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An IT department can be one of the busiest parts of a company. It is vital that good efficiency protocols are in part so that the team is able to adequately work through any workload that they might have. Take the time to establish efficiency from the beginning, and the team should be able to shoulder any challenge they encounter.
Adequate Training
One of the fastest ways to ensure that there will be efficiency within the IT team will always be with adequate training. If the team has a good basis of knowledge, they will be able to approach any situation with confidence. In the world of IT, there could be many solutions to a problem based on the symptoms presented. A good technician will be able to correctly diagnose the problem and apply the right solution, meaning that they should not have to return for further fixes.
They can only hope to do so if they have a good basis of knowledge to draw from. It is not enough for you to expect an IT technician to join your company with a relevant level of knowledge. The nature of the IT sector means that things are always evolving and changing. New dangers always arise, especially when it comes to issues like cybersecurity.
Therefore, it is vital that you as an employer are committed to delivering a good level of training to all employees. When it comes to your IT department, it is crucial that they are able to draw on resources as required to educate themselves on changes within their sector. From training courses to newsletters and other educational resources, it is vital that you do your part as an employer to ensure that they have everything they need.
Prioritisation
Any IT department can expect to receive a wide variety of tickets throughout a typical working day. How can they work through these as efficiently as possible? Going on a time-logged basis might not be the most efficient way to do it. Someone might log a ticket that will actually take just a couple of minutes to solve, another might have one that is much more in-depth and will take time to solve. How will an IT technician know which one to target first?
This can be done with the help of a good system with logging levels established and in place. When a ticket is submitted, the system will be able to assess the request and give it a certain log. This then means that the team will be able to access the jobs that are of most critical importance.
If there is something like a system outage or a cyberattack, it is vital that the team is able to respond promptly. The logging system will always be key here. It will let them know where and how to respond, and can help prevent information overload when trying to find a precise issue. No modern IT department should be trying to function without some way to prioritise their incoming tickets.
The Right Tools
In addition to being about to prioritise logs as they come in, the right IT system will have a roster of other tools that can help ensure that the correct end is met. Ideally, a technician should be able to look at a ticket and have all the information they need to complete the job at hand. This could include past history and previous attempts to fix the issue – whatever form they might take – and other key metrics that will assist with the repair of the device or software that is causing the issue.
Having the right tools to turn to will always be key here. No matter what, a technician is only going to be able to solve an issue if they have the right tools for the job. For this reason, it is worth finding a system that can be built out with the add-ons that a technician actually needs. There might be some tools that they would never use, others that could be considered to be vital. It might be an old adage that a bad workman always blames his tools but in the case of IT, this could not actually be further from the truth.
Establishing Efficiency
If your IT department is in need of a shakeup, you should take a step back and look at current operations to see where an improvement needs to be made. The current processes may not be the most efficient, and you could be in need of a major overhaul. Breaking down the basics in terms of what is needed for technicians to complete their tasks should be the first step. Only then can a system that meets their needs in the most efficient way be established.
With adequate training and a means for prioritising tasks, your IT team should be in a much better position when it comes to completing their tasks efficiently. In a department as crucial as IT, you must ensure that efficiency and productivity are constantly improved. Address the efficiency issues in your department today and see the effect it has on the rest of the company.
