I work in a pathology laboratory. We are constantly connected to computers. The laboratory information system is the tool we use the most. I also use few other tools, here some examples:
MICROSOFT OFFICE
I use Microsoft Office every day. I use Outlook email for communication, Teams for meetings, Word, Excel and PowerPoint I use when I make lists, instructions, presentations. And also I store my work to OneDrive.
TITANIA
Titania is shifting planning software. In Titania we are planning our shifts. There are some rules that must be followed, but in general we can plan our work shifts ourselves. This is easy because we do mainly day shifts.
HARPPI
Harppi is an enterprise resource planning system built on a cloud. There is functions of the employee, supervisor and HR professionals related to for recruitment, service relationship, salary, absences, internal trainings and employee skills.
Five new digital tools I could use in daily basis
Asana
Asana is an application for managing tasks, workflows and projects. I’ve never heard of this app before. However, I read about it and became interested. It’s hard to say how practical this would be, but at least it would be well suited for monitoring certain types of projects. The application looked clear and is probably easily customizable to your own needs.
ChatGPT
I have try to use ChatGPT few times, but I don’t really know how to use it. Maybe it would be practical to give some ideas if I needed.
Maybe we could make Facebook group and use it as an internal group. However, I may not see this helping or facilitating anything. Maybe this could work for getting to know each other better and it would help new employees to know us. There might be some interesting discussions. On the other hand, I think there might be more negative things about the site. However, this is not a good choice, I guess.
Our work unit could make a page? This could be a good idea because it is quite difficult to get employees. But who would maintain the page? This is only a small unit in a large group. However it would be nice to share small information and pictures of our work. I believe that it could attract professionals to us.
WhatsApp could be a good application for informing widely in the workplace because almost everyone has a smartphone. Applications and services intended for consumer use may not be used in work tasks, so for this reason the use of this application is not permitted. We communicate verbally and by email. Neither supports fast and extensive communication.
Elements of successful use of digital application
Digital programs and applications must be easy enough to use. They should be approachable and clear in appearance. The user experience must be good to continue using it. Depending on the apps, but there are plenty of competing apps. For example, there are numerous project management applications available.
What makes you choose the application? Often this cannot be affected if the company uses certain applications. However, using apps should be a help, not a burden.
The pros and cons of using social media at work
Social media tools can significantly improve, for example, communication. They enable quick sharing of information to many people at the same time, but use is not always possible. It is important to consider the possible negative aspects of using social media. These include potential security vulnerabilities. Setting limits and guidelines is mandatory and everyone should consider responsible use.
people’s behavior can be ugly sometimes. I think it’s easier to be mean if you’re not face to face. it’s unbelievable how adults behave badly sometimes. Maybe people get frustrated. Teams is held for every matter because it is easy and fast. In the end, numerous short meetings are burden and take time away from other work. The positive thing is that people can be more connected to each other and participate in meetings virtually even if they are far away. It is cost effective to organize Teams, so time is not spent moving from one place to another.
Self evaluation
I use social media to stay up to date of what people are up to. There are many people I don’t meet often, but when I read their posts on Facebook, I feel like the distance is not so long. I personally use social media daily. Usually I just read others postings but sometimes I make my own posts. Most probably from the special events or coincidences or trips. Quite often I browse social media to pass the time. It feels like the phone is always in my hand.
While doing this task, I started to think that maybe I don’t want to jump from app to app all the time. In fact, for example, I don’t even use TikTok anymore. Opening this app in evening is the stupidest thing you can do. Long periods of time can pass unnoticed when using social media.
You may not be able to completely escape social media and its tools, but you can try to limit their use.