Develop plans and schedules – Content guide



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Use business technology:

Content guide

Contents

Use business technology: Content guide 1

Overview 2

Key terms 2

Office applications 3

Office templates 3

Project management software 4

Financial management software 4

Industry and enterprise applications 5

Mobile phones 5

Internet 6

Getting connected 6

Email 7

Relying on email too much is a trap 7

Application service providers (ASP) 8

e-learning 9

Intranets 10

Using technology to communicate 10

Sample answers to ‘My workplace’ questions 13

Overview

If you’re a team leader, using business technology is all about knowing the right technology to use for the situation. This Content guide contains information, resources and short activities to help you to understand a range of modern technologies used in business today.

Key terms

e-business

Using the Internet to exchange goods and services, eg your customers browse an online catalogue and order online.

e-learning

Learning where you get your course materials and/or communicate with your trainer and other learners via a network, an intranet, or over the Internet. Course materials may be delivered on CD-ROM where learners don’t have access to the Internet.

e-workers

Team members who do not work in the same location as each other, but use a network, an intranet or the Internet to communicate and/or supply their work. These people form an e-team. This may be done because of cost benefits, individual circumstances or because the nature of the work requires team members to be spread out or on the move. The arrival of broadband Internet and wireless Internet in recent times makes e-workers and e-teams a more workable option.

HRMIS

Human Resource Management Information System; computer system to collect and analyse information to assist in the making of timely HR management decisions. Examples are databases, spreadsheets, information networks.

Intranet

A computer network where information may be viewed as web pages, but may only be viewed by people inside an organisation (or other people authorised to view it); a popular way for middle to large size organisations to distribute information to staff.

Office applications

Office applications are packages of software with the following tools:

• word processor

• spreadsheet

• presentation software

• database.

You can use these tools to:

• communicate with your team and your customers

• monitor your resources and workflow

• schedule

• report on improvements

• manage payroll

• keep staff records such as leave and training.

Examples of office applications are:

• Microsoft Office — the most widely used office application

• Open Office — a low cost alternative to Microsoft Office; see details at

• Star Office — another low cost option; see details at wwws.software/star/staroffice

My workplace

1. What office applications are used in your workplace? What training and support is available to you and your team?

|Answer: |

Office templates

Office applications often contain a lot of templates you can use if you don't already have set templates in your organisation. Websites set up by the software vendor often also contain many more templates than those shipped with the original product. Templates contained in your office software may include:

• word processing templates: eg letter, fax, report, agenda, brochure, directory, procedures manual

• spreadsheet templates: eg expense statement, invoice, purchase order

• database templates: asset tracking, contact management, event management, expenses, inventory control, ledger, order entry, resource scheduling, service call management, time and billing

• presentation templates: eg brainstorming session, communicating bad news, induction session, presenting a technical report, product and services overview, recommending a strategy, reporting progress or status, training session

• web page templates.

If you go to the software vendor's website, you will usually find many more templates to choose from, and also clip art that you may be able to use in your presentations.

Project management software

Project management software can be used for many of the complex tasks associated with being a project manager:

• allocating resources to tasks

• creating a schedule

• tracking work

• tracking budgets

• creating reports on budget use and work progress.

The best known example is Microsoft Project, but there are many others. Go to Google and search for 'project management software', 'time management software' or 'tracking software'.

Financial management software

Project management software helps you to keep track of the money associated with projects, for example it can help you to:

• manage bank accounts

• create quotes, orders, invoices, receipts and statements

• manage GST

• manage payroll

• track time on jobs.

Examples of financial management applications are:

• MYOB — .au

• QuickBooks — .au

For more examples and vendors, go to Google .au and search for 'financial management software', 'payroll software' or other terms you're interested in. For a list of Australian sites only, be sure to click the button next to 'page from Australia'.

Industry and enterprise applications

Many industries and organisations have business technology that is purpose-built for a particular use. Examples are:

• customer tracking software

• booking/reservation software

• manufacturing and production line software

• workflow management

• patient records software

• payroll systems

• human resource management information systems (HRMIS)

• inventory control systems.

If you or your team use any of these, make sure that adequate user documentation, support and training is available.

Mobile phones

This is a fast changing area — just look at how much more mobile phones can do now compared to five years ago.

• SMS (Short Message Service) has changed the way we use our mobile phones. We can quickly give short updates on our progress to a family member or co-worker, and businesses can send one message to hundreds of customers at once from a single computer. Telecommunications companies also offer computer to mobile phone text messages for private consumers.

• Address books, clocks and calendars in current mobile phones have turned them into pocket sized portable computers.

• Sending and receiving email is possible using mobile phones now.

• Built in cameras and the availability of MMS (Multimedia Message Service) means that mobile phones can now be used to record and send sounds and pictures as well as short text messages.

