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insurance claims handler is working with
a paper policy document, of which there
is only one copy. If it is not in a digital
format, then only one person can work
with the document at a time, and this
means time is wasted.
“These slow, disjointed and duplicated
ways of working just aren’t conducive to a
productive environment.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, all
areas of communication need to be linked
together into one overarching, connected
solution. Get the right fit for your company
and productivity goes up.
“As the print and online worlds
grow ever closer, it would be remiss of
businesses both small and large to ignore
what is obvious, that aligning paper and
digital communications is the best way to
increase productivity and get ready for the
future, whatever that may bring.
“So, if there is a crisis in productivity, I
haven’t seen it. There are challenges, yes;
ways to be better prepared and equipped,
of course; but I don’t think we should be
panicking yet.”
Donald McLaughlin,
Director, Scotland &
Ireland,
Cisco Systems
“I recently sat on a panel discussion on
the second day of UCEXPO and one thing
really stuck with me – how technology is
actually driving a need for cultural change
within businesses.
“The way we consume technology in
our personal lives has changed massively in
the past few years and we are now seeing
that in the world of enterprise as well.
“On top of this, for organisations
and governments to realise their full
productivity potential they must accept
that it is going to be harder and harder to
get any more out of individuals. Instead,
the next wave of improvements will come
by fostering teamwork and collaboration.
“In my view, it is CIOs who must lead
this charge and I believe they will have
to really take ownership and drive the
conversation.
“We must remember advancements
in technology have led to their roles
changing. It’s all about how people use the
tech, and what they get out of it. It puts
the CIO at the heart of that process, and
I’m confident they will be stepping up to
the challenge. I also believe we will see a
much bigger focus on user adoption from a
business side.
“The upside of this is users are
becoming more familiar with the
technology in their hands, as a result of
what they experience at home. This should
free up more time for CIOs to focus on
It
was
initially
designed to
be a simple
With email cited as the fourth biggest distraction in the office,
PITR
asked a
selection of resellers if they have introduced any policies to better manage
this vital yet time-consuming, productivity-sapping form of communication.
“In a small, focused organisation such as DSales
UK we have naturally high productivity levels from
all our motivated staff. Electronic communication
including email has boosted productivity. In fact,
online ordering has streamlined a crucial part of
our business to our benefit and that of our channel
partners.”
Jonathan Whitworth,
Managing Director,
DSales UK
“I definitely think email slows us down. People
are sometimes more comfortable to sit behind
the shield of Outlook than to pick up the phone,
which would undoubtedly be quicker. I am not sure
there are any policies that could help with this, as
ultimately you could be receiving an email enquiry
from a prospective customer, an order, or an
enquiry from an existing supplier or customer.
“All require the same level of attention, so it is
a tricky subject to solve. We have tried answering
emails received pre-12 noon in the afternoon, so
we are more productive in the mornings and are
able to get tasks done. However, it didn’t work as
well as hoped, so we have now come to a situation
where emails are responded to as quickly as
possible!”
Sam Elphick,
Sales Manager,
Lex Business Equipment
“We have one rule: ‘Unsubscribe!’. We reviewed
email traffic recently and noted the huge amount of
unwanted and spam email. Although a quick press
of the delete button cures the problem short-term,
the only way to resolve the issue is to unsubscribe
from these emails.
“These unwanted emails cloud the real picture.
They can result in the deletion of genuine emails
that sit in the middle of spam, and unwanted email
sometimes get missed. The other way of resolving
the problem
is to add the
sender to ‘junk’
ensuring that you
don’t get to see
them. As with all
procedures, it is
important that
you keep up with
the process to
avoid it taking
over!”
Matt Goodall,
Service Director,
Office Evolution
“Mountains of
emails appear
inevitable, but
we do try to
m ke sure that
our internal
communication
is as efficient
as possible. The
question we
ask ourselves
is, ’Would a
telephone call not
be quicker?’.
“If email is the best option, we use prefixes
in the email subject line, such as ‘information’,
‘recreational’ and ‘action’, so the recipient knows
what is expected of them. Ensuring the task
owner is unambiguous and clear on how and
when feedback or action is required saves a lot of
confusion. These rules help to reduce the volume
of email and the dreaded ‘email tennis’ and allow
our staff skilfully to navigate their email and get on
with their day.”
Michael Alsancak,
Marketing Assistant,
Arena Group
Is email slowing us down?
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