, instead of help, your customers — er, employees — get only frustration. That equals longer hold times, increased abandonment rates, and more.
Degradation of the help desk reputation: IT will gain a new nickname, the “No-Help Desk.” Employee morale will suffer.
Increased shadow and underground support: Instead of waiting on hold for a half-hour or more, your employees will search self-serve help outlets, which are proven time-wasters, or they will ask the office software “expert,” and end up wasting the time of two workers. The lost productivity costs with this one are staggering.

Back in May, I wrote a rant on this subject that deserves repeating:

It’s surprising that so many CIOs continue to enter into contracts with offshore outsourcers, despite evidence that shows the cost savings are often nonexistent.

At this company (PC Helps), one of the most common questions customers ask our consultants is “Where are you located?” When our techs tell them we’re in the Philly suburbs, the consistent reaction is surprise, then delight — perhaps because the callers sense that maybe, just maybe, their issue will be solved today, and not after two hours of holding, spelling their name, rebooting, getting transferred, explaining their issue, holding again, explaining their issue again, and so on.

Choosing an offshore outsourcing partner for cost savings is short-sighted. It’s like opting to buy a Hummer instead of a Prius because the dealer slashed the sticker price; sure, it’s cheaper up front, but the fuel, maintenance and environmental costs are much higher with a Hummer over the life of the contract.

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This Week in Tech: On Yo-Yo Dieting and Haute Couture Cell Phones

Jenny Sweeney — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:03:32 +0000

1. What Yo-Yo Dieting and the Recession Have in Common

The papers are saying that productivity is on the rise, that the fat officially has been cut from corporate America. Good news, right?

Depends on what you do next, says Gartner Blog Network’s Mark McDonald in a recent post. Productivity gains are “… a mathematical phantom, particularly if people remain on their current course and speed,” he writes.

“It is the equivalent of losing water weight at the start of a diet.”

That current course he’s talking about is the way many companies made it through the recession – by removing the costs (employees) without changing the underlying process or operation.

Says McDonald: “It is the equivalent of losing water weight at the start of a diet.” And, as any yo-yo dieter knows, you will gain that weight back quickly if you don’t change the habits that got you fat in the first place.

Read his post here.

2. What Recession?

Then there’s that whole other realm, the business of haute couture, which seems to be a barometer of nothing really, especially considering the latest reports. Following the cue of other luxury brands like Christian Dior and Tag Heuer, Versace is jumping into the cell phone game. It will unveil its very own mobile at Paris Fashion Week.

The made-to-order (leather!) gadget will retail for more than $5,500, and will initially be sold only to Versace’s VIP customers. It will debut at Paris’ fashion week, and will be available for purchase in May. According to the gadget reviewers at ZDNet, no word yet on which operating system it will run.

Do you think IT will support it?

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Three Easy Productivity-Boosters

Jenny Sweeney — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:11:13 +0000

It’s a new year. The economy’s rebounding and, according to a recent survey, employee confidence is on the rise. Here are three software tips that will help you to become more productive and ride the momentum.

How to Create an AutoText Entry (Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

By David McQueary

Retyping long strings of text over and over can become tedious.

Say you are creating a Word document for your company, and you have to use the firm’s 30-character name countless times throughout. Retyping long strings of text over and over can become tedious. Use AutoText instead; it makes document creation much faster and much less repetitive.

Word 2000, 2002, 2003

Click on the Insert menu and select AutoText.
In AutoText you can create your own entry. Once you enter the company name click the Add button on the right.
Click OK.

Word 2007

Type the text in a blank document or highlight existing text in any document.
Click on the Insert tab, click on the Quick Parts drop-down arrow, and choose Save Selection to Quick Parts Gallery.

Now when you start typing, after the first three letters you can press tab/return and it will fill in the rest of the name automatically for you.

How to Use AutoText on a BlackBerry

By Joel Reeves

One of the ways you can make typing quicker on your BlackBerry is by using a feature called AutoText. All BlackBerrys come with a set of AutoText entries for commonly misspelled words, words with apostrophes, and words that require letters to be in a certain case.

