Welcome to the inaugural post on the Techaerus Blog. Please check this space on a regular basis for the coolest tips on office automation, efficiency and integration.
To kick things off, let’s talk about data entry efficiency. In a former life, I used to work closely with call center managers. To a person, they all agreed that one of the most important skills a call center agent could possess was the ability to type and talk simultaneously. This is not as easy as it sounds (try tapping the top of your head with one hand while making circles on your belly with the other hand).
As my wife would tell you, this was particularly difficult for me as I can barely chew gum and walk at the same time. That said, I was determined to lead by example and placed myself under the tutelage of my most experienced call center manager. I am a touch typist so I already had a good foundation but what he taught me dramatically improved my efficiency.
The very first thing he did was take away my mouse. While this would not be a permanent situation, it felt as though I had just amputated a very important appendage. My guru explained that in the early days of data entry, nobody had a mouse. What they did have were keyboard shortcuts!
While many of us are familiar with the basics (cut, copy, paste, select all), he introduced me to a new world where my hands never had to leave the keyboard. He reminded of Ctrl Tab (switch windows), Ctrl X (cut) and Ctrl Z (undo). There is basically a keyboard shortcut for just about anything you want to do in a Windows OS environment (not a Mac person but I suspect the same is true in that environment). All keyboard commands won’t be useful for all users but, in almost every case, several of them will have a dramatic effect on productivity.
For a pretty comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts, check out this site. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12445/windows-keyboard-shortcuts Find those that would be useful and train your employees (and yourself) to use them. While your mouse will still be your friend, it will no longer be the indispensable rodent.
Allen Friedman is the owner and CEO of Techaerus LLC, an office efficiency consulting firm. He is also a licensed attorney. Allen founded and managed one of the largest consumer collections law firms in the country and managed over 50 attorneys as well as hundreds of non-attorney staff. Prior to founding that firm, he opened and managed the New York and Michigan operations for the largest consumer collections firm in the United States. Throughout his career, Allen has always placed great emphasis on ensuring that investments in office technology provide the greatest possible returns. In order to achieve these returns, he focuses on three pillars of office management; asset management, training, and automation. His expertise includes document/image management, software and hardware integration, training, and process management and automation. Allen lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Amy, his children Cassidy and Gideon, and two adorable dogs named Roxie (a labradoodle) and Bentley (an Old English Sheepdog).
