Whatever name you designate to them, the Technical Services team members are the ones who look after your core infrastructure. This team is responsible for maintaining your network infrastructure. They look after the hardware and software that runs on it. They also make sure that all the services you provide remain available.
In short, they are a vital cog in the wheel of your business operations. It stands to reason, then, that you’d want them to be as effective as possible. But what exactly does it take to be a member of this critical team? We examine the obvious and not-so-obvious desirable traits below.
Technical Services never really stop
Let’s face it, Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, can be very daunting when it comes to time. End users often expect services to be available 24/7/365. Support personnel often work outside of regular office hours, and they typically rely on certain technologies to be always-on. In addition, clients may well be based abroad and in different time zones. Thus, their business hours may not coincide with your own.
Whatever the scenario, your core technical team will at some point have to respond or perform duties that fall outside the 8-5 workday. The ability to work with the same proficiency at any time of day is therefore a boon to the associated personnel. While not a skill as such, you should ensure that your team has the capacity and ability to perform whatever the hour. This is especially useful when tasks such as network maintenance or other critical lengthy processes need to be performed after hours or even overnight.
As a potential member of such a team, you should thus be mindful of these facts. Acknowledge upfront that your time commitments will require adjustment as the situation may warrant.
A cross-selection of technical skills
It goes without saying that when recruiting personnel for a team like Technical Services, your focus will be a strong balance between current needs and your plans for the future. To ensure this, don’t forget to examine your current strategy roadmap. Keep your medium-term requirements in mind…and don’t forget to do the same when considering training options for your technical staff. You also need to make sure that your technical staff understand your strategy.
Another useful approach is for you to apply a synergism principle when looking as the skills mix. Look for skills that tie in with one another at a functional level. This will help your team create more efficient workflows, saving you time and effort. It also leads to better troubleshooting, as individuals will better understand the links between different aspects of the connected technologies.
If you’re considering a career in a Technical services equivalent, try and ascertain what skills you would need to link one successful task to the next one. Do this while aiming at an organisation or specific role you would both be good at and relish. This will help you and your team achieve quicker wins in your working environment.
Include soft skills and values
Technical personnel are increasingly realising that there is a person at either end of a technology chain. To that end, it’s a good idea to promote interpersonal abilities within your tech personnel complement. Soft skills, for example, form the basis for better interactions with both colleagues and clients. They also help set standards for your employees to adhere to. Meanwhile, integrate people with your company values on an ongoing basis. This means they’ll be putting their best foot forward in whatever they do.
Using this combined approach, you’re more likely to generate well-rounded technical staff who are both adept at their work and able to function better when communicating with others. Your technology and its associated functions are critical, but so are the people using it to carry out their own roles.
Technical Services individuals would therefore do well to keep their company values at the forefront of their thought processes. In addition, when seeking additional skills, they should consider revisiting prior soft skills or picking up new ones to develop not only value, but a better communication capacity as well.
Adept’s Technical Services team is made up of extraordinarily capable individuals who keep our services going, our network performing and our clients functioning. We’re extremely proud to have among the best in the business working with us!