computer illiterate people in the workplace

[disco_dave_2000]

I was always amazed at the people who complained loudest about a lack of IT training and an inability to do even the most basic of data entry had absolutely no problems booking their holidays / manipulating their photos / combing their Facebook accounts.

 

[ramjamclub]

ctrl+f4 is the answer

 

[Orang Utan]

I was always amazed at the people who complained loudest about a lack of IT training and an inability to do even the most basic of data entry had absolutely no problems booking their holidays / manipulating their photos / combing their Facebook accounts.

Motivation and interest

 

[EastEnder]

Motivation and interest

Good IT skills are hugely valuable in the job market and can be a very significant factor when looking for jobs/promotions.

How's that for motivation?

 

[untethered]

Only wankers make those anyway. That's not what bloody Excel is for.

I got an email today with an Excel attachment, the contents of which were just plain text and could just as well have been typed into the body of the email.

 

[bluestreak]

Good IT skills are hugely valuable in the job market and can be a very significant factor when looking for jobs/promotions.

How's that for motivation?

this is why i'm always trying to learn and incredibly frustrated at my own shiteness. but at least i'm that shite.

 

[baldrick]

Scoffing at people's ignorance is stupid. Like a doctor laughing at a patient for not knowing why his thyroid gland is overactive

knowing how to use basic software packages is part of 90% of office jobs. if you don't have those skills, you should get them, because it means you can do your own job efficiently.

 

[polo]

At the beginning of my career I had the job of supporting computer users, then mainly secretaries using a word processor. I taught myself, then taught them. One of the secretaries was always on the phone asking for help ,often with things she could easily have worked out herself. I thought she was either lazy or a bit dim.

When she left, she started up her own business. She asked me to help her buy a computer and printer and software (this was some years ago when this sort of thing was relatively new and expensive.) There were a few problems getting it going, but we did it in the end.

I called a few weeks later to see how she was getting on. I could not believe it, she had read all the computer manuals from cover to cover and was a dab hand at all sorts of complicated corners of the wordprocessor.

She had a complete change of attitude because she was working for herself rather than for someone else. It was in HER interest to learn new skills. If it was in her BOSSES interest, she only learnt the minimum to get the job done.

It was bit of lesson for me. While I had an intellectual curiosity that led me to stay late and wrestle with interesting computer problems. Most of the rest of the organisation could not give a toss....unless it was something in which they saw a clear personal advantage.

Many people have brains, but do not feel inclined to switch them on at work.

 

[Orang Utan]

knowing how to use basic software packages is part of 90% of office jobs. if you don't have those skills, you should get them, because it means you can do your own job efficiently.

Very well, so why don't employers train their employees basic skills in IT? They're happy for you to be ignorant.

 

[Orang Utan]

At the beginning of my career I had the job of supporting computer users, then mainly secretaries using a word processor. I taught myself, then taught them. One of the secretaries was always on the phone asking for help ,often with things she could easily have worked out herself. I thought she was either lazy or a bit dim.

When she left, she started up her own business. She asked me to help her buy a computer and printer and software (this was some years ago when this sort of thing was relatively new and expensive.) There were a few problems getting it going, but we did it in the end.

I called a few weeks later to see how she was getting on. I could not believe it, she had read all the computer manuals from cover to cover and was a dab hand at all sorts of complicated corners of the wordprocessor.

She had a complete change of attitude because she was working for herself rather than for someone else. It was in HER interest to learn new skills. If it was in her BOSSES interest, she only learnt the minimum to get the job done.

It was bit of lesson for me. While I had an intellectual curiosity that led me to stay late and wrestle with interesting computer problems. Most of the rest of the organisation could not give a toss....unless it was something in which they saw a clear personal advantage.

Many people have brains, but do not feel inclined to switch them on at work.

You say that as if it's a bad thing

 

[bluestreak]

i had a MANAGER phone me up today and ask me how they personalised the automatic letters with their phone number. i apologised and said that we can only get the head office's address put on at the moment (long story). 'So i can't get my phone number put on a letter? how will they know how to contact me.' i took a deep breath and suggested that when they write the letter they add a line that invites the recipient to contact them by phone. 'but they won't know my number'. you could write it in the letter? '.........yes, ok, thanks *click'.

i wonder if that was me missing the point or a wonderful of stupidity.

i hate working, i hate being exposed to people. i hate being reminding of their stupidity every fucking day, and i hate that i occasionally fuck up and remind everyone of my own stupidity

 

[polo]

You say that as if it's a bad thing

Well it is a bad thing. Work should be something that is enjoyed and enriches your life rather that something you suffer and whose demands you begrudge.

Such jobs do exist, I have heard tell.

