3 Reasons your IT Team need a National Holiday named after them...

Some critics may say this article is just a way for me to try and get everyone an extra bank holiday ... and they may have a point! If anyone wants to run with this and start a petition on change.org I'm all for it.

But its more than that - its about genuinely appreciating some of the hardest working teams & professionals in business. Too many times I have seen IT teams hidden in a dimly-lit corner or dark room with loads of old computers & broken parts as decor.

While Sales & Marketing teams get basked in glory with incentives, days out, lunches with the CEO, even free holidays - The IT team is often seen by the rest of the office as socially awkward, sci-fi loving, dry humoured & a bit nerdy - they get overlooked and underappreciated by so many. Think the Cinderellas of the corporate world. So why are they so great?

1. They Solve Serious Problems - My technical problem solving goes as far as Ctrl, Alt, Delete and if that fails turn it off, wait 10 seconds and turn it back on again. IT teams spend so much of their time solving really complex problems & keeping all the critical business systems running smoothly whilst resetting the password for Cathy from accounts for the 10th time this month.
2. They Can Innovate & Streamline Business - Their technical knowledge and understanding means they know what solutions or technology should be deployed to solve almost any business problem. Ask your IT team what business applications they would add or change and why and you may end up increasing your bottom line quite significantly.
3. IT teams are basically human encyclopedias - Often underutilised in business decisions but their knowledge is not to be underestimated. The amount of programming languages most can speak and translate blows my mind. If they can't do anything more to help the business just think of how handy they could be in a pub quiz!

The world is becoming more technology driven by the day & we need these legends to help us mere mortals through the next age of computer growth.

So tag your boss & your favourite IT team member to show some love to the forgotten heroes of the business world & lets all work together to get an extra bank holiday!