Typing

When I went back for my programming degree, the school I attended required passing a typing test with an error rate of less than 5% and a 35wpm rate.

Building/Reloading computers just how is it important that I have a great typing speed when I have to entering all junk that passes for MS Product Keys and Activation Codes? ;)

When I'm entering these in it's always a one finger look at the keyboard while holding the COA or keyboard in the other hand and reading the bunch of rubbish that is required to enter. :)

There are times that I can type much faster but really I don't need this all that often as I employ someone to do my monthly accounts and invoices as well as the quotes that are required and any Insurance Reports. After all they are far more familiar with the required programs than I am so why should I be wasting my time learning these when I could be out making money for the business? ;)

Also because I work for several different small business I refuse to even look at their accounting packages as I never want to be in a position of being accused of telling their competitors what their company secrets are so the very first thing that I always make clear to these people is that while I'm more than happy to manage their networks I really never want to be put in the position of needing to access their accounting packages which they accept and are even thankful for but then always proceed to ask me just how one works or how to deploy something in the accounting program. While I'm happy to explain the basics just because you work in IT doesn't give you the Instant Expert Status in every program that has ever been written. :)

When I run into some problems that I do not know I always ring the software provider for a solution and almost always I find that the people have done this first and then mucked up the installation. Like with MYOB they have to install the program on different computers but then access the DATA file on one computer but they just install the program and then forget about linking it to the Data file on the other computer and without knowing exactly what they have done it is very hard to fix. :D

Col ]:)

Years in the industry and being state service manager for some big Computer companies typing speed was not a requirement for my area when I was at IBM and there I was the state service manager I just had to talk my reports into a Dictaphone and then one of the secretaries transcribed them down. That is what they got paid for to type while I got paid to run the IT Section. I've seen some people who should never be allowed near a keyboard but by the same token I've seen at least one person who didn't know how to use a screwdriver now that was far more scary to me than being unable to use a keyboard like one of the secretaries. ;)

I've probably been extremely lucky as every one of my staff doesn't require me to be constantly looking over their shoulder and is more than capable of doing their job without constant supervision I do not even need to check up on them at all now days although I may occasionally ring them with another job that is required in the area that they are supposed to be in and I quite often need to ring them and demand that they return one of my classic Mercedes when they have stolen it to look better than the company cars that I supply. :D

But I do not expect them to be instant experts in every program that was ever written either and it would be silly to as there are many specialized programs that just crop up in my line of work which we may only see once a year. :p

What we do most is install new software and there it is required to enter nothing better then junk into the computer to not only install the program but to activate it as well when this is required so in a case like loading a new MS program a string of 6 X 6 figure alpha numeric strings is hardly something that can be entered in the normal touch typing system easily. I do expect the staff to be able to use a keyboard but typing is not a requirement just the ability to do their job which may require a bit of letter writing, spreed sheet playing and some VB coding on the odd occasion none of these require a high speed typing skills and similarly I would not expect the person who I employ as the Office Manager who's main job is typing out the invoices monthly bills and assorted reports to be capable of writing any VB code in Excel. It's different strokes for different folks nothing more nothing less. :D

The only thing I really do expect of any of my staff is to be able to do their job and be capable of driving in a safe manner to get there and hopefully not to be involved in a collision on the way. It's even more important that when they steal one of my Classic Mercedes they do not crash it on the way but on the other hand one of the guys was driving to a job in one of my Mercedes and was struck on the drivers side by a truck which ran a red light and if he had of been in the new car that I provide for them to drive most likely he would have died rather than only suffering the minor injuries that he did in the collision. Of course the injuries that he suffered latter for wrecking my car that I had spent 5 years finding and another 3 years restoring where far more serious. :D

Col ]:)

In any major business you can not single out just one section of the industry but by the same token you can not either dismiss the people who do the selling as being unimportant as they are the ones who keep the company going and it is our job to support them rather than having them constantly supporting us. ;)

In any business no sales means no business and worse still no money to pay bills or wages now which would you prefer to do without for a few months no IT department or no sales staff? :)

Col ]:)

