One of the most overlooked parts of IT from the business owners perspective is employee Information Technology training. Either there is no in-house person with the knowledge to do the training or it is just not part of the new hire / yearly review process. This is unfortunate as just a little bit of employee IT know-how can have a big performance improvement for your business. Think of all of the times an employee (or yourself) had a computer problem and just sat there waiting for someone to fix it? Time is money so let’s list some quick topics and tips that you can use in your business.
Reboot / Do not keep your PC on for days (or weeks!)
Yes, this is a very obvious thing to do for most people but I cannot count how many times a simple reboot fixed a show stopping problem. No matter what the problem try a simple reboot. Also, have your employees turn their PCs off when they leave for the day (if they do not need to get to it remotely). By doing this you can extend the life of your hardware, lower your electric bill, and keep things running smoothly. With modern desktops and servers you can do this automatically on a schedule.
Google is Your Friend
If you or your employees have simple How-To questions then just Google it. Do you see a weird error message on the screen? Google that too. The Internet has a ton of useful information that can be accessed very easily. Just use the following queries at google.com to get some answers:
- “How to <insert question> <Software Name and version>” – Example: “How to add a calendar Outlook 2007” (When you get the results you can also click on he Videos link (left of the page) to see videos)
- “<email subject line> spam” – Example: “UPS Package spam” (Avoid virus infections and other bad things)
- “<Suspicious software name> malware virus” – Example: “Windows VirusCop malware virus” (find out quickly before you click!)
Security
Your employees are your first line of defense. It only makes sense to give them a little training. Do your employees know how to properly dispose of private data (yours and your customers)? They should if you want to avoid being put out of business due to fines and penalties (see: 201 CMR 17). Are they trained to question people who walk in the door (even if they are wearing a suit) or not let people in behind them. Do they know NOT to click on any attachment or link in an email? What about the rules for bringing in their own (possibly virus infected) laptops into your office? Take 30 minutes of sit down time and train train train!
Listen
You may be the boss but your employees may know a heck of a lot about the day to day issues and problems that you are not informed of. Don’t just put aside complaints about speed or performance. These could be productivity killers. Does an employee complain about their PC that takes 20 minutes to boot up? Now who else has that issue? Now combine the wasted time and see how much money is going out the door while they sit and wait. Maybe some new hardware is needed or just a PC cleaning. Take the time to find out. It will make everyone happier and more productive.
Now I could go on and on. Use these quick topics / tips as a starting point and go from there. If you or your business need more information on educating employees please contact Wireguided.
-Tim
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