This is the last of a series in a discussion on productivity killers.  Here we will talk about handling the same data repeated times unnecessarily.

Perhaps the biggest detractor to productivity is having too many people doing the same things and handling the same information more than once.  This does not mean that information is mishandled or mismanaged, but 'misprocessed' or 'toomanytimesprocessed', to coin a term.  This could take many forms -- from making duplicate (and sometimes triplicate or more) paper copies of the same document for different filing systems to multiple people reviewing information on their own instead of together.  The solution is to implement a central information management system and truly use collaborative computing.

The beginning of such a solution is a centralized server or repository of information, so that different computer users can access the same data, without having to duplicate it for their own particular use.  A central repository can take the form of a network file server or a regular computer set up for file sharing; the latter is recommended only for very small networks.  Beyond an internal server, internet technology can be used to extend the concept beyond the local area network.  Examples are Terminal Servers, Virtual Private Networks, and other commercial web file-sharing services -- including Microsoft Office Live and Google Apps.

Besides multiple users entering the same piece of information more than once in a system, that concept can be scaled down to the individual user.  You want to make sure you implement the right software and use it the right way to ensure that no piece of information would need to be entered more than once -- anywhere, ever.  An example of a single entry point for information is an application such as QuickBooks, where one piece of information (items on a customer quote, for example) should not need to be entered more than once after the initial input.  Using that example, items on a customer quote can be automatically transferred to a customer sales order, then have vendor purchase orders generated for those items automatically, and finally have a customer invoice produced for final billing.  Through that process, the items on the original customer quote were entered only once.  If you see yourself enter something twice, then you're probably not taking advantage of some function or tool available in the software.

So, let information fly solo and... never enter data twice!

...MARIO