In 2010, the push was to remove IT conflict. Five years later, most organizations still have a terribly broken technology model. For IT, the structure is generally:
- Least experienced personnel start on the help desk with corresponding little or no customer service training.
- There is no accountability to non-IT staff for lacking technical skills.
- One or two highly skilled individuals are required to work long hours under intense pressure and responsibility, but no real authority.
- The best person is invariably promoted to IT Manager with predictably disastrous results being out-of-depth for the position.
When people need help, they should get an expert on their first request. Staff should be held accountable for the number of help desk cases for their department or team, as well as given knowledgebase to search for answers and encouraged to seek continuing education. In no other position or department do you give a single individual the power to control or destroy your business, while requiring high demands and offering no rewards or recognition. As in similar scenarios, your best IT person deep down doesn’t want to and isn’t equipped to: manage people, deal with business details, or train lower skilled personnel.
Technology is held to a higher service standard than any other profession. People expect to get help without having to stew in a waiting area, schedule days or weeks out, or transfer through waves of bureaucracy before getting to a professional. So how do you fix this common problem:
- Divide and conquer. It’s impossible for one person to know and do everything. Hire reputable managed services that are disinterested in corporate interests and bring a diverse set of systems and skills.
- Create content for staff and customers. Part of doing a job well is becoming expert in all aspects and improving process. If rank and file staff document processes and troubleshooting for technology, they have more ownership in duties and the content may be shared for digital marketing as thought leadership.
- Lead and review. If you are an owner or key decision maker, stop abdicating your responsibility for strategy in moving your organization forward and begin to understand your number 4 business expense.
This is a common problem most mid-sized organizations often never recognize. As the nation’s expert in Virtual CIO services, we can generally only assist about 12 customers per year with this issue. If you’d like to fix your broken technology model, contact us for an initial interview.