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The Covid 19 pandemic has forced a lot of changes in organizations in almost every industry.

Granted, many organizations have well-structured systems to help them keep afloat after events like power outages, natural disasters, and even cyber-attacks. These systems, regardless of how elaborate they are, weren’t able to fully address unknown variables like the outbreak of the Novel coronal Virus.

Even now that many people have been vaccinated and businesses have started to open up, many business sectors are still undergoing changes.

In this article, we will be looking at how IT operations in many organizations have changed after Covid. Before we dive right into that, we will first look at the importance of IT (information technology) in the business space.

The role of Information technology in business  

IT has helped a lot of start-ups and large corporations achieve their goals and soar to new heights. It has armed businesses with the tools they need to solve complex problems through the use of smart applications and collaborative software and tools that makes it easier to analyze data and do research.

Making a good business decision has never been this easy. Without help, it is easy to overlook important factors, make laughable mistakes, and arrive at mistaken conclusions. Information Technology can help turn things around and help businesses make better decisions.

As you likely know, a good business decision is based on accurate market research. With Information Technology, teams can carry out surveys to learn about the needs of their customers. With this information, they will easily make intelligent decisions that will help them thrive without having long meetings at conference rooms and using AV management tools.

A close look at how IT in organizations has changed Post Covid

Increased reliance on IT

Since Covid, many businesses and organizations have become highly reliant on IT to ensure the smooth running of their core operations.

Presently, the key sectors of many businesses (supply chain and human resources) aren’t working at 100% even after the pandemic. To overcome this, organizations need solid intelligence to create an alternative route to achieve their goals. With information technology, businesses will be able to glean all the information they need to make strategic decisions and elaborate plans that will help them thrive in the post-Covid era.

Embracing IT to increase flexibility

A lot of businesses with rigid structures embraced flexibility during the Covid 19 pandemic. During the lockdown, they started to see the beauty in flexible working schedules. Even after Covid, businesses are still going to opt for IT solutions and flexible technology initiatives.

Increase in IT budget

IT has always been an integral sector in many organizations, even before Covid. To cope with the changes that occurred in the businesses space because of the pandemic, more attention was given to information technology.

Even after the lockdown, businesses will still spend a huge sum of money on IT operation and solutions to strengthen their infrastructure and automate their key operations.

Final note

The future of Information technology is indeed bright. Even when things return to normal, many organizations are going to need IT solutions to get an edge over their competitors and glean valuable information that will help them address the need of their customers better.

 

 

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Ah, business meetings: The only phenomena in the known universe that make line-ups at the DMV look like models of efficiency in comparison. According to one estimate, the average professional loses 31 hours per month in unproductive meetings. To put things in perspective, the uncut Lord of the Rings trilogy is only 12 hours long. Think about that for a second: In the time it takes you and your colleagues to set up the projector and argue over who will record the minutes, Frodo can walk to Mount Doom and back two and a half times.

How do you remedy this? Like reaching absolute zero on the thermometer, there’s no known way to achieve a 100% efficient meeting. There are, however, certain steps you can take to make sure you don’t get horribly outpaced by Frodo productivity-wise.

1. Send Out the Agenda With the Same Frequency That Old Navy Sends Out Junk Mail

You can never send out the agenda too many times.

“Is there an agenda for today?” is the question that inevitably kicks off every business meeting. This is why it’s important to send out the agenda a week in advance, and then again four days later. Then, just for good measure, send the agenda out once again the day before the meeting.

This way, if anyone asks if there’s an agenda for the meeting, you can respond, “Yes, is your computer not capable of receiving e-mails?”

When compiling the agenda, always make sure that all deliverables are clearly marked and highlighted in bold. You may also want to consider using larger than normal font sizes. Don’t be afraid to go as high as 22pts.

2. Start On Time No Matter Who Shows Up Late (Unless It’s the President of the Organization or the President of the United States)

Waiting for latecomers is an exercise in futility. Always start on time.

The most common way business meetings chew up time is when someone shows up five minutes late and says, “Oh hey, sorry I’m late. What did I miss?” The next five minutes are then typically spent getting that person all caught up. Just when it looks like the meeting is finally set to move forward, another straggler inevitably wanders in, and the process repeats itself ad nauseam.

The best way to avoid this: Start on time no matter what and refuse to update any latecomers on what they missed. When someone shows up late for a movie, the projectionist doesn’t stop the show to give the late-comer a verbal synopsis. The same thing should apply to meetings.

3. Go Wireless

Although this photo was taken at dusk, the Ubiq Hive represents the dawn of the wireless era.

In today’s BYOD environment, non-wireless presentations can be tricky. In order to accommodate every laptop, the IT technician will have to bring a huge collection of wires and adapters to the conference room (HDMI, VGA, HDMI to VGA, DVI to HDMI, Thunderbolt to HDMI, Lightning to HDMI).

Figuring out which laptop requires which adapter can take longer than the meeting itself. Better to go wireless.

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Play Referee

Soccer games would be absolute chaos without referees, and the same thing applies to business meetings. The second someone goes off topic and mentions how crazy last night’s episode of Game of Thrones was, blow a whistle at them and give them a yellow card.

5. Keep Meetings Under 45 Minutes

A business meeting that goes over 45 minutes will test the limits of human endurance.

“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder,” Alfred Hitchcock famously stated. For business meetings, a slightly different rule applies: Their length should be directly related to the endurance of the bladder of a hamster or hyperactive rodent. Studies show that people begin to check out mentally after 30 minutes. If you go past 45 minutes, whoever is presenting may as well be talking to an empty room.

By implementing some of these steps, we are confident that you can reduce wasted meeting room time from 31 hours per month to 10 hours per month, which should leave you with just enough free time to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy twice or endure a line-up at the DMV.

Additional Reading

Top Tips On Organising Great Meetings at Work
Raise Productivity by Enabling Your Most Important Asset: Your Employees
This Conference Room Equipment Checklist Will Keep Your Meetings On Track
Increasing Efficiency In the Conference Room