Technology & Computing Uses - Technology Coaching

August 1, 2008 by James
Filed under: Business Development, Seminars & Training 

Technology & computing uses abound and when used properly make for a wonderful servant. When abused, technology becomes a terrible master. Consider this: at no other point in recorded history have we ever been more dependent on technology and computing uses.

For many, this level of dependency is a little unsettling and for those, who are not quite full-blown technophobic, the very thought of developing a sales presentation or a monthly budgeting spreadsheet, or something as apparently banal as sending an email to a group while privately copying others, is quite a challenge. So why am I discussing this today?

Time and Technology (er, Tide) Waits For No Man (or Woman)

Recently I was discussing this subject with a colleague and they were lamenting two things - their age (they’re just 50) and their lack of “tech skills.” My friend explained that although they’ve had an illustrious career, things are slowing and their lack of tech-savvy is a major problem for them. “I’m just not getting the callbacks,” they said. Interestingly I pointed out that age has a lot less impact when you’re self employed - at 50 if you’re running your own show people don’t blink, if you’re 50, an employee and lacking tech skills it’s a whole other problem…

“Are Your Tools Soft?”

Now there’s a question you didn’t need before breakfast. I said TOOLS by the way… The most popular technology and computer uses (in business) are typically as follows:

  • Reading, writing and sending email
  • Surfing the web with a browser
  • Writing business correspondence - letters, mail merges etc
  • Creating spreadsheets and other numbers based charts
  • Creating presentations for sales meetings, training and more

For those who use a PC the tools of choice are typically Outlook, Internet Explorer (or Firefox), Word, Excel and PowerPoint. On the Mac the same tools are Mail, Safari, Pages, Numbers and Keynote. I use both.

Technology Coaching

I’ve been teaching business people how to get the most out of technology for many years (I love to teach - some would say talk…) and along the way I’ve created videos, websites, training and other educational material to support this aim.

Incidentally, if you’re interested in Blogging you can check out http://PushButtonBloggin.com for free training videos. And if you want to learn how to use MS Word for Mailmerges then watch this video I published on YouTube, and of course you are free to contact me for assistance and or guidance.

The upshot of my friend’s situation was that I coached them through using a selection of the MS Office tools of choice, and I encouraged them to follow my online reputation management process for developing a stronger web presence. They’ll be fine :-)

Stay tuned for more FREE technology coaching advice and information and remember to SUBSCRIBE to this website.

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