Technology in the workplace....

So this is what we're discussing in Business 482 this week--the impact of technology on the workplace, and how in some cases it has helped or hurt--or both. I talked about how the technology and the computer systems we use at my place of employment make things a lot easier, considering how they used to do things years ago (I work for what used to be the YWCA of Summit). A co-worker told me that instead of doing things by computer, they would actually register people by hand and that the lines would be almost around the corner and down the street on registration days. Fast-forward to the 21st century, and now almost everything our members want to register for can be done either online or in person--whereas before, there was only one option.

However, I pointed out in our discussion that our system was not perfect by any means, even though it made certain processes easier and quicker. I explained to the professor and the students that sometimes our webserver and/or accounting system may shut down, which pretty much slows up our workload and leaves us at the mercy of the computer system and/or software until the problem is resolved. And even with registration, sometimes the log-ins that customers have created for themselves do not work (usually it's because the username and password are not in sync with the customer's account number). But this is the world we live and work in--conference calls done by computer, work done from home using the company's software, etc. This is the world we find ourselves in, fellow students. We're getting a taste of that right now (particularly if you're an online student like myself and have to type in responses instead of raising your hand in a classroom).

This is why business and technology courses are so necessary in this day and age; you could be left behind in the workplace by failing to keep up with the latest technology that are part of employers' companies. You also have to continue to practice what you've learned as far as business and technology are concerned, so I plan to keep my CIS skills fresh by using the books that I used for class to practice and stay ahead of the curve.