Administrative Assistant's Update

3 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Does your offi ce have Sigh-Fi? Signs your company's tech policies are outdated By Andrew Warren-Payne There are many signs that show an organization is desperately behind the times in terms of its technology; unfortunately that condition is rife in many corporate environments today. If your organization has any of the below, chances are they are irritating people beyond all compre- hension, getting in the way of work and have no genuine utility behind them. Banish these things immediately, or make a quick buck by shorting the share price of the offending institution. You can't connect to the WiFi unless you bring your device to IT This baffl es me. Unless you are the NSA, there is no reason why your company should make it harder to connect to the WiFi than on a shop fl oor of a department store. People need it so much, they will even choose to shop at locations with WiFi. If you have a secure network with confi dential information, then there may be some safeguards you need to put in place. But this doesn't mean employees should waste hours of their valuable time ferrying equipment to IT to have it approved (i.e. having its se- rial number recorded on paper and put in a fi le). Guests can't use WiFi, or need to fi ll in a convoluted form to do so If your guests (i.e. prospects or leads) can't connect to WiFi, I would say the experience is like visiting a restaurant without a wash- room. All you will do is cause them unnecessary discomfort and guests will think your company is amateur- ish. Do everyone a favour and install a guest network with a simple pass- word that everyone can share. Connecting your own device to the network is forbidden Similar to the point above, this is also frustrating. There is many a time when some- one will need to go online using a device that their workplace might not have given them. Perhaps they need to check if a site works on mobile. It could even be that they are using their own computer because your organization hasn't given them the software they require. To work remotely you need special permission (and often a convoluted VPN) Working remotely for many types of teams (especially developers) is the new norm. In fact, among people in the younger generations, the ability to work remotely is seen as a valuable benefi t when looking for employers. Aside from this, you probably have employees who may have to care or look after people back home, or they may have some disabilities which mean they are home from time to time. These people want to work, so make it easy for them. Any changes to the website (no matter how small) require an unnecessary business case If your business requires someone to spend a huge amount of time com- pleting paperwork or online forms to make small, quick, positive changes, chances are you are lagging way behind the competition. Kill this backward thinking. It helps no one. Argument for consistency By Joyce Grant Yesterday I decided to sit in on a we- binar. I received an email with my "access code." But when I went to the website for the webinar, it asked me to enter my "PIN." Yes, techni- cally those are the same things, but why use two different terms? Es- sentially, the company is leaving me to fi gure out that I have to put the access code in the blank that says PIN. Confusing and annoying. Has it happened to you? Think: banking. You fi ll out a form that asks you for the same information several different ways: access card, bank card, chequing account card. It's a time-waster, and so easily fi xed. If you see terminology being used inconsistently at your company, make an attempt to rectify it. If you don't know which term to use, ask someone which is the most popular and use that one. Or, just choose the one you think makes the most sense to your customers. Consistency is a little thing, but it's a professional thing. And it has real bottom-line rewards. Continued on page 4 2014 May AAU.indd 3 2014 May AAU.indd 3 14-04-17 9:13 AM 14-04-17 9:13 AM

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