Back from the Jungle/Desert/Middle of Nowhere

Hi folks. I have returned from the "boonies" and I have much to share!

Having spent the last 2 years in the mining industry, I have learnt a great deal about, not only how organisations manage Quality (or don't!), but also a steep increase in my knowledge surrounding work management systems, reliability, and, planning and scheduling.

More importantly, I've been going it alone (tough in the current environment) as a business solutions designer and process performance analyst. There is a LOT to learn when you're marching to the beat of your own drum. I've been spending some time looking at new capabilities on the market which make it easier for companies (of all sizes) to move to "the cloud".

Obviously, that investigation led me to Office 365 which has revolutionised the accessibility of Microsoft Office suite tools and applications. Curiously that also led me (back) to NETBASE SOLUTIONS, where their director, Terry O'brien continues to innovate with his Business Management Systems. NETBASE Solutions, based in Queensland, now have QMS, OHS (including WHS) and EMS systems, either individually or as one hollistic package, ready to bolt on to ANY organisation that currently has Office 365 accounts set up with Sharepoint access.

Even if your company hasn't made the jump to Office 365, NETBASE is now a Microsoft Partner and can sign you up themselves taking the capability to collaborate on the development of your Sharepoint site to the next level.

Terry has refined the NETBASE product range to include a new stand alone small business management system which can be installed in less than a week for companies with around 10 employees. It's an ideal entry point into the features of Sharepoint and Office365, and, enables small entities to really leverage their new capability at a very low cost. Best of all, if that is all your organisation needs, you don't need to expand until your business does.

Don't forget, support for XP is on borrowed time, so now is a good time to upgrade to Office365. Have no fear. It's much easier than the days of yore, sitting there swapping discs for 8 hours. You can have MS Word 2013 on your desktop and running in 20 minutes (unless you're on dial up speeds)!

All in all it's great to be back on the Sunshine Coast ready for another Queensland summer. Here's a short video of just one of the lovely destinations I've seen.

I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you soon!

Cheers,

Mick

Take Notes: There is ALWAYS a Pop Quiz!

There once was a time, before the Internet, before overly accessible annoying pop idols and their exploits, when people used to employ this old contraption called a note pad. I can imagine that your minds eye immediately becomes populated with some form of laptop computer, but what I am referring to was even MORE convenient than that! Yes it was so!

These notepads were the weapon of choice for flat foots and gum shoes alike, no doubt recording some of the most crucial pieces of information in the 20th century! Clues to a murder, the crux of a news story.... a long as you could find a pen and a fountain in which to refill it (I'm pretty sure that's how they worked...). More importantly, as per my mantra, that information was ORGANISED then ANALYSED to identify an opportunity.

They [notepads] are almost redundant these days, (though ink has been conceptually superseded by battery power) with the introduction of smart phones, tablet PCs and the like. In fact these days, many things that people hoped could not be recorded, suddenly are being aired across the globe in a matter of minutes for all to see. Thanks Youtube, Wikileaks, Wikipedia and co.

There is so much information out there that if you really wanted to know something or find an opportunity, it would just be a matter of looking in the right place.

The same thing can be said for your business intelligence (No need to look sideways when I say that. It isn't all cloak and dagger subterfuge). Where ever you are, you should be able to access, review and update customer data, and, record potential opportunities.

Satisfying customer expectations is the essence of Quality Management, but, how can you meet expectations with out knowing what the customer wants? That is where things like the smart phone have become so essential. Every little detail that you learn, contributes to your understanding, and therefore, your ability to prepare for and meet, your customers expectations.

If Customer X calls your company and your customer relations representative is about to transfer them to your phone, you have roughly 20 seconds to reacquaint yourself with their history, before they start to think that perhaps their business is not that important to you.

If your quality management system is worth what you pay for it, you should be able to get to that information before interest wanes. Ready? Start flipping through that note pad... NOW! 20, 19, 18....

P.S. I recorded the notes for this piece, verbally on my smart phone.