Current job and use of different digital tools

I work as a procurement specialist. Almost all of our systems are already digitalized and we have a lot of different online platforms that I use daily in my job. We have to use our own intranet for everything we do. All our systems are based on the intranet and all the important information can be found from the intranet. Our company has digitalized our recruiting system, induction system and training system. All the reports and numbers I need to track my goals are in their own systems on the intranet.

Me and my coworkers communicates via Teams software. In Teams we use chat conversations, calls and video calls for communication. Our weekly meetings are also organized as a Teams-meeting. I also communicate in Outlook by email and use Outlook calendar to plan my work and schedules. However, I think that Whatsapp is the most used communication tool in our workplace. We share there the important information and news and sometimes even something that is not so official, for example birthday greetings. I think that Whatsapp is also one way to influence our team spirit in our company and ensure good communication. We have ”rules” for Whatsapp and we all know that it’s very important to remember that we all have working time and then we have free time with families and friends.

Microsoft office programs are important tools for me and I do a lot of work by using Microsoft Office programs, for example Word and Excel. I have to say that almost all of my work is made with the help of computer and different kind of digital programs.

Five new tools for me

LinkedIn is a great app for finding a job and looking for employees. There you can describe your own skills and training. It is a platform that I’ve thought of joining for some time now. There you can read interesting publications and news and get information about new trainings. I think it would help me to stay tuned about new working possibilities and keep me better informed about the phenomena happening in my field of work.

Evernote brings your notes, to-dos, and schedule together to help you remember everything and accomplish anything. It can also be integrated with for example Teams and Outlook. My workday is usually hectic. Many different projects are ongoing, messages and tasks coming from many different channels, so I see Evernotebeing useful for me in my daily use.

On Twitter users send and receive tweets. It can be called social networking. Twitter offers the opportunity to keep up with the world situation. There you can follow people in your own field. If you share your thoughts under your own name, it is important that the employer has agreed on which things can be tweeted.

Mural offers a place to collaborate. It is a digital whiteboard that can be used to work together in real time. Mural allows you to quickly move ideas into visual representations that make it very easy to share with other people. I think I could use the Mural in teamwork and planning.

Todoist is a project management application for personal and professional use. Todoist looks very simple and can be added to a calendar. With Todoist, you can create to-do lists, prioritize your tasks and add a due date. I think This application would help keep up all my tasks at work and at home.

Social media

Some people share their entire life in social media. I also use Facebook and Instagram a few times every day, but I don’t want to share all the details of my life in social media. I belong to many groups in Facebook, which is also the actual reason why I use Facebook. Instagram, on the other hand, is more like a hobby for me. In Instagram I follow my friends but also many people I don’t personally know. I watch their stories and pictures, and search for example for inspiration for decorating our home.

Although there are many positive sides in social media, there are some negative sides too. I think it’s a little bit scary that we can be anonymous in social media. Whoever can follow you in Instagram and people might learn to know lots of things about you and your life. But when you meet that person somewhere in real life, it’s possible that you don’t even know who that person is.

As said, there are also many good things about social media, especially if you use it right. For example, my good friend is nowadays one of the leading social media coaches in Finland. Her career started from Facebook. She was very active in Facebook so she got many friends there and from there she got noticed. Today, her work is to be active on all channels of social media.

Successful use of the digital applications

Many companies already use multiple online platforms every day. Especially companies who allow remote work for their employees. There are many great and functioning platforms, which are very important for these companies.

I’ve heard that some people in some companies are working only via different online platforms and they don’t have traditional social communication at all. Some people prefer to work this way, so it’s great that nowadays there are opportunities for that too.

Today, companies also recruit their employee via different online platforms. For example, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram are great online platforms for recruiting. Also, digital job interviews are becoming more and more common, and I believe that all companies should start creating online platform for recruiting, if they haven’t done that yet.

The main two elements of utilizing digital applications successfully are agreed business processes and training on how to use them. Also information security must be in order.

Self evaluation

During this course it was interesting to read and test different social media platforms. Some of these applications were familiar to me before this course and some applications/tools were completely new to me. This task made me think about the platforms and applications I use in my work. I realized that I use many platforms on a daily basis. So digital tools are a big part of my work these days. Most of these programs/platforms enable remote working and the main goal is to improve collaboration. I learned that social media has many good features, but it also has a negative side. I still believe that if we use it correctly, there are more positives than negatives in social media.