Time Management - Marc Mancini

Power Tools for Time Management 135
• Reduces need to mail documents.
• Transmission can occur during phone conferences, permitting
immediate feedback.
• Communicates to the recipient a sense of urgency or
immediacy.
• Usually easy to use.
• Can serve as an adequate photocopier.
• Can be interfaced with other technologies (e.g., a personal
computer).
Some drawbacks you may or may not have thought about:
• Requires a dedicated line, unless use is so limited it can
share phone line.
• Glitches occur frequently.
• Loading documents can be slow without a self-feeder,
which most machines have now.
• Controls in sophisticated units are complicated.
• Imposes expectations of rapid response.
• May be rendered obsolete by e-mail and scanning technologies.
Investing good money should yield good returns. If the
drawbacks outweigh the benefits of a product, then the cost
may not be justified. A low-tech or alternate-tech solution may
be better.
One thought: technology benefits a business in a not-soobvious
way—they bestow an aura of professionalism. It’s hard
to take a company seriously if it doesn’t use e-mail, fax
machines, word processing, or photocopiers or if the output of
the fax and photocopy machines is of inferior quality.
Redeeming Features
Manufacturers and sales reps generally sell their machines by
promoting their features, generally in overwhelming abundance.
But the features of any product should provide benefits to the
user. In selecting any time management tool, ask yourself two
questions: “Which make or model has all the features I need