Some people have an edge over others when it comes to memory, motor skills, and dexterity. I have always had problems remembering "key" location and continually look at what I type, thus reversion to pecking becomes automatic in time. Behavioral scientists know, certain parts of the brain control language, math, music, and motor skills. Different people will have more or less control of any one of these areas. Deficiencies in each area can, with continued practice, for many people, improve, but not always mastered. For some unknown reason there are those who without effort are able to develop genius level competency in any, or many, of the mental processes involved, such as high recall, mathematical, musical and reasoning skills and just as unknown have absolutely no motor skills to complement them. You wind up with ?Absent minded Professors?, Clumsy Geniuses (our Nerds, if you will), or athletic morons. In my case, I am neither a genius nor an athlete and as I have aged my motor skills have diminished markedly and arthritis along with carpal tunnel syndrome have contributed, as well, to my inability to type with any degree of proficiency, (I won?t even discuss my memory), but, according to your scale I should be measured as incompetent. If you make policy, as such, have a heart and I dare say, such a practice could be, in many cases, discriminating and in some illegal, unless the job description legally demands a certain level of competency in this area. Many job descriptions, I suppose, such as a Court Recorder, would exclude, perhaps, even you, in memory and typing proficiency, but, not all policy for most job descriptions, thank goodness, require nor should they, any such discrimination. No two people are created equal in physical, or mental attributes in this world, but we are all created equal in the eyes of God, if you believe in God (And if you don?t that won?t change His opinion, nor the temperature of hell in any degree), and here in the United States we are all considered, by amendment to our Constitution, to be created equal one to another in respect to the laws of our land, so, it comes down to ?Policy?. Many companies adopt policies that are by law considered borderline and some illegal. So, in order to exclude such a person as myself, you must resolve yourself to becoming one of those policy makers and dictate your exclusions to handicapped people like me, or influence those who do. You might get away with an illegal, or borderline, policy in time, but someday you?ll awake a ?sleeping dog? and you, or they, will inevitably get bitten. If you are a company owner, or policy maker of such, you might say to yourself: ?Surely I can make my own policy, after all it is MY company.? but beware, many companies who thought this, have faced litigation when they excluded the handicapped. The law in such cases balances on a fine line that can lean one way, or the other, depending on the opinion of the judge as to whether your needs to exclude the handicapped are dire, or financially burdensome, in which case you will have to show proof.

Big Bro

Because unless you can do 30 WPM you're wasting everybody's time, including your own. You can't do 30 WPM on 2 fingers. As recently as a year ago I was one of the delinquents 2-fingering the keyboard like a friggin woodpecker. A month later, with 15 minutes of exercise a day, I was pushing 25 WPM. You won't belive how much more efficient I have become at other things, when I dont' have to waste my time hunting and pecking.
Come on, buy Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor -- the best darn typing learning tool that I have seen -- or Mavis Beacon, whatever. Invest into your skills, even the most basic ones.

By the ability of the Doctors involved there and their location but mainly by the ability of the doctors involved they in that case are the salesmen as they are constantly selling themselves to their customers which you would call patients. :)

Now in a decent sized Medical Center just how many of the doctors actually type anything on a regular basis? Most of their work is point and click. :)

The only exception to this is in Medical Legal work places and even then the doctors never ever write the reports they just enter them in some how and then get one of the secretarial staff to write the report then sign off on it. :p

This is something that a lot of Doctors do not like admitting as they for some reason seem to think themselves better than others but the really honest ones which I've meet a few of admit that they are nothing more than limited technicians who dispense pills and potions to fix the machine that they are working on, the Surgeons are a different kettle of fish though and they are always good for a laugh as they freely admit that they are nothing better than a simple mechanic. :D

The simple fact is that Doctors are no better than anyone else and just like us in IT are constantly selling themselves in an attempt to keep getting work. :p

Col ]:)

about typing.

Again, I entered this discussion late. But I am saying my piece anyway.

Maybe you are just pissed off when you opened up this discussion. My point is, it does not matter if they can type very well as long as they get the job done.

I depends on the workload, and other matters, but, in the end, it is how the person gets his/her job on time.

And of course, it also does not hurt to give advice on typing. It may just increase one's productivity more.

I hope this helps.

IT Professionals may or may not be able to type at high speed, but when faced with lines of code, accuracy is more important.
What really gets my goat are those people who learned to type somewhere, did some data input work, usually on bespoke software and then boldly proclaim to the world that they are "computer experts".
Just check out the top peeves from IT Professionals on this site.
I'm sure that we've all come across them, but why do most seem to be school-teachers?
Regards, Brian.

