Sometimes it’s learning the little things that give you the most joy. Last week, for example, I learned how to download icons for YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and a blog and attach them to my work signature. This was amazing.
First, it gave the signature a lot of color, which was really cool. Your name in a professional setting looks boring, no matter what you do with font size or type to spruce it up.
More important was the fact that I was able to accomplish this seemingly small task given that I’m a bozo when it comes to Information Technology 101. Signing things by email now makes me feel good.
One of the reasons this is the case: When I started walking around the office, asking others how to attach social media icons to our signature, I couldn’t find anyone who did this. Beyond that, I couldn’t find anyone who even had any idea where to start.
So my efforts had to start from scratch. Miraculously, a member of our web team surfaced later that day, after I had approached him in the morning. At that time, he was oblivious about how to help. When he returned later in the day, he was full of solutions.
He clearly was pleased with himself for figuring it out. Sharing it with me made him even happier, so I was eager to write down all the steps necessary to ensure not only could I properly download the icons, but could share this information with others. It’s always good to pass a happiness lesson along.
There are a lot of reasons we end up feeling this way. Part of it is a feeling of accomplishment. Despite the seemingly small lesson I learned, it was new and meant something significant in a work environment – sharing links to what we do.
There is also an element of creativity to pulling up those images. All icons aren’t created equal. You go online and can find a lot of different designs, and so, yipppeeeee, I can personalize the chosen ones. Not a big deal, but still fun.
The irony, of course, in this situation is that this should be really simple. And it actually was. But when I sauntered around the office space asking others about it, no one had ever done it before.
That led to reaching out to others online who should have experience in downloading icons and linking them to your social media tools. Ironically again, those who should have been the experts didn’t know what to do next.
It’s funny when you think about it: Who is in charge of the icons? Go around your place of business and talk to people and see who knows what about this issue. It would be an interesting enterprise.
In all seriousness, who is in charge? There isn’t some job title that companies create called, “Icon Downloader” or “Email Signature Project Manager” or “Social Media Link Creator.”
It’s one of those things that falls between the cracks. Someone is just “expected” to know how to do it. When you find out who that person is, everyone else learns about that individual’s talent and seeks him or her out for advice, solace and mentoring. It’s like email distribution lists or finding out who posts something to your internal Web site. Someone has that institutional memory at every business.
When I finished up capturing the social media icons and slapped my hands together, there was a certain joy in my heart that I hadn’t had for a while. Perhaps it was because there was a feeling of conquering technology rather than technology conquering me.
It’s a good feeling. Now I can teach someone else.
First, it gave the signature a lot of color, which was really cool. Your name in a professional setting looks boring, no matter what you do with font size or type to spruce it up.
More important was the fact that I was able to accomplish this seemingly small task given that I’m a bozo when it comes to Information Technology 101. Signing things by email now makes me feel good.
One of the reasons this is the case: When I started walking around the office, asking others how to attach social media icons to our signature, I couldn’t find anyone who did this. Beyond that, I couldn’t find anyone who even had any idea where to start.
So my efforts had to start from scratch. Miraculously, a member of our web team surfaced later that day, after I had approached him in the morning. At that time, he was oblivious about how to help. When he returned later in the day, he was full of solutions.
He clearly was pleased with himself for figuring it out. Sharing it with me made him even happier, so I was eager to write down all the steps necessary to ensure not only could I properly download the icons, but could share this information with others. It’s always good to pass a happiness lesson along.
There are a lot of reasons we end up feeling this way. Part of it is a feeling of accomplishment. Despite the seemingly small lesson I learned, it was new and meant something significant in a work environment – sharing links to what we do.
There is also an element of creativity to pulling up those images. All icons aren’t created equal. You go online and can find a lot of different designs, and so, yipppeeeee, I can personalize the chosen ones. Not a big deal, but still fun.
The irony, of course, in this situation is that this should be really simple. And it actually was. But when I sauntered around the office space asking others about it, no one had ever done it before.
That led to reaching out to others online who should have experience in downloading icons and linking them to your social media tools. Ironically again, those who should have been the experts didn’t know what to do next.
It’s funny when you think about it: Who is in charge of the icons? Go around your place of business and talk to people and see who knows what about this issue. It would be an interesting enterprise.
In all seriousness, who is in charge? There isn’t some job title that companies create called, “Icon Downloader” or “Email Signature Project Manager” or “Social Media Link Creator.”
It’s one of those things that falls between the cracks. Someone is just “expected” to know how to do it. When you find out who that person is, everyone else learns about that individual’s talent and seeks him or her out for advice, solace and mentoring. It’s like email distribution lists or finding out who posts something to your internal Web site. Someone has that institutional memory at every business.
When I finished up capturing the social media icons and slapped my hands together, there was a certain joy in my heart that I hadn’t had for a while. Perhaps it was because there was a feeling of conquering technology rather than technology conquering me.
It’s a good feeling. Now I can teach someone else.