Computer/IT illiteracy in the workplace

v638sg7k1a92bx

Computers and technology are so ubiquitous in our day to day lives but still I watch coworkers and clients fumble around with some of the most basic tasks.

Things like trying to find an email from a few months ago and they're scrolling through their inbox while they say out loud "I don't seem to have that" rather than type in the search bar, basic software updates where there is a prompt in the middle of the screen telling them to press "Next" and they look around asking other people what to do, or in ms Word where the document is read only and they can't understand why they can't change anything even though there is a big yellow ribbon at the top of the page that says "enable editing", and they seem to make the same mistakes over and over!!!

Is it a mental block with some people or is it just a case of it being easier to ask someone than figure it out themselves which I could understand but what I can't understand is how some coworkers ask the same questions over and over and not figure it out for themselves? Even though I would like to help some coworkers, I've learned to keep my head down and say nothing because if you get labelled as being the IT person, you end up with getting asked all the stupid questions.

A resistance to change culture permeates through the civil service, upskilling would inadvertently place cushy numbers at risk.

corner of hells

Courtney Chubby Trigonometry wrote: »

Computers and technology are so ubiquitous in our day to day lives but still I watch coworkers and clients fumble around with some of the most basic tasks.

Things like trying to find an email from a few months ago and they're scrolling through their inbox while they say out loud "I don't seem to have that" rather than type in the search bar, basic software updates where there is a prompt in the middle of the screen telling them to press "Next" and they look around asking other people what to do, or in ms Word where the document is read only and they can't understand why they can't change anything even though there is a big yellow ribbon at the top of the page that says "enable editing", and they seem to make the same mistakes over and over!!!

Is it a mental block with some people or is it just a case of it being easier to ask someone than figure it out themselves which I could understand but what I can't understand is how some coworkers ask the same questions over and over and not figure it out for themselves? Even though I would like to help some coworkers, I've learned to keep my head down and say nothing because if you get labelled as being the IT person, you end up with getting asked all the stupid questions.

What's an email ?

Your Face

I don't think it's an overreaction to say that these people should be taken out and shot.

D3V!L

I'm an IT manager and have worked in IT for 20 years in the financial services. The sheer ineptitude of some staff is staggering. Its usually middle aged women that are the worst. Sorry for generalising.

uck51js9zml2yt

corner of hells wrote: »

What's an email ?

What's a computer?

troyzer

We had some down time in the office with our boss away and one of my colleagues told me he was going to use the time to learn excel. I thought he was talking about learning how to use macros or VBA. He said he didn't know how functions worked.

I was astonished. He's only 26 as well and the industry we work in includes so much excel and access work. I thought these were non negotiable basics.

corner of hells

Javion Angry Swagger wrote: »

What's a computer?

One question at a time , we don't want to stress the OP ?

v638sg7k1a92bx

D3V!L wrote: »

I'm an IT manager and have worked in IT for 20 years in the financial services. The sheer ineptitude of some staff is staggering. Its usually middle aged women that are the worst. Sorry for generalising.

As someone who has worked in IT, do you think it's just laziness because it's easier to ask someone than figure it out themselves or is it a general indifference?

This is how I look at it: If I was a carpenter and I was given a set of tools to that I used regularly every single day I would know how to use those tools. So why is it that you give someone a laptop and their brain shuts down. It's torturous to watch and listen to, especially when someone has to change their password and they can't figure out what to do.

v638sg7k1a92bx

troyzer wrote: »

We had some down time in the office with our boss away and one of my colleagues told me he was going to use the time to learn excel. I thought he was talking about learning how to use macros or VBA. He said he didn't know how functions worked.

I was astonished. He's only 26 as well and the industry we work in includes so much excel and access work. I thought these were non negotiable basics.

That's actually not that bad. I've worked with people (also in their 20's) and if an application like Outlook wasn't on their desktop or taskbar and they couldn't actually see it then they wouldn't be able to open it and have to ask someone.

troyzer

Courtney Chubby Trigonometry wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

We had some down time in the office with our boss away and one of my colleagues told me he was going to use the time to learn excel. I thought he was talking about learning how to use macros or VBA. He said he didn't know how functions worked.

