Most support teams are pretty diverse when it comes to skill sets. Some techs excel at customer interaction while others are experts at telephony and others are the hardware specialists. It’s good to have a specialty. We can be good at many things but generally, to be great we must concentrate on one area. A […]
I spent years in phone support. I was a frontline tech, a manager and, at times, a trainer. I always liked the job but I was one of the few. Most techs hate it and would rather do anything than take calls. I think there are a couple of reasons. Would You Like a Hot […]
As an IT manager, making sure employees don’t abuse their access rights and snoop in HR files is always a concern. I think most of my employees had too much integrity and too much of a life to consider it but not all. The fact is, almost everyone in IT knows people who read files […]
How long is too long to keep a computer? That answer seems to change with the economy and our budgets. Back in the nineties when companies couldn’t spend money fast enough 3 years was the norm. Later the standard was 4 years, now it seems to be 5 or whenever the darn things breaks beyond […]
As with most idioms, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” is far too often completely true, especially when it comes to managing employees. This is not a good thing. One reason is people are not wheels. Noise does not necessarily mean there is a problem and quiet certainly doesn’t mean there are no problems. A […]
Every year about this time people start calling in sick. They have a cold, or they have the flu. They have something that they rather not go into detail about. As a manager you expect the flu season to wreak havoc and most of us prepare for it. We encourage our troops to get flu […]
Should you allow telecommuting? The answer is yes, as many as possible, as soon as possible. I know. I know. Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer recently told all of her telecommuters to come back to the office claiming employees are less productive at home. But do we really want to follow the lead of the company that […]
Good support techs are hard to find and even harder to keep. It’s a tough and often thankless job. Callers often abuse them, other IT employees take them for granted and the hours can be terrible. More importantly, the combination of being able to understand the technology and work with people is exceptional. There isn’t […]
When I was hired as a contractor by a fortune 500 company to help start up a small Help Desk, I was excited about being in on the beginning of a project and couldn’t wait to get started. My excitement was quickly turned to dread as I soon realized I was working for The Worst […]
Most of us in the IT world would like to think the old stereotype of the computer person who dresses badly and doesn’t “fit in” no longer applies. After all, IT professionals are just that: professional. Unfortunately the reputation lingers. Express yourself The fact is, clothing is a form of expression. Sometimes our attire speaks […]