In the first place. I recently went to a specialist college which was teaching word and when I asked about doing a "Mail Merge" I was told that they didn't do any of the complicated things there just learned to use the program. But I'm still wondering how they teach the program without teaching what is a fairly basic thing like a Mail Merge. Of course the keyboard shortcuts and the rest are totally ignored and I do not know what else. :)

If they considered a Mail Merge a complicated function they must only teach the very basic stuff like where the keys are on the keyboard and how to open the program. :D

Col ]:)

I'm more concerned with accuracy than speed. I don't exactly touch-type either, but I do type quickly enough to hold a decent high speed IM conversation without resorting to very much "doodspeak". Even though I don't touch type, I can tell if I've hit a wrong key. I've tried to type at a higher speed, but sometimes I'm a little uncoordinated when trying to do different things with both hands at the same time. (I can't play a musical instrument for the same reason) But honestly, why should IT people need to type faster than 30 WPM or so. Isn't that what our companies hired all those administrative assistants, data entry folks and clerks that we take care of to do?
If you write code for a living, then it certainly becomes necessary, but I'm not a programmer.

Good typing skills are a plus in the IT field, true. But I would rather have a one finger type that knows his job, than a speed typist that can?t figure out how to configure a server.
For years I have been a two finger typist that occasionally needs to look at the keyboard, and have gotten along just fine. I make fewer typing errors than my high speed peers, and tend to do a better job when it come to configuring systems, creating scripts or hacking out a little code. If you have it all great, if you know how to do your work with few or no mistakes fine. But I think it short sited to create a policy that would prevent a one or two finger typist from having a job that he / she are highly qualified for.

Moose (the two toed typist).

I think the original post was mostly referring to those who have no idea what keys are even on the keyboard. I work with several people who have been on the job for at least the 2 years that I've been there and if you tell them to hit the enter key, they still have to look for it.

If you at least know the keys, it does make you more proficient in your job. There's no way around that. If I spend 10 seconds looking for each key to type the word "compliance" that's a little over a minute and a half versus spending 1 second per letter when you know the keyboard.

I don't think it originally meant that you have to be a speed typist. But at least know the keyboard!

I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking for years because of pain in the joints of my hands. I would gladly take a highly educated, professional technician over some smart a!! who can type fast.

I have always been a believer in accuracy being the paramount consideration.

In my time on mainframes the boss used to rap the knuckles of anyone caught touch-typing.

I still use 2 or 3 fingers and a thumb to type (at a reasonable rate), but then again I don't have a real choice; I only have one hand!

I hope that anyone that puts a speed restriction on techs is happy to miss out on many experienced and/or disabled techs who would be an asset to them.

...be more concerned about whether they can do their job, or not? If WPM is not a requirement for IT Admin, why worry? I type slow, but boy, can I get that clickety-click going! Find a hobby or a pet.

This all depends on what you're measuring for output. 10 key operators must be able to enter sets of numbers without error at some rate to be qualified for the job. An interview I took with a newspaper many years ago had a typing speed/accuracy test.

I've always typed 70-80 wpm, so I've never had this problem with perceptions about my speed. But I know a few people who were also blazingly fast two finger typists, but they were programmers and their output was for quality code and reasonable turn-around time.

If volume is a criteria for measurements of success, then make speed a qualification, but be somewhat reasonable as well. Not everyone has extensive opportunities for typing skills (and AIM'ing with poor language doesn't count). People will pick it up as time goes on.

I learned on an electric typewriter (with a manual before that for a very short amount of time). I had used a computer terminal for many years when I had to go back and use a typewriter for the newspaper interview, and was blowing it because I couldn't just tap the backspace key.

When I ran for political office a few years ago, I ran up a tight deadline for typing a statement and used the typewriter in the elections office and the multiple clacks for every key press (must have been 4 clacks per key) made my typing sound like a machine gun, but the clacking threw off my typing, particularly as I'd type ahead of the buffer in the electronic keyboard...

Believe it or not, Col, I can see exactly where you're coming from. Golly, I even remember those days, and the amazement and awe in which we held these great machines.

I've already seen the one in the Powerhouse Museum and it is still awesome, even for a dinosaur. The thing is, it really makes you think when you realise that the power those things produced can now be held in the palm of the hand and have umpteen times the power!

On the other hand, without all those valves and tubes and what have you, we wouldn't have plasma screens, laptops and the palm-held hand devices we so much take for granted today.

Good on yer, Col!

Gret

No offence taken, Jessie. I think it was 120wpm, because that was the speed that court reporters HAD to have. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

Gret

I remember people like that back in the days of ye olde golfball typewriters, Speed Diva. 120wpm was the top that anyone I knew could race along at, simply because that was what was required for court reporters.

I've no idea why they required that particular speed, but they did, so I was simply speculating that typewriters, both electric and the older manual kinds, would have needed to be able to take typing speeds at least that fast without getting themselves in a tangle of letterbars, since this court speed has been a thing over here from way back when.