I was astonished. He's only 26 as well and the industry we work in includes so much excel and access work. I thought these were non negotiable basics.

That's actually not that bad. I've worked with people (also in their 20's) and if an application like Outlook wasn't on their desktop or taskbar and they couldn't actually see it then they wouldn't be able to open it and have to ask someone.

Really? Wow.

I suppose I was more surprised at how he got this far without it.

v638sg7k1a92bx

Or those people who click and drag everything so that you end up with all these "Shortcut to ..." folders everywhere

LirW

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A resistance to change culture permeates through the civil service, upskilling would inadvertently place cushy numbers at risk.

My partner works as ICT officer in the CS and so many times his work is disrupted by requests like "we need the printer connected" or "I forgot my email password".

D3V!L

Courtney Chubby Trigonometry wrote: »

As someone who has worked in IT, do you think it's just laziness because it's easier to ask someone than figure it out themselves or is it a general indifference?

Yes , quite a lot of the time they actually dont want to know how to do the task or even learn how to do it. When I resolve an issue for someone I'll tell them what was wrong and how it was fixed. 90% of the time they dont care and just want someone to fix it and for you to go away.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Loads of people were brought up in homes without computers and schools were useless for yrs at teaching IT skills.

'Computers' was a once a week doss class in my secondary school. 2001-2007.

This next generation are already ten times as tech savy as the last.

v638sg7k1a92bx

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Loads of people were brought up in homes without computers and schools were useless for yrs at teaching IT skills.

'Computers' was a once a week doss class in my secondary school. 2001-2007.

This next generation are already ten times as tech savy as the last.

Not so sure about that. Checking their IG account ten times per day yes but doing anything productive and they expect it to be done for them.

troyzer

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Loads of people were brought up in homes without computers and schools were useless for yrs at teaching IT skills.

'Computers' was a once a week doss class in my secondary school. 2001-2007.

This next generation are already ten times as tech savy as the last.

Or so you'd think. I'm the same age as my colleague (26) and he has no idea how to use Microsoft Excel.

PARlance

Savvy might be a bit of a push. Stupid people are still stupid even if they're familiar with technology or not.

Ficheall

I was filling a job application in the other day, writing about my programming experience, my comfort with multiple software programs and operating systems, etc., and then five minutes later I was cursing at my printer for refusing to print more than one copy, and then a short time after that, I was breaking into a sweat trying to use the photocopier in the library...

FTA69

I’m 31 and rubbish at computers. I can use basic Word to write a letter but can’t use Publisher or any of that. I wouldn’t be able to do a CV really to any standard. Thankfully for work I’ve had set templates made for me that I can just enter text into. Haven’t a clue about Excel. 95% of computer terminology etc I don’t understand.

I only got a computer in the house at around 16, ironically being on boards is what allowed me to learn to type, albeit not in the correct manner. Even then I didn’t use it to a huge degree. Outside of google searching and message boards and Facebook I’m lost, I can barely work my emails. At the end of the day how was I supposed to learn? We’d one computer class a week and it was hopeless. After leaving school I worked in manual jobs where it was totally unnecessary. I didn’t go know near a PC in a job until I was 26 odd.

There’s a smug c*nt in my office who’s constantly shaking his head at me and tutting at me about my lack of ability but he had the luxury of being middle class, having proper computer training and working in an office job. It’s all well and good gloating at people who are rubbish at computers, but many people never had an opportunity to learn.

suicide_circus

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

This next generation are already ten times as tech savy as the last.

certainly. but what price will they pay?

ohnonotgmail

Has anybody done the coffee holder gag yet?

jam_mac_jam

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Loads of people were brought up in homes without computers and schools were useless for yrs at teaching IT skills.

'Computers' was a once a week doss class in my secondary school. 2001-2007.

This next generation are already ten times as tech savy as the last.

