It's Not About Me

Technology or Computer Resources department is a major ro adblock simply because so many of today’s desired improvements require system enhancements and upgrades. Every department wants their top projects completed first. Hopefully, you have prioritized your projects according to how well they will benefit your customer’s needs, but even so, you likely have far more projects on your list than you can hope to accomplish within the next twelve months. What I have found to be a useful tool in getting more work accomplished is not to simply focus on the top one or two projects on my list but work with the IT folks in pursuing any of my priority items. IT folks are specialists in different disciplines…ac counting, sales reports, EDI, order entry, web development, human resources, etc.; therefore, by working closely with the IT department management, you may be able to schedule some of your smaller projects or lower priority projects earlier simply because IT may have a programmer freed up in that project area. In this manner, over time, you will likely be successful in getting more of your priority list completed sooner…rather than later. After all, even the lower priority items on your list are important and will be an aid to someone at your customers’ business. • Biggest Mistakes Companies Make o Systems as Solutions Buying, installing, or upgrading a system (whether it be hardware or software or both) is often promoted as a solution to whatever corporate problem seems to be lurking its ugly head. Companies often spend enormous sums of money not to mention the time wasted in installing or upgrading a system only to eventually find out that the underlying cause of the problem persists or is not totally resolved. Frequently, by simply re-evaluating how a job or task is being done can lead you to a more economical and timely solution. Beware of Checklists It is amazing how many companies allow their employees to make important business decisions based on “simple checklists” rather than “in - depth” research. Companies often make comparisons by simply comparing themselves to other companies without thoroughly examining the details underlying the various elements being compared; therefore, they often fail to uncover why their competition surpasses them in execution and success when they both theoretically provide the same service. For example, one company might compare itself to another by declaring that they both offer EDI capability, they both offer web order entry, etc. However, a really detailed examination might reveal that the other company supports many more EDI transaction sets and they support EDI order entry functions for non-stock items, air shipments, drop ships to end customers, special pricing opt ions, etc. whereas the other company only supports the “bare essentials” thus their customer adoption of EDI is much less. Same issue for web order entry and other items being compared…examine the details by talking to your common customers to learn WHY y our implementation is not as successful as those of your competition! One Size Fits All … conformity There is a lot to be said for “standardization” and it works for many companies because they are either small and serve a single market and group of customers or they operate on a larger scale but o o

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