Green Printing

Dell’s governing principles do not imply a “one size fits all” approach.  Dell’s assessment driven implementation seeks to match the right device to the right work tasks. However, there is always room to be greener while printing.  Follow these suggestions and watch the waste drop. 

 Duplex – The fastest and easiest way to reduce printing Costs would be to Duplex print, use both sides of the paper.  When printing documents that you need to read or review on paper, use both sides of the paper.  Just remember to number the pages as to not get them out of order.  Better yet, reduce to have two sides on one side.  The text is small, but readable. 

High yield Toner Cartridges – Every time a cartridge is ordered, there is waste generated.  Using the highest yielding toner for your Printer Model will reduce that waste.  It may be more of an expense up front, but not generating the waste associated with the extra cartridge packaging will be worth it.

Defined Print requirements – This idea is to set up parameters on the printing network that force certain action for certain types of documents.  For example, emails can only be printed in draft and duplex.  Only people that need to print in Color are allowed to have that privilege.  Color printing is generally 8 X more expensive than black and white.

Don’t Print – The least expensive printed page is the page not printed.  Go over processes and remove the act of printing from those processes. 

Dell’s approach is grounded in an output strategy designed to minimize print costs and improve print related processes.  Our assessments, optimization and implementation architecture drive deep understanding of AIG’s business output needs, processes and improvement opportunities.  The result is a comprehensive implementation framework optimized for end user needs and cost efficiency. 

Visit Dell Earth for more Green Ideas

http://www.dell.com/earth

Work experiment post 6

This is my final post for my work experiment.

I finished my work while in Costa Rica being just as effective there as I was in the office.  I was able to use the dial up connection at the house.  The only drawback with that was that Dragnet, Dells VPN, sometimes did not work, so I had to resort tot he web to communicate on email.

I was able to solve and execute on a process that was designed while down there and was able to get many people on board who needed to be updated several time a day.  Even though I was in Costa Rica, I was able to get the work done necessary to complete inovices and send them to the customer.

Some lessons learned are:

  1. Find high speed access if possible.  Dialup works, but it is difficult.  Costa Rica is not the ideal place to work remote.
  2. Have a back up plan incase the original plan

Work Expierement post 5

Well this is my second day to work here in Costa Rica.  Monday was as planned.  Tuesday was not.

Monday I went to my friend Kerry Dresslers house to log on to the high speed Internet.  I logged on and everything was fine.  I used the vonage phone for my conference calls and to make any additional phone calls I needed.  Email was up and down, but I was able to download at the end of the day to respond at night.  Overall a good day.

Tuesday we got on the road to go to the Dressler house and were surprised to see the work crew tearing up the road.  Therefore I had to revert to Plan B.  Glad that I had one.  I signed on to Racsa and got logged in.  Email started to appear and I got on my conference call.  It worked out better than my plan A.  I think I am going to stick with it for Thursday.

Work Expierement post 4

Five days until I fly down to Costa Rica.  Everything is lined up. 

I fly to Tampa Monday, then ack for a night then on to Costa Rica. 

I will take some time off to be with family, then next Monday I will go back to work.

Work Expierement post 2

Today I took the necessary steps to get my laptop and calling card working for international travel. 

I also talked to my boss.  I know that this is way out of the ordinary, but so is the work that I am doing.  He needed to check with HR to make sure it was OK.  He stated that if it was in the states, it would be no problem. 

I think that it will be no problem as I am not asking Dell to pay my down there or anything.  This is looking good.

Next thing is to find a place to work down there.  Thoughts = Internet Cafe, friend with high speed connection, through Racsa at the farm.  There are pros and cons for each. 

New Position at Dell

Last Friday I received an offer from a group at Dell that is building the Managed Print Silo at Dell.  I have accepted that position and begin work with them on Aug. 24th, 2007.  I am excited to begin work, but I will miss the friendships that I have cultivated over the past year.   I have accomplished a lot in the last year learning about managed deployments and on teams that have deployed over sixty thousand systems all over the nation.  I helped to automate many tasks during my stay in the DMS Support Center.  I look to use my skills at automating processes in my new role as well.

Working in a Cube . . .

I read an article request of what its like to work in a cube. 

 http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/553160/20141438

Here are three things that I have noticed.

I work in the cubicle world at Dell and I have been there for 10 years so I know a thing or two about working in the cubicle nation. I have three things I would like to share.

1. During the ten years at Dell, I have been moved abbot 30 times. Every 6 months, a re-org happens, and cubes get switched. I gotten to the point where the only thing i keep on my desk is my laptop that I pack up every night.

2. In my building space is at a premium. So about 2 years ago facilities and management decided that all individual contributors will have half cubes, these are desk without walls. About a quarter the way through, it cost to much to reconfigure the desks, facilities and management abandoned the project. I was one of the unlucky few that got stuck in a tech small desk as a PM it is hard to do my job with all the distractions.

3. Looking at all the people in the desks as I walk up and down the aisles, the one thing that I notice are iPods. Yes iPods. Just about everyone on my floor has some sort of music playing device to keep out the distractions of the phone calls, conversations, and planning meetings that go on around them.

The cubicle nation is alive and well at Dell. There are times when I go to a conference room to escape and get some work done and to dream about an office of my own that has no shared printer and a closing door.

Just a thought on Project Management and Selling

I was having a conversation with a manager friend of mine today.  We were discussing the role of the outside project manager and how they are the ones paid to have the blunt and difficult conversations with a customer.  This got me to thinking about communication between a customer and a project manager and lead to the similarities between selling and project management.  Check out my Project Management blog soon for more information.  Project Management Work