Anyway, I look at it now like this. In a few more years, keyboards of any kind will be obsolete. Laptops will become dinosaurs and PCs will go the way of all junk in the end -- to the rubbish heap.

Why? Because we'll all be holding our "PCs" in our hands and just talking to them. Voice recognition will become the only way we input information, and these tiny hand held devices will still be more powerful than all the computers extant in the world today. It's already beginning, and it will continue down that track. See if I'm not right!

Gret

I didn't say QWERTY was efficient, anykey. I said it was reliable, which isn't really the same. In the days of manual typewriters, the QWERTY layout was certainly a deliberate attempt to slow everything down to the point where the letterbars wouldn't jam.

When golfballs and discs were invented with electric typewriters, the problem wasn't quite so bad, but I guess QWERTY by then was a kind of fixture, so it just stayed in spite of everything.

Personally, I think there are far more efficient layouts than QWERTY, especially now with computers. But old habits die hard, they say, and frankly I think QWERTY will be around with us until keyboards of all kinds become obsolete in a few more years -- which they will.

Pretty soon we won't have to worry about layouts and all that. Keyboards, laptops -- all that sort of thing will be gone. We'll all just be talking to our computers -- which will be held in our hands and kept in our pockets!

Gret

Col, I don't think I want to know what that would compute out to! It sounds just too horrendous to even contemplate!

My dad had the fraction keys removed from his very ancient Royal typewriter and changed to accents and things in other languages, because he corresponded in (mostly) other European languages with his counterparts over there.

When I learned to type on this beautiful monstrosity, it meant forgetting there'd been fractions there and instead of expecting half or three-quarters to turn up, you got a cedilla or an umlaut or whatever! This, of course, was way before we got all these things on discs and golfballs, in "International" font, and of course, with computers it's now standard, in "Insert" followed by "Character".

Never mind. Pretty soon keyboards will be obsolete and you'll just talk to that little hand-held thing in your palm -- or even on your watch, and you won't ever need to worry about pressing the wrong key again!

Gret

You are not wrong, Col. Everything you've said is right, right, right, right and right!!

And I've said the same thing myself in several new posts I've made throughout this thread, so you can read what I've said there rather than me repeat everything again.

The same old story, heh?

Gret

These days, with computers, I doubt anyone in IT would be hired for their efficiency in the typing stakes. Time was, of course, when this wasn't the case; in the days of electric typewriters, and certainly manuals, a person was ONLY hired if they could type quickly and accurately.

The transition from typewriters to computers put all this speed and accuracy stuff behind us, except for the lingering on of good ol' QWERTY, which seemed to leap the transition too.

I think if you've had the advantage of learning QWERTY back in the dark old days, then it just gives you that extra something over ITers who haven't. I may be wrong, but that's what I think, anyway.

I teach computer skills to elderly people, some who've never seen a computer in their life! These people have to even learn how to turn the damned things on, let alone anything else!

But the ones who've been typists in their earlier lives, and learned the QWERTY keyboard seem to pick things up much more quickly than those who haven't. That's just my observation, and the reason I've said what I have. Others can feel free to contradict me at any time!

Gret

I'll just say this, keeping the kids from surfing porn is a big job - nobody cares if I can type, because the job I do only requires that I keep my eyes open and pay attention. Thank goodness for my coffee machine...slow typer, know time to right anything significant, must do job paid for i am.

I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have good typing skills. Of course, I admit I started quite young in Jr. High School while taking an Introduction to Business course. Then I went on and home-studied as well using my mother's old college typing workbook. When I got to computers, I used Typing Tutor on a Tandy Color Computer 3 and then other typing programs here and there. Once I got the basics though, I got so I can literally type out what I think as I think it. I even can hit the backspace key, and do numbers, etc. without looking and still find the "home" keys ok. Sure, I use the backspace key quite a bit. ;) But I use all my fingers while typing. I don't know my actual wpm but years ago when trying out for a temp agency they clocked me around 90 wpm I think it was.

I think what helped was learning typing basics, practice and then all the computer work typing messages, writing articles, and information, etc.

One of my pet peeves though is people who also don't use correct punctuation and and capitalization in their emails and posts. I admit I too slip at times. I have learned to automatically hit the shift key when doing the pronoun 'I' and starting sentences that it's actually too hard for me NOT to do it.

