Educate Employees. Help them learn everything they can about various Internet technologies. But don't spend a lot of money "force feeding" people with training sessions. Instead, get them started by providing full Internet access at work or home. Also provide them with an overview and a reference tool or two: they will train themselves. Then, as the Internet becomes more business-oriented, they'll be ready to use it. The Internet is very easy to maneuver, once people get used to it.
Establish An Internet Rationale. Plan carefully, and be deliberate about how you're going to use the Internet in your business. Take time to clarify your objectives. Establish a small group that understands the future of the company and have them develop a pilot project that demonstrates how the Internet might enhance your business. There's no point in having a presence on the Internet merely for its own sake.
Hire Smart. Ask applicants about their Internet skills. Hire only those with strong references and relevant Internet experience. While employees' lack of such skills is understandable, there's no justification for hiring someone just out of college who doesn't understand how to use the Internet. Building a strategic base of Internet-competent employees is key.
Don't Play Big Brother. Allow employees to play in cyberspace. Give them some freedom to discover the wilds of the Internet. It doesn't matter how they acquire their navigational skills -- the more fun they have, the better prepared they'll be when it comes time to apply them to your business. Remember, you can't learn how to do something fun on the Internet without also learning how to do something that helps your business.
No Model T Modems. Nobody who's going to be using a dial-up connection has any right buying a modem that's less than 28.8 V.34. Buying a 14.4 V.32 bis modem would be like buying a 386 PC -- it's last year's technology.
Be Generous. The Internet is not a computer network, it's a network of people. To be successful with it, you have to be generous and give more than you take. That's the way the Internet works, because that's the way successful people work: They always give you more than you give them.
See also:
On the Outside Looking In