Windows 10 is on the way and whether you’re for it or against it, you’ll definitely have heard plenty about its imminent launch next month. Windows 10 will be rolled out on 29th July on a range of devices, but will also be available as a free download for anyone currently using Windows 7, 8 or 8.1.
If Windows is central to your organisation and the day-to-day tasks of many of your employees, there’s a strong case for creating a plan to deal with the changes and upheaval an upgrade or software change like this can have on a workplace and its daily practices.
Hiring support for change
A contract IT trainer could be the answer if you’re short of time, support or in-depth specific knowledge of a certain product. An IT trainer could save you time training staff (one-to-one or in group sessions), create guidelines specifically for your organisation’s practices, be on hand in the office to floor walk and answer employee queries and also could help to reduce the strain on your help desk.
Staff may become frustrated or make mistakes if appropriate steps and training are not provided to carefully implement change. Bringing an experienced professional in can open up new training suggestions and highlight fresh opportunities.
Going through an important upgrade (like the Windows 10 upgrade) or a period of organisational change (like a new or more advanced system upgrade) are more obvious reasons highlighting the potential need to hire a contract IT trainer. However there may be more subtle, nagging IT issues that could be causing a lack of productivity and wasted time where a trainer would prove just as much value.
Underused and unknown features
A 2014 study found employees only spent 48 minutes per day using MS Office applications and only a small percentage of users were considered heavy users. Since many users are unaware of the advanced features of office and other such programmes, they barely scratch the surface of what’s available to them. Investing time and effort into highlighting some of the unknown and unused features of the expensive software your business owns should not only improve the speed of tasks but develop understanding and increase efficiency.
Computer Weekly state that only “15% of North American and European information workers say they are completely satisfied with their IT department’s understanding of what they need to be successful. For the remaining 85%, there is a gap. The larger that gap, the more time staff may spend figuring out how to get the job done anyway.”
The true value of your company software
IT consultants have experience working on and implementing projects for a range of different organisations, giving them a fresh take on practices and bringing some fantastic expertise to the table. Fully understanding your IT and ensuring that your employees are using it to its full potential is key to keeping IT budgets under control and reducing unnecessary costs.
It is so important to have the right tools for the job, but ensuring your whole team understands how to use them to their full potential is just as important. Making a transition or changing something significant in your organisation’s technology will require a strategy to help make it straight forward and cause minimum disruption for employees. If you’re short of time and want the most productive outcome, hiring a contract IT trainer could be a viable and valuable decision. Remember that updates such as Windows 10 are created to ultimately make life and processes easier, but it’s important for everyone to fully understand them as much as possible from the beginning.
Here at Langley James we’ll support you every step of the way with your IT recruitment, finding the perfect match for your business requirements. Find the contractor or IT professional you’ve been searching for and get in touch with one of our team today.