I think learning to type fast can save your employer a lot of money as you can get more done in less time. They like that kind of thing. :) When I was trying out for a temporary agency they also had a minimum wpm they allowed. I forgot what it was but I did easily surpass it. So some jobs do require at least a basic typing skill along with a certain rate. I think some data entry jobs do for the reason I gave above. I don't know about other jobs.

Never learnt to type.......never used mavis beacon...... but then I’m pretty fast with my uncultured fingers.......guess typing skills in speed and accuracy just increase the more times you get to use them...and with levels of commitment

Good one, Diva. Trouble is, I don't think you'll have to unlearn anything. Whether you've been hunting and pecking for the last twenty years, or QWERTYing will make no difference.

Everyone will be equal! No more of this "I can do it better than you can" stuff! It'll look like those guys in Star Trek when they hold their wrists close to their mouths and go mumble mumble!
Everyone'll think you're crazy!

Well, no, everyone'll be doing it that way in any case, so we'll all be crazy! Because your watch will become your computer, and you'll only be able to input through voice recognition. And that watch/computer will be so powerful it'll make today's computers look like kids' toys.

You like betting?

Gret

Do you drive a car? Can you work on the engine, the electrical system? Probally not. Shouldn't you be required to do those things before you are allowed on the road? You complain about others lack of typing skills, yet you posted a complaint with numerous typing errors. Something about glass houses comes to mind...

but thakn you, anyway!

are the sign of a deranged mind, so they say! Perhaps yoga, whisky or a suitable tranquiliser?

:)

I just wanted to say "well spoken".

the only right way. As I keep saying. There is more than one correct way. It is about performance. If someone is doing their job and doing it well, it shouldn't matter how they type.

BTW: there is no need to be rude to people who disagree with you. Also, I am just taking the side of those that 2 finger type because people think the only "real" way is by using both hands. I happen to type 10 finger and quite well. Look at my other post in this discussion and you will see where I mention it.

Sorry, but typing is not a critical skill to achieving job performance success. If someone is struggling and it is affecting their work, THEN and only THEN is there a case for some training.

I used to type very quickly using two or four fingers, but I could only get to maybe 45 or 50 words per minute - and I still had to look at the keyboard while I was typing. This meant that if I was copying something, I typed much slower because I had to stop every few words to look at what I was trying to copy.

I decided to teach myself to touch type without looking at the keyboard. My typing speed was MUCH slower at first and I still had to look at the keyboard constantly until I learned to type. I admit that I am not one of the fastest typists around, but I can type 45-60 wpm without looking at the keyboard - which is great for me. If I had to type reports and emails all day, I am sure my typing speed would increase, but my job does not require me to do alot of typing.

If you have to do a lot of typing in your line of work, take typing course, or at least try to start typing using all of your fingers. It will be very slow and aggravating at first, but after a while of practicing, it will make your life much easier.

does the surgeon use the keyboard whilst operating? Nope. Do techs use keyboards whilst configuring, coding, maintaining, and documenting? Yes. A tech who can type well is worth more than one who can't.

I do a bit of volunteer work for a nursing home where the inmates are not to disabled actually it is directly across the road from where I live and I keep saying that I should be in there but that's another story. :D

Anyway whenever I go over there to fix something the oldies want to show me the latest Porn Sites that they have found while surfing the net. Now this is something that I totally lack any interest in but I do get a good laugh at the way that some of these people carry on and the women are the worst offenders as they not only insist on showing me the sights but give me sound effects as well. :)

Col ]:)

If they are punching in code or command line prompts it only marginally if at all improves speed and quite often because of the improper words symbols being used actually slows touch typists down. Not to mention when you are at a headless server and have to hold a keyboard in one hand while using the other to type in the various commands in a situation like this which is not all that uncommon it is very poor practice to rely on touch typing as you only have the one hand free to do the actual typing so you have to promptly forget everything that you have learned and just get on with the job in hand. ;)

Col ]:)

Get off it man, the philosophy worked for you fine. No need to get religious about it and ram it down everyone elses throat.

Okay, let me down the ante, I am not trying to preach or anything like that.
If you're doing a lot of typing, 2-fingering will land you a Carpal tunnel syndrome very quickly, just like smoking will give you all kinds of health problems, blah blah blah.
If you're fine with that, hey, this is a free country, no one's keeping you from doing whatcha want.

I did this at the job: forced my self to watch the screen, no excuses, just look at the monitor and if I missed, tried getting it corrected without watching the keyboard.
I know anyone can do it at home, but doing it while at work forced me to memorize the keys quickly. Don't do it during crunch time, though.

