[ Up ] [ Backdrop ] [ Essential Products ] [ Useful Services ] [ Quality T and T ]

Staff Evaluation
Training
Custom Tools

Back to Basics Training

When we are very young, we are taught about basic shapes; squares, circles, triangles, etc.  When we are older and someone describes a table, or a picture in a frame, they are able to simply say, “it’s a square” and not have to go into details like “it’s got 4 sides, and each side runs parallel to one other.”  The basic knowledge of what a square looks like has become elementary to us.  We know how things will work together because of their shapes (“You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole”).  We are able to make decisions about how to fit things together or lay things out in a room efficiently based upon our knowledge of how different shapes fit together.

Users do not understand the “shape” of computers and computer applications.  For example, they do not have practical knowledge of the different kinds of memory (floppy or hard disk, RAM or ROM), or essential accessories (virus protection, zipping software or emergency file recovery software).  They do not understand the basic tools available in pre-packaged software well enough to be able utilize them effectively.  They produce documents and forms that are acceptable visually, but which are so poorly prepared that, in many cases, editing by another User is more simply accomplished by recreating the document instead of editing the previous electronic version.  (For example, a columnar document with multiple tabs between each column and returns at the end of each line which effectively separate paragraphs into sentence fragments.)  More detailed examples include the following:

Templates
Every Company should supply Users with a couple of Templates; specific to work that they do on a regular basis.  Examples would include such daily use documents as fax cover letters or memorandum “format” documents.  Additionally, Users (such as secretarial staff) should have personal versions of these templates (individualized for each person supported).

Macros
Macros are another example of under- (never-) utilized production enhancing tools.  If Users understood how easy it is to create simple macros (the computer records your keystrokes) they would create new macros daily. (Werecat’s suggested rule of thumb is anything that has been typed or created twice is something that should be automated.)  Companies’ would then set up procedures to verify the efficacy of User-created macros and regularly install new creations on the LAN version of the software, making them available to all corporate Users.

Assorted “Gadgets”
Microsoft Word includes many other features designed to enhance production.  For example, Word’s Table of Contents, Bookmarking, Caption and Cross-Referencing features are designed to automate many of the tasks associated with creating large documents.  AutoText, AutoCorrect and Field Codes allow Users to automate data entry. On-line Forms allow IT departments (and Master Users) to set up forms where Users can only access the input fields, while the rest of the document is protected (and cannot be changed).  These are just a few of production enhancing features added to more recent version of the software which are almost entirely ignored, not only by individual Users, but by also by IT departments, simply because no one understands the way their “shapes” could enhance productivity.

Basics
Even basic computer functions and terminology such as “tab stops,” “styles,” “file locations,” “on-line filing systems,” and “When-to-use-what-platform” require a “Back To Basics” approach, to clearly define the terms and tools, and provide Users with a new understanding of the “shape” of business applications.

Werecat is committed to bringing about a new ideal: changing computer Users from "Apprentices" to "Masters."  Once Users attain new levels of competency, productivity enhancement will snowball, as individualized procedures are developed, shared and enhanced by a new kind of employee, "SMART Users."

Back to the Top

[ Home ] [ Evaluation Matrix ] [ Process Analysis ] [ Skills Development ]

Send mail to werecat@ameritech.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2002 Werecat System Consultants
Last modified: January 25, 2005