How many people reading this, do you think would now employ someone if they didn’t know how to type, use a word processor or spreadsheet? Not many I’d say.
Its been years now since I’ve used Microsoft Office which used to be the killer productivity application in the PC era. If I need to edit a document, I use LibreOffice (its free in many ways) but thats only if the people I’m engaging with still want a document to be attached in an email.
I’d much prefer to use Google Docs and just share the document. In Google Docs, you have been able to have multiple people sharing and editing the one document through a web interface for a while. Sure it may not have been as feature rich as the latest version of Microsoft Office but we haven’t needed those extra features to be productive with our suppliers and customer. We achieve what we need to do efficiently without going backward and forwards through emails and using change tracking.
Whats more we can be working anywhere, that we have internet access and still be productive.
As some now argue, we are in the post PC era, whereby the tools and methods developed for that generation are now just becoming something expected. Its the hurdle that you have to overcome, which our children learn at an early age, to be able to participate in the modern knowledge based workforce.
But what may you ask, are the current productivity tools that add value now? Well for me, its the ability to engage through social media with tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and this blog. They allow me to build up social capital with persons, such that if I need assistance, I have a pool of people available to me from wherever I’m located, on whatever device, to help get me answers.
Its this now, the ability to grow social capital and increase your reach that is the dawn of new productivity. Its just a given, that people can type, use a spreadsheet or create a document. But would you employ someone if they are even more productive online with social media?
Nick Hortovanyi's blog 