I hate spam, and I don't mean the slimy stuff you find in a
can (though I don't like that much, either). I imagine you all
share my sentiments. In fact, I'm surprised that enough people
respond to the endless barrage of offers for Viagra-like drugs,
weight-loss miracles and relationships with Nigerian royalty that
it pays to send the stuff in the first place, but obviously it
does.
As I write this in late August, the online world has had a rough
week. Viruses are at epidemic levels, spam is running rampant, and
at Entrepreneur, our spam-filtering system seems to be
blocking every other e-mail, including internal correspondence.
Many businesses have been adversely affected, with computer systems
crashing daily, costing companies millions. Executive editor Maria
Anton's husband, Chris, claims that Maria and I often have
conversations that temporarily veer off track, always coming back
and picking up the thread of the original conversation. He calls
these conversational detours speed bumps. That's how I'd
describe the past five days--a workweek of speed bumps.
Speed bumps are intended to slow us down. And while that may be
beneficial in parking lots and busy thoroughfares, it proves to be
costly in the workplace. I have spent countless hours this week
checking blocked messages, asking our IT staff to release the ones
I need, and waiting hours to get them. Multiply that by
Entrepreneur's other 96 employees, and you can only
imagine the hours wasted. Our three resident tech gurus have spent
even more time fighting off the onslaught of viruses and spam,
which according to some estimates total 50 percent of all e-mails
sent worldwide. I can't even estimate how much time has been
lost, though it probably explains why I'm writing this at 11:30
at night. And we all know time is money.
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Everyone I've talked to, every article I've read says
there's nothing we can do to effectively fight spam or hackers.
Maybe that's true (though reportedly the Direct Marketing
Association is working on an Operation Slam Spam campaign). But our
days are filled with other speed bumps we can effectively
navigate around. The key is to identify and then eliminate them.
You may know what slows you down, but are you aware of any barriers
your employees are encountering? Several years ago, we conducted a
very informal survey and found that baby boomer employers thought
their Gen X employees were "wasting time staring at computer
screens," while in fact, the Gen Xers were patiently waiting
for sluggish connections to download.
The first place to check for speed bumps in your business is
your technology. If you're still using dial-up, you haven't
been listening. Smart entrepreneurs use broadband. Is it time to
upgrade your hardware? Are you getting what you need from your
software, or are there new programs that can increase office
productivity? Are you using wireless effectively? Don't forget
you can still take advantage of the increased tax deductibility of
equipment purchases-writing off up to $100,000, depending on the
size of your business.
Tech is not the only area of your business that needs examining.
Only you and your employees know what's slowing your business
down. Conduct an internal audit, which can be as simple as asking
your staff to identify their speed bumps and suggest solutions.
Another epidemic running rampant in American business is
dishonesty. "Your business is only as good as your work, so
click here to read "Liar, Liar." One of
the things you'll learn is that in a recent survey, about half
the respondents said ethical behavior was still not rewarded in the
workplace. Sounds like another speed bump to me.