• The latest phones coming onto the market allow the user to watch television clips, send video clips to other users, use fast Internet connections to browse the web, and make face-to-face mobile video calls. Phones for business users also include office applications such word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software.

Internet

If you're in a large organisation chances are you already have high speed Internet access from your nearest computer. If you're in a small to medium-sized organisation you may have to purchase Internet access from an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Most ISPs will have business packages that you can choose from to get your workplace connected.

Getting connected

Businesses will usually choose high speed (broadband) access, which depending on your local communications infrastructure, may be delivered by:

• ADSL — (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) uses your existing copper phone lines to deliver the Internet at very fast speeds; there's no need to dial up each time you use the Internet, with ADSL it's 'always on'; ADSL has made fast broadband access possible for many people

• cable — the cable that carries pay TV channels can also be used to connect to the Internet; like ADSL, cable Internet is 'always on' it's very fast but only available where pay TV cables have been laid

• satellite — a new development for rural and remote areas is 2-way satellite broadband access; the equipment at your workplace can send and receive data to and from an orbiting satellite, which is then connected to the Internet; a cheaper option is 1-way satellite where you get fast download from the satellite, but slower upload (eg sending an email) via your phone line

• wireless — as the name says, this is access to the Internet without wires; wireless access is useful where your job requires you to be on the move; you will however need to be near an access point called a 'wireless hotspot' and access speeds are not as fast as ADSL or cable

• ISDN — (Integrated Services Digital Network) this also uses your existing copper phone lines to deliver the Internet at fast speeds; it's not as fast as ADSL (and some people would argue that it's not fast enough to be considered broadband) but if your location means the other options are not available, ISDN may suit your needs.

Once you're workplace is connected to the internet you may use it to:

• search for information — eg

o Google .au (to find a website, this Australian version of Google allows you search for Australian websites)

o Sensis .au (to find a website, also allows you to search for Australian websites)

o Yellow Pages .au (to find a business)

o WhereIs .au (to find a place)

o Whitepages .au (to find a person, business or to look up world times, postcodes and phone dialling codes)

• conduct e-business — you can purchase the resources that your team needs online, sell your products or services online

• manage e-workers and e-teams— broadband Internet and mobile phone technologies mean it's now more feasible to have teams comprised of people who are not physically located together; e-workers are offsite team members who you supervise using a combination of business technologies

• and of course email, which we cover below.

Email

Email can be effective and very convenient, but you must use it carefully and you must ensure that your team member do the same.

Email has become an important and widely used communication tool in many workplaces. Here’s an example of an effective email sent by a team leader:

Hi Margaret

How are you going? I would like to catch up with you early this week, to have a general chat on how things are going for you. Can you check your diary and perhaps we can grab a coffee and have a catch up. As you can see I am pretty booked (I have attached my diary appointments for you to take note) but I can rearrange a couple of things if our times clash.

Regards

Jo

Your team member, Margaret, will get the message that you want to make time to see her during the week — that you think it’s important that you and she talk about how things are going.

You should also encourage your staff to use email carefully and responsibly.

Relying on email too much is a trap

If it’s poorly used, email can be a very destructive force in the workplace.

Unfortunately, when we’re busy it’s very easy to send emails that sound abrupt or rude, or are unclear about what we really need, or what we really mean.

Here’s an example of an ineffective and abrupt email sent by a team leader:

Margaret,

I have attached my diary appointments for you to take note of. As you can see I am very busy this week, and I only have time to see people from 9-10 am Tuesday and Thursday. If you have a problem, I remind you that you must discuss it with me. If that’s the case you should make a time with me via email and I will attempt to see you.

Regards

Jo

If you sent this message, Margaret will get the message that you are too busy to talk to her, and if she tries to tell you about a problem, you will probably just regard her as a nuisance. She may also get the feeling from this email that you don’t trust her.

When not to use email

Although email is quick and efficient, there are times when you should not use it to communicate with your team. Here are some examples of when email is not the best way to communicate:

• When your message or question is complex — it will be harder to write and understand if it’s in an email, so phone or meet with the other person instead. This way you will avoid a long string of emails going backwards and forwards as you and the other person try to make yourselves understood!

• When you need to communicate bad news or sensitive information to staff — people’s self-esteem takes a huge battering when organisations use email this way. You may have heard stories of organisations that have retrenched staff or ‘downsized’ their business, and used email to tell the staff. Think of how ‘disempowered’ the people who receive these emails feel. ‘I wasn’t even good enough to be retrenched face to face’ is a likely reaction. Email may be a cheap and easy way to communicate but you will never gain loyalty, trust and respect when you treat staff as if they do not matter.

