IT Support Technicians: Spotting the Best and Getting Them on The Job
Today’s business operations are becoming highly tech-driven across different sectors. From food and beverage, to car parts manufacturing, to services, and to knowledge businesses, companies cannot limit the penetration of technology across all levels of the organization. Name one department or function within a company and one will know that it is impossible not to have at least one “automated” task, assisted by machines or technology. This is where IT Solutions, whether it’s in-house or provided by a third-party IT Support Company, comes in as a crucial function to upgrade or maintain business’ operational efficiency. But, how do you spot the best IT Support Technicians and get them on the job to provide technical assistance whenever you need it, wherever you may be? Below are some traits you’ll need to look out for when spotting the best technicians in the field.
1.Self-discipline
Self-discipline is an important trait for all jobs and functions across the organization. But particularly for tech support, having self-discipline affects several aspects of the job. This can be simply adhering to committed schedule of tech support, delivering fix within the communicated date and time, and sticking with the task until there’s a clear resolution, or at least an acceptable work-around. Self-discipline of the technician shows respect not only for the user, but also for his own work, understanding priorities and putting off non-critical tasks to focus on big tickets. These self-disciplined technicians are reliable, punctual, and can handle more tasks than their less-disciplined counterparts.
2. Attention to details and organization
Attention to details translates to completion of a work order not just for the sake of completing the task but completing it without leaving a stone unturned. Completing a job order to the satisfaction of the customer is surely the best way a technician can finish a job. But a technician who doesn’t fully identify the root cause of the problem to apply a long-term fix will have to go back to the same problem every time. Attention to detail includes documenting every troubleshooting step and making sure that every element is accounted for, so that the next step is more focused and strategic, leading to the fix. Most of the time, technical
3. Communicate at non-technical level
In most organizations, the IT support technician is the most visible and easily-accessible member of the IT team. This person is the front-liner of the service and is usually in contact with the end users. So, if this role is the front-facing customer service role, representing the whole IT function, communicating at a non-technical level is key to truly engaging and educating the end-user on the whole process until the fix is implemented. The tech support, then, has to be the “translator”, between tech speak and non-tech audience. It is important that the technician knows how to acknowledge the difficulty of the user, no matter how simple the issue may be. Through communication, the IT Technician also needs to walk through the process, from the definition of the problem, to the whole troubleshooting steps (this is especially crucial if the fix will take a lot of time, given that some users don’t fully understand the complexity of the fix.) Explaining the steps and reassuring the end user that every step of the process is a crucial undertaking to get closer to the solution usually helps in keeping discussions and situations under control, allowing all other technicians (if there’s more than one technician involved) to focus on finding the fix.
Getting the right technicians, whether in-house or through a third-party IT Support Company, is a decision that has a long-term impact on operational efficiency. Tech maintenance and monitoring are crucial IT Solutions that secures business continuity. It takes the right technician to “care” for your business as much as you do.
