Get your code on
Date published:
In this blog post, Amber Burney looks at ways you can improve your digital skills at home to benefit both yourself and your business.
There’s always been someone there in the office who’s a little more tech savvy than everyone else, who everyone likes to use as their on-hand IT technician. Maybe you *could* learn to do that thing they keep doing for you, but you’ve got so much more work to do it doesn’t feel like much of a priority. I guess it can wait. I’m bound to pick it up eventually. I’ll just get this project finished before requesting that training.
Queue COVID-19.
Not only are you now trying to work during a stressful, world-altering event, but you’re doing it at home, with your pets, your children, your partners, the ever-looming fridge door which you’ve opened for no reason at all for the 17th time by 10am…
And you’re on your own in the world of utilising your technology.
So, what can you do to improve your digital skills? From understanding the innerworkings of your software to excelling at use of social media platforms, here are some ways you can level-up your digital abilities to help both you and your business.
Social Media and Digital Marketing
Gone are the days when social media was keeping up with friends and family, now it’s used in applying for jobs, entire marketing strategies are based around it and it’s the perfect way to keep in touch with your audience and provide amazing customer service.
Whether you want to sharpen your social media skills for personal or business use, there’s a huge benefit. It’s a highly sought-after skill for employers, like all digital skills, and with so many platforms available it’s easy to engage with all of your audiences or find the right one for you.
There’s a plethora of information online for learning more about each of the platforms and further information on digital marketing, with some good starting points below.
- BT Digital Skills for Tomorrow courses on Promoting your Business
- Mediaworks digital marketing webinars and online content
- Digital Drive Durham webinars (Linkedin, Twitter, Hootsuite, WordPress, Facebook)
Coding and Cyber Security
Even if you aren’t planning on coding the next Microsoft Word or hit phone app, coding is a perfect way to understand digital processes from the ground up and will help you with all of your other digital skills.
The same goes for cyber security – you may not be an IT professional but cyber crime can affect anyone and everyone, and we can all do our bit to protect ourselves and our businesses. Unfortunately, due to the current crisis, we’re seeing a higher number of cyber attacks on businesses and individuals, including email scams to unsuspecting and worried users.
- Sunderland University and the Institute of Coding have a series of courses aimed at beginners around coding, data analytics and cyber security.
- North East Regional Cyber Crime Unit are giving free online vulnerability assessments to find your digital security weaknesses.
- Get Safe Online has all of the information you could want around protecting yourself online and recognising scams.
Microsoft and Adobe software skills
The Microsoft Office package is so well used across the world that it might not even have crossed your mind when you think about improving your digital skills, but Microsoft are constantly updating their software and adding new packages, all which work together seamlessly. Understanding the basics of all of the software (Word, Excel, Outlook etc) and how they can all work together can see your work efficiency skyrocket, tasks more easily organised and communications not getting lost or missed.
Microsoft excel may feel like something you can use without issue, but how much of what it can do are you actually using? Do you know your own limitations of the software you probably use almost every day?
The same goes for Adobe creative packages; mastering the art of Photoshop or Illustrator to create your own online graphics for your business, Dreamweaver to throw some ideas together for designing your own website… the creative possibilities are endless with Adobe.
- Adobe has a load of support available on their website on how to use the functions of all of their software, for example Photoshop here.
- Microsoft have a digital literacy course available on their website, giving good overviews of all of their software programs.
In the age of the internet, we’re spoiled for choice with tutorials, webinars, ebooks and a million other ways of learning new skills. With some of these starting points you might find your online jam and take something further, or at the very least learn how to easily use all of the technology available to you for work. The digital future talked about is here, and these skills are for today.