Ever feel like you are invisible to your company when new technology is rolled out? You’re not alone.
Companies are continually rolling out new software or upgrading phone systems, email, and PDAs. We’ve all received emails from the tech folks saying, “We are upgrading Outlook so the system will not be available over the weekend!” I always wait for the follow-on email that tells me what’s new or useful for me on Monday morning. It never comes.
For new systems there are obligatory training classes that never work well for our schedules. For feature upgrades we are on our own, which is a little surprising considering many products have upgrades at least once per year, and some every quarter.
You have been caught in the Technology Learning Gap. There is a good reason why. IT departments have a mandate to find and install technology into the company. While they include initial user training, they are not obligated to make sure you use the technology well.
HR departments have specific responsibilities for training but their focus is principally on career and leadership management. They are not IT-savvy enough to know when and what you need. Your manager hopes you maximize the technology but his/her priorities are focused on this month’s business goals.
You’re on your own. Hey, if you have the time there’s lots of help online – if you can find the one that matches what I use.
When was the last time you were offered Google search training?
Final thought: Mastering just 5 small functions on an iPhone, photocopier, Excel, or Google will make them exponentially more useful and make the tools more valuable and convenient.
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