The other day Jennifer and I sat through a presentation about a software that will save hours! I think many software companies brag about saving you hours of work by implementing their programs. This company said tasks that used to take 8 hours will now take 1 and half minutes! Seems a little farfetched to me. However, I have to imagine if it does work as they say, it would save a lot of time and of course money! We are going to look into the software more to see if it really would be worthwhile and if it would help us in the tasks we are performing.
How often do you create an Excel spreadsheet or do a calculation by hand when your software is already doing it for you? Every time I sit down with a controller or CFO we talk about the hundreds of Excel spreadsheets used for analysis and decision making. I love Excel and I think it is extremely capable. But are you making good decisions, especially when there are most likely errors on the Excel spreadsheet? Is your software or another software program capable of providing you with the precise information you need? Wouldn’t that be amazing? If a controller is spending 8 hours a week performing a task that a software can do in minutes and more accurately, aren’t you wasting your time?
So often I think people get stuck in their way of doing things or think, “I tried that before and it didn’t work.” Maybe it did not work before, but maybe there have been three updates to the software since the last time you tried and it is now capable of doing what you need it to do. Or maybe the person before you taught you “the only way to complete the job” and you have just accepted it when in reality the software is able to do just that.
Software packages are very expensive and are capable of a lot. I am not saying they can do everything, or will solve all of your problems; do not forget the old saying “garbage in, garbage out.” But I am saying when you want a report or someone is asking for a report, see if the software can do it. Ask questions of the software representative and get the appropriate training. Why are you wasting your time when there may be a much more effective and efficient way?