There surely are other ideas, like covering your keys with small pieces of duct tape, but the feeling is not the same and you may still cheat.
If typing lessons are not for you (like me) and you really want to learn it, you can devise your own method.

BTW, I still have to improve, since I'm not 100% error free, but that gave me the hang of it, now I only watch the keyboard to see the capslock and numlock status.

G-luck !

i type like crap and utulize F7.
spell check, a mans best friend.

If you work in IT, you're not a typist. You're just going to have to somehow get over the fact that minimal typing skills are all that's required; because it's IT not the steno pool.

For IT people and programmers, I can't understand the switch from keyboard to mouse then back to the keyboard, just to move to a different field in forms and apps.

In a way, it's like flipping the notebook upside down just to turn the page.

There should be a lesson in tech schools about keyboard shortcuts, haha ! (at least the TAB key).

But for other proffesionals, it would be good to learn about them, too.

I am so glad that other discussion members chose to respond honestly to your petty discussion topic. How productive are you if you are wasting your employers time, and ours, preparing a response to this topic (without looking)? This proves that there needs to be a policy to restrict people like you from participating in forums like this. Personal productivity is between an employee and his or her supervisor. Now, get back to work and mind your business!

I have been touch typing for 30 years.(I'm 43) On an IBM selectric my top speed was 140wpm no mistakes. When I started using computer keyboards my wpm dropped dramatically and it has taken years of practice to get my speed anywhere close to what it was. (do you hear me designers? I want a selectric swoop) I am not a programmer but on occasion I have to use those particular skills. At that point my QWERTY training goes out the window and I might as well type with two fingers. To all you two finger typists, I salute you! I say "Whatever gets the job done!"

In the IT industry the keyboard is the most widely used input device/tool. It is the efficient utilization of this tool that is under discussion here. How many fingers or WPM is less important than accuracy (remember that hienous ampersand that took down the eastern US a while back?). Having said that, speed IS a secondary factor. If you are unfamiliar with your keyboard, you have to concentrate on typing vs. the issue at hand, whether that be code, analysis, etc. I don't care if you pinky peck or blow away MB on the highest setting, just use the tool efficiently.
I'd expect my auto mechanic to be able to use a wrench after all.....

Productivity.
Manage by productivity. NOT skill sets. If somebody is not productive (due to typing) - coach them by providing lessons, etc.
"Touch typist" does not equal "productive employee"

Do you use a mouse? More carpal tunnel is caused by mouse use than typing. Not to mention lost seconds by puling the hand away from the keyboard, grabbing the mouse, etc. Horrible unproductive seconds lost by grabbing the mouse...
Maybe we should make knowing keyboard shortcuts a mandatory thing?
How about using windows? How much time is lost on poor menu design, useless help dialogs, etc.

Get a grip.... just manage by productivity. Get over it.

We have a company policy, everyone must use telekinesys to type... now, beat that !!!

Telekinesys should be the ABC to all professionals, and those of you who don't do it, get a head start because your company will someday join the trend.

The most difficult for me was to learn keyboard combos like Ctrl-C or Ctrl-V, not to mention how it was to do a Ctrl-Alt-Del !!!

But when you're in... you're in forever.

-----
By this time, you should be aware this is a joke and shouldn't take it seriously.

I think that typing is a good ability for IT-pros, but not mandatory. I do type fairly well, but if they can do the job accurately and on time, then typing is not their problem, and you may have too much free time to bother on this.

Now, if you have a genuine interest in training them and grow new abilities on them, spend some company budget and make it an optional course for everyone.

The bottom line of this is "if it's human it's not perfect, so deal with it".

I won't attack people but I will attack what our work environments has evolved to:

At one wonderful time in the past all work was goal oriented and task centric. Things like paperwork, admin etcetera, were handled by admin staff to support, track, and assist us as we did our technical work.

In the modern world the true focus is admin and paper-centric. The task or business line, is irrelevant and must feed the true function of admin. Department Managers people shed their duties to the techs even though they have project managers and assitants hired to deal specifically with these roles.

Typically, while there are never funds to hire techs to do overdue work, there is alway money to hire another manager. Only people with bad attitudes not long for their jobs talk about this.

This not only explains the typing query, but also how firms continue after business and tech staff are sacked. The business model is paper production.

Just because I'm looking at it doesn't mean that I don't know things are.

