When Will Management Learn?

the_Grinch

So there was a big push from management (well, really the President) to get Smartboards installed. He loves them and felt they would make a big difference in meetings and collaboration. Thus they spent the money and got four installed in our conference rooms. Part of the deal was a trainer came onsite and did some overview training. Now, Smartboards are mainly geared towards education and not really business (even the business end of education doesn't really have a use). There were about 25 people in the training and even the trainer wasn't terribly helpful in what would prove useful to business users. So today we get an email from the President to the VP of IT about how he's mad that no one is using them and that it is because we haven't trained users on how to use the devices.

This ticked me off for a couple of reasons. First, even the President has only used the Smartboards twice since we've gotten them (about 3 months ago). Second, the idea was to get the managers of various departments in the same training we received so that they could run their meetings using the Smartboards. None of them have done it. Finally, we posted that we were available to provide training and made the manual available to everyone as well. At this point in time, I have had only one user ask about the Smartboard and I told her I would be happy to run her through the basics. When she heard training would be required, she said "nevermind." Always nice when the business side makes a decision and then blames IT for it not working out.

WafflesAndRootbeer

I hate those things. I once had a gig where the client (a financial company) had bought a bunch of those and installed them in their conference rooms to "WOW!" customers and they never bothered to learn how to use them (and I was never told I needed to learn to use them nor was I even informed of their existence until I was on a call staring at it in front of me) so they would call us to go there and "make it work" when we didn't even have any experience with them. I also encountered them at the local ECPI classrooms, another money-wasting binge on their part along with marble flooring for the lobby.

the_Grinch

Yeah, it's one of those things where I am happy to move the business in the direction they want to go, but don't make a decision and come to me saying "find out how to make use of this." Sorry, my job isn't to find a use for a technology you decided to buy. If you consulted me and asked if I felt there could be a business use or you solicited ideas to help the business with technology that is a different story. Also, talked to your managers and find out why in their weekly team meetings they aren't using it (since they were trained on how to use the Smartboard). Should be noted, we installed a PC to be used with each of the boards and it has the software loaded/tested so lack of equipment is not the issue.

YFZblu

Nice to know my campus isn't the only one with a Smartboard graveyard We have several of them, all but one is in storage. The one that IS hung on a wall is literally never used.

MickQ

Disclaimer: I've sold/installed a few of these - in different forms.

First off, they're a tool. Not everyone will have use for them.

Secondly, just like with any tool, you have to learn how to use it.

Thirdly, some users will love them (I'm one of them) but again, it's a tool and I use it when it's best for the job. Eg. explaining network mappings to customers, designing changes to infrastructure, etc.

Fourthly, management would learn a lot quicker if it was coming directly out of their pocket

If the trainer from the company who sold it wasn't able to come up with ways your business can actually properly use them, well enough said.

WafflesAndRootbeer

the_Grinch wrote: »

Yeah, it's one of those things where I am happy to move the business in the direction they want to go, but don't make a decision and come to me saying "find out how to make use of this." Sorry, my job isn't to find a use for a technology you decided to buy. If you consulted me and asked if I felt there could be a business use or you solicited ideas to help the business with technology that is a different story. Also, talked to your managers and find out why in their weekly team meetings they aren't using it (since they were trained on how to use the Smartboard). Should be noted, we installed a PC to be used with each of the boards and it has the software loaded/tested so lack of equipment is not the issue.

Well, as is the case in most support roles, the company that I was contracted to had absolutely nothing to do with the actual IT processes the client used to pick and choose their hardware and software. The client would buy whatever they wanted to without any thought other than whatever was cheapest or looked nicest. It was incredibly annoying because there was not only a lack of uniformity in the hardware (HP/Compaq, Lenovo/IBM, Dell, custom-made older desktops, and a host of other stuff) but no documented technical support processes for a lot of stuff. Nobody ever wrote down or documented solutions or procedures. It was just "figure it out as you go along" every day.

zenhound

Is it bad that I read the title and immediately thought "Never!" without knowing what the topic was? Hmm.

the_Grinch

I will say, I do like the Smartboards. My mother is a special education teacher and the kids enjoy using the device. She also noted that they appear to pick things up much quicker because they are involved. If there is a need or purpose, these things are a great tool. But on the business side of things you are dealing with Powerpoint and Excel. So while if you were mapping a business plan and perhaps making adjustments to a presentation before giving it to an actual audience, I see no real purpose for them otherwise. Overall I wouldn't care if they didn't present it as if it were a failure of the IT Department because people don't use it. Hell, I can't get people to put a ticket in, why would you expect them to use a Smartboard? Turning their computer on often proves to be a very difficult venture about 90% of the time.

eansdad

At least you don't have people using dry erase markers on them thinking they are white boards. Idiot teachers, most have smartboards and every year we have to toss a few from each building because of this.

DevilWAH

just get one of these

Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks | Video on TED.com

it_consultant

the_Grinch wrote: »

I will say, I do like the Smartboards. My mother is a special education teacher and the kids enjoy using the device. She also noted that they appear to pick things up much quicker because they are involved. If there is a need or purpose, these things are a great tool. But on the business side of things you are dealing with Powerpoint and Excel. So while if you were mapping a business plan and perhaps making adjustments to a presentation before giving it to an actual audience, I see no real purpose for them otherwise. Overall I wouldn't care if they didn't present it as if it were a failure of the IT Department because people don't use it. Hell, I can't get people to put a ticket in, why would you expect them to use a Smartboard? Turning their computer on often proves to be a very difficult venture about 90% of the time.

I wish we had a smartboard, we whiteboarded all of our SAN LUNs to the sites and servers to audit out disk space. An eager member of the cleaning crew went ahead and cleaned the board!

MickQ

eansdad wrote: »

At least you don't have people using dry erase markers on them thinking they are white boards. Idiot teachers, most have smartboards and every year we have to toss a few from each building because of this.

Umm... they should be dry wipe capable...