Is Technology REALLY Making You More Efficient?

As we strive to improve productivity, we embrace technology. And it's great, we get so much faster and more efficient! Life is grand! Until something goes wrong. Simple, small-scale case in point...

Love my Blackberry. Love the integration of my calendar and contacts with Microsoft Outlook. Love the integration of Adobe Acrobat with Outlook and with everything else. Life is grand. But then...

1. Installed a routine update to Blackberry Desktop Manager.
2. Suddenly, my Blackberry wouldn't sync to Outlook.
3. Suddenly, Outlook wouldn't connect to my email account.
4. Checked all Outlook settings. Fine. No change.
5. Checked all Blackberry and desktop software settings. Fine. No change.
6. Uninstalled and reinstalled Blackberry software. No change.
7. Uninstalled and reinstalled USB drivers. No change.
8. Reinstalled Outlook. No change.
9. Uninstalled Outlook and Blackberry software and reinstalled. No change.
10. Hard reboot of Blackberry. No change.
11. Reboot computer again.
12. Outlook working! Magic!
13. Blackberry still won't sync.
14. Adobe Acrobat integration with Outlook lost.
15. Reinstall Adobe Acrobat. Acrobat working.
16. Blackberry still won't sync.
17. Technical support? No solution.
18. etc, etc, etc.

Now, in our little office, this is nuisance and a headache, and caused hours of frustration. Multiply this by a couple hundred staff, and throw in an IT department and fifty more integrated software applications, and you start seeing the cost of all your "improved productivity".

Technology always makes great claims for productivity improvements, and it delivers, as long as it works. It always comes with a cost, and it always comes with the need for specialized technical knowledge. As we embrace more-and-more technology, we make most of our staff more-and-more powerless when things go wrong.

So yes, look at technological options when searching for solutions to your problems. But don't believe the brochures, and don't ignore all the real, inevitable complications and costs that come with any technological solution.