How To Make IT Support More Responsive To Your Requests
There’s hardly any work that happens in your organization without the involvement of technology. Information Technology (IT) is all-pervasive and ubiquitous, not yet a spiritual entity, but quite close nevertheless. As a result, everyone at work has frequent interactions with the IT team. You depend on them to troubleshoot your day-to-day technology issues as well as help implement new projects.
The IT team’s ability to collaborate with the other departments is often questioned because of the following reasons:?
Consequently, your IT Team is probably the most loved as well as the most hated department. But what makes a department at the cutting edge of technology so inflexible? Is it possible to change their response to your requests? How can you collaborate better with your IT department?
In this article, I will answer these very questions. So let’s dive in…
HOW TO COLLABORATE BETTER WITH YOUR IT SUPPORT TEAM
We all want to get more things done, faster and more efficiently. This quest for productivity often requires new tools, technologies, and processes. Every such requirement invariably involves the IT team as they are the gatekeepers of everything technology-related.
If you want your IT projects and tools to roll out in time and without hassle, it’s necessary to get your IT team in your corner. To do this, you need to understand what matters most to your IT team and address their biggest concerns right at the start.
Here are 5 steps that will help you collaborate better with your IT team:
1. KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION'S IT AND SECURITY POLICIES
Your organization’s IT policy defines the rules, regulations, and guidelines for the proper usage, security, and maintenance of all your company’s technological assets such as computers, mobile devices, servers, the Internet, applications, etc. It serves as the guide for the acceptable and ethical use of your organization’s IT infrastructure. Its purpose is to ensure the safety, security, and integrity of the data, products, and/or services used by your company as well as those offered by your company to its customers.
When you request the adoption of a new tool or change in process, your IT team will have to refer to the IT policy document to see if there are any conflicts. Your requests have to be checked for alignment with existing IT policies and security policies, as well as their interaction with existing systems; this is where the delays or refusals usually emerge from. Security is usually their most pressing concern and they have to be very careful not to violate any existing policies, especially if your organization undergoes audits for regulatory compliance such as SOC 2 or HIPAA.
If you are aware of the IT policy documents, you will be in a better position to make requests that won’t be turned down. Of course, you aren’t expected to be thoroughly acquainted with all security systems and policies, but if you can ensure that the basic usage and security policies aren’t violated, that already gives you a good head start.
You will also help move the process faster by letting our IT team know how your request is in alignment with the organization’s policies. Your IT team will surely be appreciative of your homework and it will go a long way in facilitating collaboration. In addition, knowing your IT policies is not only useful for collaborating with your IT team but also helps build a security-conscious culture at your organization.
2. DO DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE MAJOR REQUESTS
Often we come across tools that we instantly fall in love with; tools that make collaboration a breeze and give a big boost to our efficiency. But what matters most to you may not matter to your IT team. They are not concerned solely with efficiency but are responsible for the overall security of the organization and the health of the IT infrastructure. Security of new tools and applications is usually a top concern of your IT team.
Therefore, you can help your cause by doing your due diligence before recommending the implementation of a new application. Do some research to make sure that there are no security concerns especially issues related to data security and privacy, which are crucial for regulatory compliance.
In some cases, your organization may already be using a similar tool that has already been vetted and approved by the IT team. So before even beginning your research, you should look through your organization’s list of approved applications.
领英推荐
?
Additionally, staying up-to-date with your organization’s security best practices is not just useful when making recommendations but also helps improve security in your everyday work.
3. HIGHLIGHT THE BUSINESS VALUE
The technology landscape is constantly changing, consequently, the limited IT budget is likely being pulled in many different directions. To get a new tool or process implemented, you will not just have to justify it but also demonstrate its business value.
Often the ones who approve your project are not the IT team but the business leaders. So you will have to not just demonstrate the value of your proposition but also communicate it in a language that the decision-makers can understand.
To demonstrate the value of your IT projects, you will have to evaluate them using financial measurements. But technology is often a difficult investment to justify because the intangible benefits such as time-saving, ease of life, etc. that it generates can’t be captured by the traditional financial metrics.
To help you evaluate your IT projects, I’ve written two blog posts that will guide you through the process:
4. SET EXPECTATIONS
A crucial part of getting your project done correctly is to set expectations at the very beginning. It is important to let your IT team know exactly what they need to do and define what will be called “done” for your project. Do they need to simply roll out the application, do they need to give training, or are they expected to troubleshoot and help users? Defining the expectations will help your IT team gauge the work required and plan resource allocation accordingly.
In addition to defining what’s expected, you should also set a timeline for the project. It is a good idea to establish metrics, monitoring, and reporting so that the project, say a software rollout, is completed on time. After the implementation is complete, you should also establish similar metrics and reporting so that the impact of your project can be evaluated and demonstrated to the business leaders.
5. KEEP OPEN COMMUNICATION LINES
It is easy to think of your IT team as firefighters you call only when you need help putting out fires. But this kind of thinking doesn’t help build a collaborative relationship. Your IT team is your ally who can help you get the most out of technology.
Yes, it is the IT team that forces password changes, pushes updates when you don’t want them, and does other things that may appear to make your work difficult. But they don’t do this at their whim and fancy, rather they are required to do so by the organization’s IT and security policies. They are merely doing their job of protecting your organization from threats and ensuring everything runs smoothly.
The relationship between the IT department and the employees is key to ensuring efficient and smooth IT operations and management. You need to keep an open communication channel with your IT team because by removing barriers to communication, you make it easier to collaborate, seek help before issues blow up, and report security incidents.
In addition, teams thrive when they know each other personally. Good communication and friendly relationships help engender trust and make collaboration easier. So the next time you come across your IT support team member, remember to catch up and chat a little about non-work life.
CONCLUSION
It’s easy to overlook getting buy-in from your IT team, even though it is necessary for rolling out your technology projects. This often leads to friction between IT and other departments. Whatever may be the cause, the friction and delays ultimately harm the organization.
Interestingly, it is just as easy to get the IT team in your corner and to collaborate with them seamlessly. All that’s necessary is to follow the steps we discussed above and you will find it easy to improve collaboration with IT and succeed in including them as your strategic business partners in all of your crucial technology-related projects.