Today (and for the last two years), I used a keyboard designed for VMS and another standard PC one . A bit of work on one, then a bit on the other, back and forth. As a programmer there are special keys I need to use in different places on the key board dependant on which machine I'm on. So I don't look at the thing to see where the key is but to remind myself where the 'ell I'm at.
There's a vast differnce between typing out sentences in your native language and typing statements in several different programming languages.
I don't give a crap how many wpm you can do in english, if you can't do the same on a cyrillic keyboard and then alternate regularly with no loss in speed.

At one point I was using a HP terminal a VMS workstation and a PC at the same time. Now if you can put your finger on the Send key on all three without looking, I'll start paying attention.

After being affiliated with the communications field for 30 years, I know how frustrating it can be when you have a subordinate or co-worker who can't type.

If you want to build their speed and teach touch typing at once, try "Typer Shark" free at Yahoo games.

That is the point. Manage or lead by productivity and don't worry about the rest. Of course, the original poster felt that productivity was increased by people being good typists.

Now, how do we determine if that is true or not based on job responsibilities? How do we determine if the typing ability is the cause of the lower productivity?

Boy what can of worms this opens. See if you want to manage by productivity, you need to define what is productive and what is not.

Just some things to think about, though I do agree with nmeyer and many others that typing is not the key skill to focus on. :)

I can touch type to a certain extent. I have no reason to be any faster. However, I understand where you are coming from. I am not a hunter and pecker. I am still offended by the fact that you can find fault in someone you don't even knows productivity. So far as I know there are no jobs in IT that list typing as a requirement. The only job I have ever seen listed with a typing requirement besides data entry has always been, forgive me for not being PC, secretarial. In this day and age according to your definition every office position should have a typing requirement.

There is an old saying - are we managing the countable or managing what counts?

Management is tough - but ultimately it's a matter of making sure the job gets done - not somebody's WPM
:-)

I started out in IT as a data entry guy - I was a terrible typist, huge error rate, just awful.
I then looked at improving the order entry process on the warehouse picking floor - wrote time-saving macros and procedures to reduce data entry errors, piloted bar coding...
I improved systems throughout the company - and was recognized for it, etc.
I've since moved on (and up and up and up)
I owe it all to being a lousy typist.
:-P
(I'm a better *self taught* typist now, about 40-70 wpm I use 8-10 fingers in a decidedly non-standard pattern)

Seems to me that someone so up on people's typing skills would first learn the english language! You must capitalize the letter I when used alone. That said I'm a techie of 20+ years and I'm not impressed by speed typers who can't tell the monitor from a mouse. They just screw up twice as fast as me.
Rememer it's I... not i!

The best sysadmin I ever met typed with one finger. He also worked for MS so apparenty it didnt bother them.

Although I don't like to see mistakes in any writing, I can understand that if you are not a touch typist, it takes a lot of effort to type properly with one or two fingers. I've been at it for 69 years but arthritis in my fingers slows me down to less than 100 wpm. As long as the techie is communicating what he wants to say, I'll forgive him. I always use spellcheck (not here) in my typing and for that reason I never make mistgrakes. (!)

I haven't read every post here in what is doubtless the longest thread ever on TechRepublic, so my apologies if someone else has already mentioned this. Brainbench.com offers a free online typing speed test that can be given to candidates as part of the interview/qualification process:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/taketest.xml?testId=248

One of my co-workers types with 3 fingers at an average speed of 120 words per minute, however, what makes him invaluable to our company is the fact that he is the best tech we have. He is always able to fix any problems we encounter on a large network. Would we care if it took him 5 minutes longer..... not a chance. It's the ability of the tech that makes them a pro, not the typing speed.

I've never seen this many posts from us. What's the subject, world peace? How to stick it to Bill Gates? How to finally stop spam?

Typing? All of this brainpower hanging out at the TechRepublic website, and we're getting deep about typing?

Let me tell ya'll a secret...Jobs that expect you to type alot have typing requirements. Expecting a techie to have secretary-like typing speed is like expecting an airline pilot to be able to work the ticket desk just like the ticket agents.

Like expecting your VP to be able to make sorted & stapled copies on the copy machine (ok, there are a few that can).

Or for your dad, who never cooked a family meal in YOUR life, to make one just as good as mom does.

These are all scary situations, aren't they? Of course, you all will tell me there are exceptions to each of those scenarios. All I'm saying is it's much better to let the pros do what they are paid to do. Typing speed is nice, but please don't make dad cook.

