Forget a leisurely Sunday drive or going to a restaurant without a reservation. Today, everyone wants everything to be convenient and fast. We have drive-through everything – photos, pharmacies, weddings, and anything else you can dream of.

There’s no need to wait in line at the local Blockbuster; you can watch Netflix on demand. You can order your groceries online and have them delivered, print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk (no humans necessary!), and have your dry-cleaning delivered with just a click. Even GPS systems, which were once a luxury in cars, are becoming a standard. Have we lost our sense of direction? No, we like having a faster, more convenient way of getting there. Read more…

admin Excel, ROI, Worker Productivity Excel, Help Desk, ROI, software support, Worker Productivity

IT blogs are ablaze lately about whether the iPhone has graduated from dawdling device to legitimate business tool. One camp says the iPhone is just too pretty and trendy to use for work; the other side says it’s much more conducive to productivity than any buggy smartphone. Even venerated researchers are weighing in. According to a Forrester report released in April, workers who use iPhones are “happier and more productive.”

Who knew a gadget could have such power? Read more…

admin How To, Mobile Devices, Time-Saving Tips, Worker Productivity, iPhone iPhone, tips and tricks, Worker Productivity

A random sampling of tweets about Office 2007 offers no surprises. Users are frustrated, desperate, confused, angry even. No matter where you are in your 2007 migration – research and planning stage; implementation; post-migration – you will hit some snags, to be sure. How you handle them may dictate future budget allocations, even the health of your IT department. Here’s what you should know before you choose a migration plan and partner: Read more…

admin Office 2007, ROI, Worker Productivity Office 2007, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, ROI, software support, Worker Productivity

On the surface, it seems a no-brainer: Why pay extra to hire an outside company for desktop application support when the demand does not exist? This perception is confirmed by the small percentage of all help desk calls that relate to desktop applications. However, those numbers represent only a fraction of what truly exists.

Lesson 1: Icebergs and Undergrounds

In the common view of desktop application support, calls typically account for less than Read more…

admin Computer Literacy, PowerPoint, ROI, Worker Productivity best-of-breed, Help Desk, Outsourcing, ROI, software support, Worker Productivity

In previous posts, I examined why corporate workers hesitate to call their help desks when stuck with a software quandary. I referred to the so-called stupidity factor, or fear of looking stupid, as one of the top reasons.

In an e-mail response, a reader pointed out an even greater obstacle, something he called the infuriation factor. Read more…

admin Computer Literacy, How To, ROI, Worker Productivity best-of-breed, CIO, Help Desk, IT leaders, Outsourcing, ROI, software support, Worker Productivity

In a previous post (see Real-Life Help Desk Tales, Part 1), I touched upon why people don’t call the help desk when they need software assistance (fear of looking stupid, unpleasant past experience, assumed time investment). In this post, I will take a closer look at the stupidity factor. Read more…

admin Computer Literacy, How To, ROI, Worker Productivity CIO, Computer Literacy, Help Desk, IT leaders, mariachi band, software support, Worker Productivity

Consider the following scenario: The entire staff of an elementary school was recently upgraded to Office 2007. When Teacher A began creating a new lesson in PowerPoint, which is something she does on a regular basis, she couldn’t figure out how to align her text.

After more than an hour of trial and error Read more…

admin Computer Literacy, Office 2007, ROI, Worker Productivity Cat Stevens, Help Desk, Office 2007, PowerPoint, ROI, software support, Worker Productivity

The beauty of Excel is its simplicity: If you enter your data correctly, it works. However, it can be ugly, especially when it returns a mess of formula errors, which sometimes are as understandable as Sanskrit.

We have gathered some tips that will help you root out the potential problems in formulas. If you can identify the issue quickly, then we’ve done our job. As for helping you fix it, that’s for another post.

A circular reference sends Excel into an endless loop where it will never stop calculating the cell. Excel goes around and around, never stopping to give us a final number…

1. Formula Evaluation Tool (Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

by David McQueary

If you’ve ever created a formula, you no doubt have come across a dreaded #N/A, #DIV/0 or other type of error. This can be frustrating, especially if the formula you entered is long and complex. Sometimes it is not easy to see what is causing the malfunction, and trying to read through the formula to spot the offender is not always a fruitful effort. Excel offers a Formula Evaluation tool, which assesses a formula step by step, showing each calculation and enabling you to view exactly where the error occurs. Here’s how:

Excel 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Click Tools and move your mouse over Formula Auditing. Read more…

admin Excel, How To circular reference, formulas, software support, Worker Productivity

PC Helps has partnered with CIO.com to communicate the myths and realities of an Office 2007 migration, and eight service levels needed to prove migration ROI. You cannot afford to approach an Office 2007 migration blindly. The user interface is radically different and guarantees that your employees will flounder just trying to perform basic tasks.

In this series, we separate the facts from the myths, and teach you how to get the most return on your investment.

Myth No. 1: You can make Office 2007 look and act like Office 2003.

One of the biggest gripes about Office 2007 is the interface. Read more…

admin Office 2007, Worker Productivity CIO.com, Office 2007, ROI, Training, Worker Productivity

Efficiency. It’s the unofficial buzzword of 2009. It may summon fear in corporate workers; after all, it’s often heard as justification for layoffs. But that unassuming little noun can also motivate your employees, and maybe even give them renewed interest in your company. It depends on how you package it.

In a recent post on TechRepublic, Calvin Sun offers 10 tips on the subject. Here are three that warrant elaboration:

Less Imaginary Widgets, More Genuine Examples

If one of your employees is fumbling with the Access sample database “Northwind,” it’s no wonder. Read more…

admin Excel, Office 2007, Worker Productivity American Airlines, Calvin Sun, cheese, efficiency, Excel, learning, Office 2007, TechRepublic, Training, Worker Productivity