Everyday Tech Doesn’t Mean Everybody Can Use It

Is there any business that doesn’t rely on tech systems and tools as part of its day-to-day activities and processes? 

The answer is, of course, no. Nowadays, technology doesn’t only play a significant role in your business, but without it, many companies would be forced to shut down their activities. 

The digital revolution has completely transformed the way employees manage tasks. Forgotten the days when employees needed a managerial authorisation to use the Internet! Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that we know how to make the most of our online and tech world. 

In fact, in a world where businesses use tech solutions as an integral part of their growth, we, the people at the heart of the company, still seem unable to make the most of our work tools. The IT crisis haunts our every move. Whether it’s the unexpected blue screen that brings the business to a standstill or the tool that nobody has still figured out how to use, we remain surprisingly hopeless when it comes to keeping our work systems sharp. Indeed, the main danger of our hyper technology reliance is that we don’t know how to proceed when things break or don’t run as smoothly as we hoped. Ultimately, everyday tech is not made for everybody! Perhaps, it is time for companies to question their use of technology and identify the most suitable approach to improve their processes.

Wait a minute: how do I find what I need on Google?

Google has become a close friend to every modern employee. It has all the answers you need! For most people, Google acts as a spelling check for some of the most complicated words that sound super fancy in a report, but that nobody knows how to write. It’s also the perfect tool to find the phone number of a supplier, if you can’t be bothered to look through your mailbox. But, even though Google has become so popular that it’s our favourite go-to tool, most of us don’t know how to make the most of the smart search engine system. Indeed, knowing how to search can help you to get more relevant results. For instance, did you know you could use quotation marks to group words together? It lets Google focus on sites that match your search terms exactly. Additionally, you can use Google to search results within a specific site, such as that fascinating blog article you want to mention in an email, for instance. 

Understanding the basics can be a game-changer

As surprising as it might be, Google isn’t the only everyday tool that confuses people. In an age of data reporting, you can expect most marketing team to use Excel spreadsheets as part of their reporting activities. Excel is one of the most basic solutions in the office tool kit: https://www.markasquith.com/contributor-posts/is-your-tech-working-for-or-against-you/. However, as the digital revolution has brought new gadgets, employees have moved away from learning the essential functions of the Microsoft smart tool to focus on boosting their CV for online marketing solutions and practices. As a result, it’s fair to say that marketing reports can look a little weak. A lot of employees don’t know how to filter data in a table, which makes useful data analysis impossible. When you consider the purpose of marketing reporting, it’s easy to see that our lack of Excel knowledge can dramatically slow down business opportunities.

You’re just using the Analytics dashboard

While Excel spreadsheets are the preferred marketing reporting platform, the most common data collecting tool is Google Analytics. Indeed, being an entirely free tool to use – there is also a premium version – Google Analytics is the most popular web analytics solution. But it is also one of the most commonly misused or misunderstood tools. GA requires the implementation of a javascript code or a tag into your HTML as a tracking device. Additionally, being able to define specific codes or tags to track unique events is the most challenging part of the marketing strategy. Too many campaigns fail to meet their expected results because marketers don’t understand how to set the code in their HTML. Additionally, those who rely on their tech team to manage codes still struggle to extract the relevant data from the GA dashboard. 

Forget GA; you’ve got so much data and no idea how to use it

Google Analytics is a valuable source of information that is, unfortunately, misused by too many marketers. However, the tool isn’t the real issue. Marketers are not trained in data science, which is a computing skill and not often part of the typical marketing degree. Many fail to make good marketing decisions as a result of not understanding how to make the most of the data available, https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/01/24/companies-arent-using-unified-data-bi-marketing-campaigns/. The typical small business uses up to 30 different data collecting tools. Merging all information effectively into meaningful and actionable segments is the job of a dedicated BI analyst. But how many companies have an in-house analyst to connect the dots? 

Who’s connecting the dots?

Connecting the dots is a common issue when it comes to tech solutions in the company. Indeed, establishing a full IT system that builds a digital roadmap of your in-house technology to drive your business forward is a no-brainer, https://www.intellectsoft.net/services/it-consulting-services. It makes sense that if you want to maximise your tech, you need to make sure that each solution is integrated into the overall business strategy. Unfortunately, for a lot of small businesses, tech investments are significantly limited by cash flows and forecast. As a result, it’s not uncommon for companies to think of their digital environment in terms of separate tools rather than perceive the strategy as a whole. 

Oops the computer refuses to update

Admittedly, while your IT services are an integral part of the business strategy, hiccups and problems are caused by individual tech faults. Update failures trigger the most common downtime. Ideally, companies need to work with an IT specialist to manage updates and troubleshoot errors before it affects productivity. SMEs, however, struggle to keep on top of their IT management, causing delays and security weaknesses. Wouldn’t life be easier if employees could diagnose the infamous blue screen?

In conclusion, while we use technology every day, we still have a long way to go to understand the tools and solutions we work with. However, in a world where digital tech is the backbone of your business, you can’t afford to leave your team untrained and unprepared!