 

[mentalchik]

Well it is a bad thing. Work should be something that is enjoyed and enriches your life rather that something you suffer and whose demands you begrudge.

Such jobs do exist, I have heard tell.

If you ever find out where they are please let me know !


I do my job to pay the bills and that's it.......if it wasn't for the people i work with it would be unbearable..........

 

[EastEnder]

Very well, so why don't employers train their employees basic skills in IT? They're happy for you to be ignorant.

Employers should train staff, that goes without saying. There's also the argument that one should take the initiative. There are books, courses, TV programs, etc. The majority of the info I use to do my job was acquired outside of jobs or formal education - reading lots of text books, doing stuff at home, etc. Admittedly, I work in a very technical field where that kind of attitude is pretty much a prerequisite for career progression. But equally, in any field, it's your career, your job prospects - if an employer won't honour their obligations, do you sit around complaining about it, or seek to address the issue yourself?

 

[Orang Utan]

Employers should train staff, that goes without saying. There's also the argument that one should take the initiative. There are books, courses, TV programs, etc. The majority of the info I use to do my job was acquired outside of jobs or formal education - reading lots of text books, doing stuff at home, etc. Admittedly, I work in a very technical field where that kind of attitude is pretty much a prerequisite for career progression. But equally, in any field, it's your career, your job prospects - if an employer won't honour their obligations, do you sit around complaining about it, or seek to address the issue yourself?

Certainly, if I was looking for a job, I'd brush up my skills
BTW just what constitutes 'basic IT skills' anyway?

 

[EastEnder]

BTW just what constitutes 'basic IT skills' anyway?

Good question!

I suppose in an office environment it probably includes things like word processing, spreadsheets, powerpoint, etc. TBH, I wouldn't really know - I'm crap with most office software, it's just not something I have to use much. I can setup a spreadsheet in Excel with lots of cool equations, but I'm hopeless at producing nicely formated, "businessy" type documents...

 

[Orang Utan]

Isn't powerpoint for presentations? Eeek! I hope I never have a job that requires those!

 

[gentlegreen]

Isn't powerpoint for presentations? Eeek! I hope I never have a job that requires those!

Business presentations are indeed grim, but it's a handy way to glue together multimedia in academia, but I find it a bit clunky - and I've seen them done so badly they would at least work in total opposition to the colour combinations advised for dyslexia - if not actually trigger a fit.


There's an MP3 here of a 15 minute programme from Radio 4 -
"Microsoft Powerpoint and the Decline of CivilisationRadio programme examining how the use of Microsoft's Powerpoint as a teaching and dissemination tool may be 'dumbing-down' the knowledge transfer process in the academic world."
http://piglet.ex.ac.uk/pallas/teaching/media/

8MByte MP3

You can also use Powerpoint for basic graphics or to make web pages ..

 

[Orang Utan]

Also Excel - isn't that for doing sums/accounts? Is that strictly necessary in all office jobs?

 

[gentlegreen]

Also Excel - isn't that for doing sums/accounts? Is that strictly necessary in all office jobs?

At least it's handy for your own accounts

 

[Orang Utan]

At least it's handy for your own accounts

Even I could use Excel for those sorts of accounts!

 

[gentlegreen]

Even I could use Excel for those sorts of accounts!

Oh you mean the clever stuff ... writing Macros and stuff ..

 

[Orang Utan]

Oh you mean the clever stuff ... writing Macros and stuff ..

Aye - I don't want to do that in any job, so why learn it, especially if you don't find it interesting?

 

[bluestreak]

Such jobs do exist, I have heard tell.

ay, but i scan the papers daily and never see any adverts saying 'cider-taster wanted' or 'mattress tester needed'

 

[bluestreak]

Also Excel - isn't that for doing sums/accounts? Is that strictly necessary in all office jobs?

i've never had a job where it wasn't necessary - or at least the most convenient recording tool, and i've never used 1/10th of what excel can do.

 

[Orang Utan]

i've never had a job where it wasn't necessary - or at least the most convenient recording tool, and i've never used 1/10th of what excel can do.

No wonder you hate your job
I only use it for lists of tapes

 

[fractionMan]

Powerpoint is a piece of piss really. with ten minutes practice you can make a usable presentation. I suppose that constitutes 'basic'.

The only thing I have to do with excel is type numbers in thank fuck. I do have to make presentations though

 

[bluestreak]

No wonder you hate your job
I only use it for lists of tapes

bet you earn more than me too

 

[Orang Utan]

bet you earn more than me too

I have a great deal of responsibility (apparently)

 

[JTG]

Also Excel - isn't that for doing sums/accounts? Is that strictly necessary in all office jobs?

I use Excel to collate the team stats in my job. I occasionally have to fix the spreadsheet when it breaks but I've never actually set one up.