It’s 2010, computers have been in the workplace for twenty years, business has spent millions of dollars on training and most people today have a computer at home.
That said, is it too much to ask that people know how to copy a file or create a folder?
There are a few things everyone should know how to do unless they are sitting in front of a dumb-terminal with data entry their only task. If an employee can’t do these simple tasks they are either lazy or work for an organization that so discourages mistakes they are afraid to try to learn for fear of messing something up.
Everyone at your organization with a computer should be able to do the following:
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Copy a file
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Create a folder
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Rename a file
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Locate a “saved” file
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Understand where files are saved
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Send an email attachment
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Save an email attachment (and be able to retrieve it later)
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Delete old, unnecessary files
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Locate the “date” of a file
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Understand a little about the size of a file
These simple and necessary tasks are basic to the use of computers. If you’ve invested the typical $2000 per workstation—computer, installation, network, software—and the person sitting in front of it cannot do these things, you’re not getting your money’s worth. Period.
There’s no reason not to fix this because the return in productivity is so great.
What are you waiting for?
Chris Reich