Technologh drives us to distraction
This has been a bit of a techie month. It all started with the arrival of our new business development manager, Judy Roberts. We needed a new laptop and headquarters needed an additional two personal computers, so research began.
After wading through 878 pages of one magazine and trying to grasp all the advantages of each model, we finally made a decision.
I thought that was the difficult bit over with - but then they arrived.
First, the laptop came without its CD-Rom drive and without any form of operating system loaded. It had to be returned to the supplier - we are still waiting for a replacement. The carry-case was also out of stock and will follow later.
Then I saw to my horror my secretary, Claire, using an array of screwdrivers to remove side-panels from the other two new PCs.
It turned out that one had a defective cache memory, which meant a call to the manufacturer - in Ireland. The problem took an hour-and-a-half of heated discussions to sort out.
Insult to injury
Unfortunately, Claire hadn't noticed there was a free phone number, so we had the added insult of a bill of £30 for the call. We then found out the floppy disk drive was also defective.
The other PC is choosing to work effectively only with the side-panels removed. When Claire phoned about this unit, the manufacturer didn't hesitate in agreeing to send an engineer out. But as soon as he left, it stopped working again!
Surrounded by all this technical jargon, I decided I needed to become more of an "anorak" and brush up on my information technology. While I can't bring myself to wade through the door-stop magazines, I have booked myself on a cyberskills course.
I talked to the course tutor in a tentative attempt to establish the type of delegates who usually attend this course. I had visions of a roomful of the kind of people who spend their days down at the ever-growing number of Internet cafés. I will find out in the next few weeks about my fellow-learners.
To return to our new business development manager: Judy arrived with a bang - within her first few days of joining she had already performed her first presentation, attended a unit managers' meeting, carried out two site visits for potential clients and started on a couple of bids.
Additionally, we both attended a course on innovation. With contract catering becoming so competitive and everyone wanting to keep one step ahead, innovation has to be the key.
The course was very good. It started with a 40-minute lecture from the deputy chairman of Marks & Spencer, which was followed by a question- and-answer session.
Best practice
Later in the day, an interesting resource was discussed - an organisation called Inside UK Enterprise. This company offers, for £50 a day, the opportunity to visit leading companies that employ the best management practices.
Sounds an excellent idea. Maybe we should ask to be included - so companies can visit us!
A session on the "seven traits of successful innovative organisations" rounded off the day. Number three of the seven traits was that the company must be technology-driven. Now, shall we start reading this article again from the beginning?
Next diary from Robyn Jones will be on 24 July
