Whilst I don’t want to appear to dismiss the pain of those who have been unfortunate enough to lose jobs or income as a result of the economic downturn, it appears that it’s a really exciting time for those of us who enjoy making things better.
Most companies have some form of IT infrastructure: you almost have to. Most of the companies that have this IT infrastructure, do not appreciate what it can, and does, enable them to do. Which is excellent, because good IT should be unobtrusive; it should be a natural part of your everyday life and enable you to do your job more effectively.
Time progresses and technologies improve, but has your business reevaluated its IT strategy lately? What is there available now that could help you survive this downturn? Is there any way you could invest some money now and enable your operation to become leaner, smarter, faster. Evolution doesn’t just apply to nature, you know.
Almost every day, I come across an instance of a user-grown ’system’ that has evolved to try and cope with a demand. It’s not the best solution, but it does the job. Once I’ve worked out what that job is, I can then rationalise the process and smooth off those rough corners that have been a niggle for the users. I am always amazed with the ingenuity of people when faced with a problem. Sometimes the solutions they come up with just need a little automation to make them more efficient.
The other day, I met with a group of users who have a particularly cumbersome application designed for them. The original user of the system signed off the development work solely on the basis that it was ‘better than what we had before’. So, over the years, as needs have changed, it has become harder and harder to use this application, as it didn’t really do what was required in the first place.
Before the meeting, I sat and thought about the process that the application is designed to assist with. I put myself into the position of a user of the system, and all the things I would want and need to be able to do. The users did the same and came to me with a mind-map of their process and a wishlist of features. I talked them through my ideas and then asked them what they thought. I had covered most of their wish list, and more. So development work will start on that, and together we will turn a department struggling to cope, into an efficient, stress-free team, who can spend more time on customer service, and less time wondering which button to press.
These are exciting times indeed.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.