If you have nothing better to do than track if an employee can type. You must have a job that really doesn't matter, but you have to look busy doing nothing. If I wasted my time worrying about if my employees? type with one finger or their toes, I would not get important stuff done. Saying you should not peck is like saying everyone should be able to read and comprehend 200 words per minute. We are talking people here, not machines. Everyone has different talents and abilities. That is why most of us are in IT, if it was up to me I would be able to hit a 100mph fast ball over a 700 foot wall every time. Then I wouldn't have to worry about typing at all. Get a life and a real job that you have to actually do something yourself and not hide behind some reports about others doing the work for you. Sorry I forgot if they found that out they would fire you. P.S. I wrote this form home after hours when I was on my own time. Bet you did it from your office.

You have, perhaps unwittingly, explained why my children all learned to touch-type before their 10th birthday, yet I peck away in my 50's. Their hands were still small and able to fit the keys of the Commodare 64 they were using! Seriously, though, I have tried to learn to touch type, using two popular commercial tutoring programs, but have a very long way to go.

My suggestion is... if this issue is important to you, start young and help those around you to do likewise.

And I STILL haven't achieved maximum inaccuracy and minimum speed !!

Since graduating College back in 2002, of the last 6 IT jobs I applied for, full and part time, typing 'skills' was NOT a requirement, or even mentioned or an issue. Anybody who works around computers will at least know the keyboard layout, and typing the same commands over and over makes anybody seem like a quick typist. ANd now for something completely different... PLEASE! Can we move on?????

focus: use of spell check in documents created in MS Word, messages in MS Outlook, and spreadsheet text in MS Excel, et al...

observation: people _turn_off_ spell checking for various reasons...

Q: my favorite so far?

A: "It slow me down, having to make all those corrections"

topic: Dvorak keyboard Layout

observation: before something so radical could be rolled there is the matter of corporate policy statements?

suggest: if this is a personal interest/obsession of your own, perhaps you could contact me and we can collaborate upon a template which others can download and share with their CIO?s and CHRO?s?

background: I have been writing policy statements for years, and the fastest way to get ?new tech? accepted by the CXOs is give them motivation based upon ?achieving expectations for regulatory compliance? such as ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), etc.

Thanks,

Howard Wertenteil

howard_nyc@yahoo.com

.

For two finger typists, the problem with Mavis Beacon's typing lessons is that it teaches the wrong keyboard. The QWERTY keyboard is indiginously clumsy. The revised Dvorak keyboard allows conversion from 2 finger typing to 30 WPM 10 finger typing in one day and 60 WPM for most people in 30 days. Up until XP, the Dvorak keyboard was available on Windows. Now it has to be obtained as shareware.

My daughter went from failing to learn the QWERTY keyboard to typing 120 WPM on the Dvorak keyboard in 6 months.
Yazzix

I enjoy the computer and do not have to use a keyboard at work. At home my time is my own and who are you to tell me how to use it. As far as being unhealthy that is one of the most a**inine things I have ever heard I have been an Orthopaedic cast technician for 20 years and your supposition is totally rediculous.

Everyone should know how to type, we learned in high school in the 60's. What irritates me even more is someone who has been using Windows for more than two years that doesn't know any keyboard shortcuts. Why isn't this an age of learning and enlightenment?

i never learned typing. even when i first time set on computer 10 years back, i feared to type a single character.. but today i type three langauges..ie ENGLISH, GUJARATi, HINDI without any course done or any CAD..

The ability to type is just what you can see.

What really matters is what it means if they haven't put forth the EFFORT, or have ever tried. The important question here is this: If it were a requirement, would the person(s) you speak so negatively about even TRY to improve? This measures a lot more than their ability to type, it measures their ability and desire to learn, and THATS what is important in today's IT field.

I see several IT personnel that can't navigate Windows without taking ten minutes to find certain basic system folders; I see several supervisors and managers with terrible people-skills. But they try, and in some situations, that's all you can ask for.

In my last project, i had a senior level database admin who could not type.
I use to instruct him to do something and it would be full of bad spelling mistakes and also awfull lot of time.
Besides this, he had the irritating habit of closing the windows, when he wants to switch to another window. Maybe he evolved from stupid terminal based PCs back in good old days..but it really frustrated the whole team to see him struggle with his arthritic like typing.

I suggested to look at the option of doing some training. Maybe today he can type faster...
\ashish

Yes, though I wouldn't phrase it quite that way.

BTW: as I understand it about Carpal Tunnel (sp?), it can affect any and all typists or people who use their hands in such a manner. It has to do with the erogonics of the work area and not "how" a person types.

In fact, if I remember correctly, there was a study done and people who touch type were more lickely because of the position of the wrists. I could be wrong as I read this a few years ago.