Introduction
In the current times, technology is interwoven within society in such a way that there can be no existence without it. And since technology is everywhere, there should be providing support for the systems and the operators by people everywhere in the world. This paper is going to look at what it takes to build that effective technology support team. Such issues as personalities and the way they can affect relationships within the technical staff and outside will also be considered.
What it takes to build an effective technology support team
The technical support teams are very important, but to realize performance at the optimal efficiency from these teams, they have to be put together carefully. The reason for this is that effective teams perform in a better way. Such teams get their work done at a higher rate with very minimal errors. And there is also enjoyment among the members of the teams in the course of them carrying out their work, and eventually, there is the realization of productivity at a higher level, much more loyalty, and increased employee retention. The responsibility of setting up a technology support team falls to the technology manager. This manager needs to undertake four steps in this process.
The manager is supposed to start by knowing the members of the team and this is the first step. Realizing effectiveness in team building is beyond just directing people towards a common goal. A social element is attached to the building of the team that causes people to be willing to join the team (Moreira, 2007). More so, any team leader who has an understanding of the driving force of every team member will turn out to be much more effective in knowing the kind of motivation to put in place and how best to work with this team.
The step that follows is to carry out the identification of the responsibilities and roles of every team member, starting with the role of the leader of the team. It is a very good idea for the manager to issue to the team a statement that is written which indicates the management philosophy of the manager, what the team expects, how the manager is planning to offer support to the team. After that, there should be ensuring of the knowledge by the members of the team about what the team leader and the expectations from the leader are. Then the team leader should identify in clear terms every member’s responsibilities as well as roles. Doing this removes overlapping the roles and responsibilities and ambiguity.
In the case where the members of the team are not very sure about what their duties and responsibilities are, about a person or leader to report to among other issues, it may turn out to be quite hard to set up trust and empowerment with a team. Whenever there is ambiguity, the level of productivity will go down (Moreira, 2007).
The step to follow is to carry out the establishment of the goals of the team. Regardless of whether a team is a permanent one such as a department team, or a temporary team set up for a special project, it is a must that this team needs to have a purpose and objectives or goals that are stated clearly. More so, the objectives or goals set up are supposed to be timely as well as measurable and specific and should be made public. More so, there should be working together among the team members to carry out the establishment of milestones to indicate progress against the goals. After this has been carried out, there can be a translation of the goals of the team to individual goals and measurements carried on them as part of the performance plans of the team members. At the time of the team acquiring its goals, this is now a moment to rejoice in the success (Moreira, 2007).
The fourth and final step is to carry out operations as a team. The team leader offers assistance in this by putting his or her management practices in place. He or she, for example, can do this by making a schedule of the staff meetings. Meetings can be seen to be a way of wasting time but in the actual sense, they play a great role in realizing success by the organization when conducted properly. In this, meetings are a way of putting in place expectations on the way to carry out communication and resolve issues going forward. On top of the staff meetings, it will be essential to come up with a decision on the way the team is supposed to decide regarding acquiring its goals. The initial impulse of the manager or the leader of the team will possibly be to carry out the determination of all the things about the operation of the team by him or herself.
For the team members as well as the team leader to carry out their duties and responsibilities efficiently, their personalities play a major role in realizing this. There should be hiring of the people who don’t just have sound technical knowledge but sound skills of interacting with clients as well. In selecting people to join the team, the personality of the candidate plays a very significant role. The personality does not just serve as an indicator of the way an individual appears, but it as well considers someone’s confidence, attitude, the capability to convince a customer or offer leadership to a team, among others. In the case where the business organizations hold sessions for training to realize improvement in the soft skills of their employees, this brings about a positive impact on these people’s personalities (Anonymous, 2001).
Conclusion
As it has been looked at in the discussion, it is very vital to build an effective technology support team and this will bring about the success of the business operations in the organizations. Several efforts should be carried out by the manager to realize this. This should be done by taking the four steps looked at in the discussion. In the process of recruiting the staff, the personality of the candidates should be considered more keenly and the organization should offer training to the professionals in the organization that assist in building up the personality of the workers. Personality plays a major role in enabling workers to carry out activities within the organization and even be able to relate with the clients in the best way possible.
Reference
Anonymous, (2001). The personality factor. Web.
Moreira, P. (2007). Ace the IT Interview. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.