They are not, can't even type. Shocking the speed some people type, looking at the keyboard. People have tablets and phones, don't have pcs.

jam_mac_jam

FTA69 wrote: »

I’m 31 and rubbish at computers. I can use basic Word to write a letter but can’t use Publisher or any of that. I wouldn’t be able to do a CV really to any standard. Thankfully for work I’ve had set templates made for me that I can just enter text into. Haven’t a clue about Excel. 95% of computer terminology etc I don’t understand.

I only got a computer in the house at around 16, ironically being on boards is what allowed me to learn to type, albeit not in the correct manner. Even then I didn’t use it to a huge degree. Outside of google searching and message boards and Facebook I’m lost, I can barely work my emails. At the end of the day how was I supposed to learn? We’d one computer class a week and it was hopeless. After leaving school I worked in manual jobs where it was totally unnecessary. I didn’t go know near a PC in a job until I was 26 odd.


There’s a smug c*nt in my office who’s constantly shaking his head at me and tutting at me about my lack of ability but he had the luxury of being middle class, having proper computer training and working in an office job. It’s all well and good gloating at people who are rubbish at computers, but many people never had an opportunity to learn.

You have an opportunity to learn now. Don’t blame your class for your laziness.

Keyzer

FTA69 wrote: »

I’m 31 and rubbish at computers. I can use basic Word to write a letter but can’t use Publisher or any of that. I wouldn’t be able to do a CV really to any standard. Thankfully for work I’ve had set templates made for me that I can just enter text into. Haven’t a clue about Excel. 95% of computer terminology etc I don’t understand.

I only got a computer in the house at around 16, ironically being on boards is what allowed me to learn to type, albeit not in the correct manner. Even then I didn’t use it to a huge degree. Outside of google searching and message boards and Facebook I’m lost, I can barely work my emails. At the end of the day how was I supposed to learn? We’d one computer class a week and it was hopeless. After leaving school I worked in manual jobs where it was totally unnecessary. I didn’t go know near a PC in a job until I was 26 odd.

There’s a smug c*nt in my office who’s constantly shaking his head at me and tutting at me about my lack of ability but he had the luxury of being middle class, having proper computer training and working in an office job. It’s all well and good gloating at people who are rubbish at computers, but many people never had an opportunity to learn.

If you really wanted to improve your skills you would have - stop looking for excuses or others to blame.

A cheap laptop, even 10 years ago, would set you back 300 quid. You should have bought one and bought some books/enrolled in some courses.

This is exactly the attitude that pisses IT folk off.

Ficheall

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

You have an opportunity to learn now. Don’t blame your class for your laziness.

These things are easier to learn when you're younger and growing up with them, to be fair. When was the last time you learning something new, like a language, etc?

OldMrBrennan83

Like any job, people don't know because they get away with not knowing.

jam_mac_jam

Ficheall wrote: »

These things are easier to learn when you're younger and growing up with them, to be fair. When was the last time you learning something new, like a language, etc?

About a year ago. My Dad is 65 and he is currently learning how to speak French. Yes its easier when you are younger but there is no excuse for not knowing how to use word. none.

All My Stars Aligned

I think a fundamental problem is that, certainly when talking about people of 45+, is that there was never any real tuition given. Using the analogy given earlier of the carpenter, well he most likely would have done an apprenticeship whereas there are lots of people in the workforce that were never thought how to use the computer properly.

The Tetrarch

About 20 years ago I got a call in work from the head of Finance and IT who was based at a different location.
An employee had gone home suddenly and had left his PC on and unattended.
He wanted to know how to turn the PC off. I asked what was on the screen, then told him to press Enter.
What's that? I said press the key with Enter printed on it, or the big key on the right of the keyboard with an arrow on it. He wasn't getting it.
Do you see the line of keys starting with an A, S, D, F ? Yes. Keep going right until you get to L then right of that you will see a bigger key. Press that.

jam_mac_jam

I think a lot of it is laziness to be honest. You can ask somebody else to do it for you because you are too lazy to even use google to try something new when they can sit there are moan and be helpless.