How is technology changing business? Technology is continuing to change the very fabric of business. As I train more businesses in the Halifax area in social media and computer training, I can see individuals struggling to keep up with the changes.
Technology is allowing business to unlock the value of time by enabling multitasking. It is worth noting that multitasking has in some ways caused us to be less productive in the workplace. Yes technology has unlocked time for business, but business needs to make sure that efforts are made to insure that they become more profitable and productive; and not distracted and unproductive.
I realize that technology promised us a lot less paper in our offices, and in many cases, failed to deliver. Today there is a real concerted effort by more and more businesses to go paperless and head to the “Clouds”. Lawyers, for example, are scanning their legal documents into a digital format to save on storage space. Less storage space means less cost for them as a business.
As we get more comfortable with technology and trust it more, we will embrace a more paperless office. But we also need to understand the legal issues involved with “Cloud” storage as well. We need to make sure we are in compliance with laws and regulations.
So what do I see ahead for business in the future? I see a big change that is coming which should deliver great results. And right now, you are probably asking yourself… “Where is this unlocked time?” You are already running right off your feet, badly in need of more time.
So let’s look at what you might be doing that is taking time away from your business. We know that Email has become a big time expense with lots of spam and “FYI” messages. More and more email is not actionable.
Let me encourage you to do something meaningful for your business before you ever open your email. Maybe you call a client who owes you money and just say “Hi”. If you do this 20 times a month, you will have created 20 great points of contact with your customers. Your email can wait, it’s not going anywhere.
There is also the day to day accounting stuff and information that needs to be entered on a computer somewhere; not to mention the mundane things that have to be done on a daily basis. I see a day where Microsoft Kinect will be your virtual in office assistant that does your accounting; and so much more. Now that would be great; you show it to the Kinect camera and the computer adds it into your accounting. Just imagine voice involved in the process to, whereby you tell you virtual assistant what you want done?
As a business owner myself, I know how busy you are just trying to keep your business running. Business is not for the faint hearted and lazy. What we need to do is leverage our time so we can be more productive and profitable.
To this end, you will have to devote some quiet time for creation of ideas and business processes. You are going to have to pull away from the fasted paced heads down life to do better. If you keep on doing what you are currently doing, you will not see change.
So technology is changing and it is affecting business. But you need to remember that you are the master of technology, and it’s supposed to work for you, not the other way around. So be creative as you proceed along. Give some thought to your steps and you will find technology helpful. Get the training you need and go conquer the world as you know it.