To access the AutoText list on a BlackBerry, go to Options | AutoText. On this screen, you will see the predefined AutoText entries.

To add your own AutoText from this screen just display the menu and choose New. In the “Replace” section you would enter what phrase you would want to input on the device (i.e. TY). In the “With” section you would enter what words/phrase you want to be replaced with (i.e. Thank You).

With the “Using” field you will have two choices: Specified Case and SmartCase. The differences are as follows:

SmartCase – You let AutoText determine the capitalization based on how it is used in a sentence (e.g., “ty” would replace “thank you” in the middle of a sentence, and “Thank you” when used in the beginning of a sentence).

Specified Case – You want AutoText to replace your phrase with how you entered it when creating the AutoText entry (e.g., “ucla” will always return “UCLA”).

After you are done creating your entry, display the menu and choose Save.

How to Have Your Device Suggest Words When You Type
(Windows Mobile 5, 6)

By Edwin Soto

Typing large amounts of text on a handheld device can be a real drag. To speed up this task, you can have your device suggest words based on what you are already typing. Follow these steps:

Click Start, go to Settings, select the Personal Tab, and then choose Input.
On the Word Completion Tab, place a check in the “Suggest Word When Entering Text” option.
In the “Suggest after entering letters” drop-down list, you can choose from one to seven letters.
In the “Suggest Words” drop-down list, you can choose from one to four words.
Check the “Replace Text As You Type” option if you want it to automatically correct common misspellings. (This option is called “Enable Auto Correct” on Windows Mobile 6 Devices.)
Click OK to accept your changes.

Now when you enter text into your device, you will have a list of choices to speed the process.

Have any priceless productivity tips to share? Send us an e-mail or post a comment.

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Eating Down the Enterprise

Jenny Sweeney — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:34:57 +0000

If there’s one idea that characterized 2009, it is “doing more with less.” If I had access to LexisNexis, I’d tell you just how many times it’s been used in print, but, alas, I don’t. Let’s go with it anyway.

The recession has forced managers and the C-suite to scrutinize budgets, choose which projects to embrace and which to scrap, and decide how many employees to sack. It has left a bad taste in many mouths.

“Doing more with less”: trimming the fat; getting back to basics; losing the bells and whistles; re-featuring; making tolerable tradeoffs; dialing down; innovating; repurposing.

Here are some variations of “doing more with less”: trimming the fat; getting back to basics; losing the bells and whistles; re-featuring; making tolerable tradeoffs; dialing down; innovating; repurposing.

Usually, I consider buzzwords and catchphrases as an affront, or a ruse to get me to think I matter as a worker. Then I remembered a column I read on Washingtonpost.com earlier in the year, “Eating Down the Fridge,” written by Kim O’Donnel, who happens to be a good friend of a good friend.

The column is O’Donnel’s challenge to her readers to skip trips to the grocery store for a week, and instead use what’s already in the fridge and pantry. It’s an experiment in doing more with less. (O’Donnel’s effort was inspired by fellow foodie Steven Shaw, co-founder of the web site eGullet.org, who endured his own no-shopping-for-a-week challenge.)

After re-reading it, the idea of getting back to basics in business offends me less, and almost seems noble.

Here’s an excerpt from O’Donnel’s piece that I especially like:

“A closer look reveals I’ve got more than I realize — plenty of onions and carrots, a few loose potatoes, fresh thyme, garlic, shallots and some kohlrabi — hardly an empty produce bin. And maybe that’s just the point behind Shaw’s challenge — to think more closely about what we really need during these financially difficult times rather than feeding a whim. Let’s be honest: how often do you throw away perishables that get stuffed into the fridge only to be forgotten? Just last night, I bid farewell to half a bunch of escarole that shoulda coulda woulda. Lazy and taking food for granted, you ask? Guilty as charged.”

And although O’Donnel is speaking of kohlrabi and shallots, she could just as well be talking about software migrations and expansion projects. In her EDF series, she urges readers to sign up and share their successes and failures. Ideas are exchanged, progress is made, fridges are cleared.

