What comes first? - the right question.
As a technology consultant and trainer, I often hear a wide variety of stories about how technology has made things better... or worse.
A significant portion of my consulting and contracting is related to helping people succeed through the use of technology. Whether I am working with students in an educational environment, small business that is looking to increase efficiency, or larger companies that have a need to provision new services while not breaking old ones - there are plenty of similarities.
Something that I have learnt over the years is:
It’s not about the technology - it’s what you do and what you want to do that matters.
Prior to selecting any technology, I think it is very important to ask yourself - “how will this help me?”. Look for specific ways that the technology delivers value. Will it allow you to have more meaningful conversations with customers? Will it allow you greater insight into your business? Will it prevent duplicated effort or increase collaboration? Will it bring critical information to you at a time you need it?
These questions seem simple enough, but none of them can be answered unless you answer a very important question first: “What exactly is it that we do today and want to do tomorrow?”
Once we understand the exact tasks that need to be performed and their relevance in how they let you accomplish your objectives, we can start to understand where technology fits into your life and allows for solutions to emerge. The time spent writing down, or otherwise capturing your daily, monthly, yearly objectives can help immensely when it comes to choosing the tools to accomplish goals.
The old saying: “To a man with a hammer, every problem is a nail” comes to mind. Expanding on the sentiment of this quote, I think you better figure out if you are looking at a nail or a screw before you go tool shopping!
After all, the goal is for you to do what you do best in a beneficial way - not to just use technology for its own sake.
Here at SNAP, we have trained over a thousand students, written books, and implemented solutions for networking, social media, collaboration, education, and business. Our experience gives us the skills to execute, our passion for learning keeps us on the leading-edge and always asking: “What do you do today and what do you want to do better?”
This is why we support technology from multiple vendors and why we act as your trusted advisor on solutions involving technology.
Our objective is to help you arrive at a solution and not to sell you something you do not need. We can certainly help you envision new ways of doing things, but never at the expense of forgetting that you must understand the specific value that every investment in technology delivers.
A significant portion of my consulting and contracting is related to helping people succeed through the use of technology. Whether I am working with students in an educational environment, small business that is looking to increase efficiency, or larger companies that have a need to provision new services while not breaking old ones - there are plenty of similarities.
Something that I have learnt over the years is:
It’s not about the technology - it’s what you do and what you want to do that matters.
Prior to selecting any technology, I think it is very important to ask yourself - “how will this help me?”. Look for specific ways that the technology delivers value. Will it allow you to have more meaningful conversations with customers? Will it allow you greater insight into your business? Will it prevent duplicated effort or increase collaboration? Will it bring critical information to you at a time you need it?
These questions seem simple enough, but none of them can be answered unless you answer a very important question first: “What exactly is it that we do today and want to do tomorrow?”
Once we understand the exact tasks that need to be performed and their relevance in how they let you accomplish your objectives, we can start to understand where technology fits into your life and allows for solutions to emerge. The time spent writing down, or otherwise capturing your daily, monthly, yearly objectives can help immensely when it comes to choosing the tools to accomplish goals.
The old saying: “To a man with a hammer, every problem is a nail” comes to mind. Expanding on the sentiment of this quote, I think you better figure out if you are looking at a nail or a screw before you go tool shopping!
After all, the goal is for you to do what you do best in a beneficial way - not to just use technology for its own sake.
Here at SNAP, we have trained over a thousand students, written books, and implemented solutions for networking, social media, collaboration, education, and business. Our experience gives us the skills to execute, our passion for learning keeps us on the leading-edge and always asking: “What do you do today and what do you want to do better?”
This is why we support technology from multiple vendors and why we act as your trusted advisor on solutions involving technology.
Our objective is to help you arrive at a solution and not to sell you something you do not need. We can certainly help you envision new ways of doing things, but never at the expense of forgetting that you must understand the specific value that every investment in technology delivers.
blog comments powered by Disqus
