The 3 Biggest Ways You Can Help Your IT Department

A reliable and skilled IT department is integral for the success of your business. If your IT team is burnt out, overworked, or dissatisfied, operations will suffer and your network will experience one IT emergency after another. Just as you expect your IT staff to use best practices, as a business owner, you need to manage your IT staff as best as you can in order to ensure that your network will operate at maximum efficiency.

Here are the three biggest things you can do to have a satisfied IT department, doing satisfying work for your company.

Promptly Fill Vacant IT Positions
While there are positions within your company that you can delay filling after someone leaves, IT isn’t one of them. It’s the responsibility of a technician to maintain your IT infrastructure, and it’s likely the case that you’ve got just enough IT staff hired to perform just enough maintenance. Therefore, if one technician leaves, it’s up to everyone else to pick up the slack.

In times like these, a good worker will rise to the occasion and pitch in extra hours to help cover the deficit. However, a worker going the extra mile is a two-way street; they will step up and do what’s needed only if they know that you’re investing extra effort in finding an adequate replacement to cover the deficit. If they perceive that you’re dragging out the hiring process in order to save money from having to hire a replacement (at the expense of their extra hard work), then they’ll quickly become jaded and their work will show it. At the very least, if filling an empty IT position is taking longer than expected, then try paying your IT staff extra for their extra work. This move will help keep them happy and motivated.

Fight for Your IT Budget
As is the case with any position, the right tools are needed to properly do the job. This is especially true for IT. Unfortunately, when it comes time for businesses to make a budget, an administrator who doesn’t see the big picture will be quick to cut funds to IT and/or not allocate new money to the department that corresponds with the company’s growth. If your IT staff notices that other departments are being expanded (and they will because growth puts more stress on the network), and meanwhile, no new staff or solutions are being made available for IT, they will become demoralized and stretched thin by the increased workload and lack of help.

Remember, a fully functional and motivated IT department will translate to increased productivity and success for all of your departments. Funding IT shouldn’t be an afterthought. It needs to be a priority.

Outsource Short-Term Projects and Routine IT Maintenances
When your IT staff gets slammed with a short-term projects, or when they get bogged down having to do routine maintenances, they won’t be able to put adequate time towards your company’s technology initiatives meant to improve operations. Implementing new money-saving solutions like this is what motivates IT technicians; few techies signed up for the job because they dreamed of running backups as a kid.

This is where Preferred comes into the picture. By having us assist your IT department with short-term projects, along with bringing us in to remotely handle routine IT maintenances, like installing security patches and updating your software, your current IT staff will be freed up to tackle meaningful IT projects that can significantly improve the productivity for every department. As far as business goes, it’s a classic win-win.

Notice a theme here? Valuing and prioritizing your company’s technology will pay off big time in terms of having an IT staff that’s motivated and technology that’s working optimally. To give your IT department the help they deserve, call Preferred at 708-781-7110.