My workplace

2. Does your organisation have a policy for using email? What are some key points in the policy that you and your staff need to be aware of?

|Answer: |

Application service providers (ASP)

Application service providers (ASP) provide applications across the Internet or other networks. Instead of the program being housed on your own computer, it's hosted by the company selling the application — possibly thousands of miles away from where you're using it. Examples of applications provided this way include:

• marketing tools (online surveys)

• financial applications (book keeping or accounting software)

• online shopping (catalogues, shopping baskets and online payments)

• project management (schedules, online timesheets, job sheets)

• help desk software

• collaboration software (sharing files, reviewing work, forums).

e-learning

e-learning means learning or training where content or course materials are delivered via a network, an intranet, or over the Internet. It can work in many ways:

• learners may follow a live session conducted by a trainer, perhaps involving video and 'talk back' between the trainer and the learners

• learners may work through prepared learning resources at their own pace — if this is the case there may still be facilities for communication with the trainer and with other learners

• course materials may be delivered on CD-ROM where learners don’t have reliable access to the Internet or to a corporate network

• many organisations now deliver blended learning, where there is a mix of both face-to-face sessions and e-learning

• technology may also be used to help conduct assessment, either as computer-scored online tests, or by delivering the instructions for practical assessment tasks to learners, supervisors and workplace assessors.

My workplace

3. How does your workplace use the Internet? Can you see an opportunity for using any of the online technologies we've described above? If so how would this improve the effectiveness of your team? What costs would be involved in this?

|Answer: |

Intranets

An intranet may look like the Internet, but it isn't! An intranet is closed network of computers where information is viewed as web pages, using your standard web browser. It can only be viewed by people inside an organisation or other people who are authorised to view it. They are mostly used by medium to large-sized organisations; some examples of how they are used include:

• to publish the organisational policies, procedures and forms (helps ensure that everyone has access to these, and that the most current versions are being used)

• to distribute product information to staff

• to distribute staff newsletters

• to provide access to organisational software where a familiar web interface is desired (eg customer contact software).

Using technology to communicate

Face-to-face communication, talking to your staff and 'managing by walking around' are some of the most important parts of your job as a team leader. But sometimes it makes sense to use business technology to communicate with your team, your customers or with management.

Be sure to choose the technology carefully — here is a summary of the pros and cons of different communication technologies.

Table: Pros (good points) and cons (bad points) of methods of communication

|Method of Communication |Pros |Cons |

|Mobile phone, office phone |Instant |Can be overused |

| |Good for keeping track of staff |No non-verbal communication — |

| |Can communicate with people who are |sometimes hard to tell what somebody |

| |away from the office |really means |

| |Feedback is instant |Can be used at inappropriate times, |

| |With mobile phones, people are easily|eg person may take the call when |

| |contacted |he/she is not really in a position to|

| | |talk |

| | |Mobile charges can be costly |

|Meetings by video conferencing or |Many people receive the message at |Some people may dominate discussions |

|audio conferencing |the same time |Can be difficult to manage without a |

| |Opportunity for feedback |clear agenda and a good chairperson |

| |Opportunity for discussion | |

| |A less expensive way to get people | |

| |from distant locations together | |

|Presentations using data projector |Useful for training |Can be boring if not prepared well, |

| |Allows for participation and feedback|eg if speaker just reads from the |

| |Sends the same consistent message at |screen |

| |the same time |Poor planning may mean there is not |

| |Diagrams are useful for showing |enough time to answer questions |

| |complex information | |

| |Non-verbal communication give | |

| |information to the presenter and the | |

| |listeners | |

|Email |Instant |Information overload, people may |

| |Can make contact with people that you|delete information without reading |

| |might not be able to access on the |Can become a time waster — as people |

| |phone or face-to-face |spend more and more time sifting |

| |Can send the same message to a number|through their emails, they are |

| |of people in lots of locations |spending less time working |

| |Feedback can be instant |Requires very precise use of written |

| | |language to avoid misunderstandings |

| | |‘Email rage’ can occur where people |

| | |are aggressive or hostile whereas if |

| | |they were in a face-to-face situation|

| | |they would be more careful about how |

| | |they said things |

| | |Can reduce politeness and respect |

| | |Requires skill |

| | |Files can be deleted |

| | |Inappropriate material can be sent by|

| | |email |

|Faxes |Instant |Feedback can be slow and limited |

| |Complex information can be sent |Lacks confidentiality |

| |Diagrams and charts can be sent | |

Sample answers to ‘My workplace’ questions

1

As well as face-to-face training consider setting up brief on-the-job ‘spot’ training sessions — one person who knows how to do one thing in your office application show the other people in your team.

2

Policies for appropriate use of email often cover things like:

• use a brief, clear and descriptive subject heading

• messages should be concise — put detail in attached documents

• there should be reasonable time limits on the use of email for personal purposes

• email must not be used to harass, intimidate, bully or threaten another person.

3

For example, how do you use email? Is there anything you could do to improve how your team uses email? Do you use e-learning programs or Internet search tools to find information?

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