In every company, large or small, there is someone who seems to always be overlooked when it comes to receiving thanks or praise from the powers that be at the top. Sometimes people can slog their guts out trying to resolve other people’s problems, dropping their own tasks to come to their rescue, and often having to be in before anyone else or staying later than other employees to ensure that everything is working effectively and efficiently.
IT support technicians are a fine example here. The kind of people who we take for granted around the office and many will very rarely acknowledge their presence in the building until we need them to come to our rescue. It’s just assumed that they sit at their desk clicking a few buttons and waiting for the moment that someone hits the panic button and they come rushing in like a combination of Batman, Superman and Spider-Man to save the day with their incredible knowledge of all things technical.
However, this couldn’t be much further from the truth. Sure, these guys come to our rescue whenever we need them, but the truth is they’re never simply sitting around waiting for their time to shine. Instead they’re working tirelessly to ensure that all of the systems and processes around the office are working sufficiently – and all the time getting asked to drop what they’re doing and resolve certain issues.
A lot of the time these requests for help are made by phoning the support desk, sending an email or catching them as they walk by; which, while often effective for us, can throw the schedule of the IT-whizz into chaos. Fortunately, there are ways around this in the form of computer systems like the SysAid IT service management (ITSM) system. This cloud-based package has taken away the potential for chaos and allowed all employees – no matter what their role in the business may be from IT support to apprentice web designer or even CEO – to make requests for help in a much more organised, official manner.
Rather than receiving requests for help with this and that, along with “while you’re here can you just…” employees are now encouraged to log in to the system and request help in the form of a ticket system – a bit like the queue in a shop – and by entering details such as the nature of the problem and how urgent it is, the IT support staff can prioritise issues accordingly, resolving those that have the biggest potential to bring productivity to a halt first and then getting to those less pressing afterwards. It also allows them to structure their own days, working out how long each task should take and how many they can deal with on an individual basis so that they can work around existing appointments and, importantly, their lunch breaks, they’re entitled to one just like you are!
Running a help desk efficiently is just as important as running an individual department within the business – it is one itself after all – or the business as a whole. With everything in one place, including requests for help and analytical data to monitor the performance of various systems and processes, those working on the help desk are able to provide invaluable support that can enhance the performance of the whole business. So, remembering everything you have read here, don’t underestimate the value of your IT support staff, you’d be lost without them!