I’m no Pollyanna, mind you. Too many people have lost their jobs and life savings over the past few years and recovery will not be easy. But, perhaps, keeping the fridge example in mind, doing more with less can be seen as a recession blessing. It can inspire managers to choose what to cut and what to keep according to their value to the company in the long term, not just the face-value price tag.

An industry example: A major food and beverage company used one of its existing service providers to improve customer service levels across the IT infrastructure. The organization’s leaders looked at the resulting positive feedback from customers, the decrease in hold times and call abandonment, and the boosts in productivity levels.

The company then brought in the service provider to show its internal IT staff how to run the department to get the same kind of stellar results.

In doing so, the company avoided having to hire a multimillion-dollar outsourcer or pricey per-diem consulting firm — and, more importantly, it didn’t use layoffs as a cost-cutting measure. Its employees are happy, and the IT department is stealth.

Here’s to a healthier 2010, physically and fiscally.

(O’Donnel’s column has since moved to True/Slant, where she continues her occasional Eating Down the Fridge series. You can find it here.)

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What We’re Reading: Lemons to Lemonade Edition

Jenny Sweeney — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:48:44 +0000

The recent software and tech news is all about making the best of what you have. Bloomberg reports that in Venezuela, they’re tweeting their way around traffic snarls to get to work on time; Chief Learning Officer reports on the unlikely good that’s come out of the recession; and CIO.com offers three tips to get the most out of Microsoft Office. Read on…

Training is likely the number one way to get more out of Office, or any software for that matter.

Tweeting in Traffic is OK… in Venezuela

Whoever says Twitter is an ego-driven time-waster should spend a day in a Caracas traffic jam. In a recent Bloomberg News article, reporter Daniel Cancel writes about the Twitter revolution in Venezuela. Because the country’s gasoline is so cheap, there are twice as many cars than the roads can handle — which, naturally, means ample traffic jams. Enter the BlackBerry, Twitter and @Trafico, which Venezuelans are using to navigate their way through the gridlock.

Venezuelans, Cancel notes in his article, are way ahead of the rest of the world in terms of using Twitter as a traffic tool. And, for anyone concerned about Tweeting while driving, average speeds in Caracas are 7 to 9 miles per hour. Read the story here.

The Beauty of Recession: Increased Adaptability

November’s Chief Learning Officer offers up the finest in Glass-Half-Full news with “Recession’s Silver Lining? Increased Adaptability,” which reports that American workers have become more flexible in the past few years. Some highlights from the piece:

57 percent of business leaders say the people in their department or organization are more adaptable
Senior executives and managers say their colleagues are more knowledgeable (50 percent) and more productive (44 percent) compared to a few years ago

The lining isn’t entirely shiny, however. The same survey found that employee happiness has decreased.

(The survey was conducted by NFI Research, a U.S.-based research firm that identifies and analyzes trends and attitudes in business, organizational management, information technology and organizational behavior.)

Read the full story here.

Office: It’s Here to Stay

Everyone’s talking about The Cloud and how it will revolutionize the way we work. The reality, however, is that many companies – 78 percent, according to Forrester Research – will not be switching to it from much-maligned Office any time soon.

The Office suite — and Office 2007 in particular — may be despised across the board, but for many workers and IT leaders, it’s all they have to work with. Their job is not to critique it (publicly at least), but to figure out the best way their employees can use it.

This week, CIO.com offers a trio of tips for “making the most of” Office, and it’s a good read. For the first tip, author Shane O’Neill suggests that IT leaders divvy up their workers by the applications they use most frequently. Not all employees need Access or PowerPoint, for example. Others work mainly in Outlook. By determining how much of your workforce actually needs full Office functionality, he writes, you can cut costs.

In another tip, O’Neill merely hints at the issue of training, which deserves more attention. Training is likely the number one way to get more out of Office, or any software for that matter. Back in May, I wrote about the troubling trend of “oversoftwaring,” which is when companies install up-to-the-minute software on its workers’ computers but do not teach them how to use the new features. In that post, I pointed to an Accenture survey in which researchers found that organizations use only 64 percent of their enterprise systems’ basic functions. In the same study, about a fifth of respondents said they didn’t use certain features because they didn’t have the time to learn how.

Read O’Neill’s piece here.

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