Technology and Human Nature

A client asked if we saw any other problems that fell outside the scope of the audit we did for his company. There was a reason this CEO was asking the question and we were careful before we answered. Generally he ran a good business that was efficient, cost effective, and managed its limited resources well.

During the audit of the business we noticed certain things about the organization and the way it was managed, whereby certain problems were attributed to technology (in the form of communications and information technology) and that in general it had marginal effect on the on the overall operations. The company’s IT manager had left the year before and so in an effort to save money the CEO hired an outside firm who managed the IT operation remotely.

The real problem came in the form that the former IT manager worked daily with the executives and staff to answer and solve the problems they had using the company’s system. The firm they hired had a great web site and the majority of their customer service involved their clients using their web site for support. Most of the company’s staff admitted they disliked going online to find technical answers when they had other important things to do.

What happened is true human nature in that a new hire in the accounts administration department was a savvy technologist and soon became the "go to" guy in the small company for computer and IT problems. Even the CEO admitted he depended upon him to solve these small problems.

When we mentioned this to the CEO he asked what we thought about the whole situation. Our answer was straight forward in terms of what were the cost and benefits in regards to efficiency, time and money. We knew from our own experience that inconvenience in regards to using technology properly is symptomatic and costs far more in productivity that one would imagine.

We suggested he talk to SkyDigger, who is our technology partner, and see what they had to say regarding these points. When we checked back a couple of months later we found out that the company had hired a  lower level IT specialist who worked well with the staff and had hands-on experience with the system. SkyDigger  renegotiated their IT contract with the outside firm for just the services they needed. 

Communications are Essential

How a business communicates is one of the keys to its success and efficiency. Phone, email, and SMS text all have their place but what about important documents and files and their associated communications. Our experience is that miscommunications are a people problem and not the technology.

At Keystone Gate we’ve streamlined how we communicate with our clients and coworkers. One aspect that people seem to not think about till it becomes a problem, is the value of verified delivery and confirmation that it was received. How much time and efficiency is lost in not knowing if someone received the communication and information you sent?

Because we consider all our communications, documents and files confidential and important we use a service call Registered Express in place of email and file transfer. The value of being able to send any type of large files, notifications by email or text that the file was delivered, and that the whole of the communication is stored securely and privately for up to seven years. It’s a free service that we train our clients to use and once they’ve used it they are hooked. It makes our communications with them efficient and eliminates the old adage of “you didn’t get my email?”.   

Visit Registered Express and try it out.     

Welcome to the Keystone Gate Blog

Welcome to the Keystone Gate Blog. We will try to be relevant and informative.