Take your teams from being highly dependent on the IT helpdesk to being self-sufficient and highly skilled.
Are you hearing that your organisation’s IT Helpdesk is overwhelmed? Why is this happening?
- Helpdesk technicians are busy people, supporting the organisation’s systems, networks, hardware and more.
- Some are also receiving lots of “can you help me with this in Word/Excel/Copilot/PowerBI?” type questions but they are not always equipped to solve a colleague’s unique problems in line with their team’s unique way of working.
- Without the resources to answer these questions, users can be left to search for solutions elsewhere, such as on YouTube, social media, or other online sources that might not always be reliable.
- People may be relying on their more tech-savvy colleagues who have their own work to do, causing holdups and impacting productivity.
- These issues become even more prominent when implementing a software change project.
- Worse still can be when users feel a pressure to be already skilled in the software they are expected to use, so feel ashamed to ask for help. They muddle through, making mistakes, and spending a lot more time than they need to on tasks.
I love the idea that some people have the skills to share knowledge with their peers, and I certainly don’t knock the greatness of YouTube (we have our own YouTube channel!) but this can lead to inconsistency of methods within teams or wasting time following instructions that are incorrect or outdated.
So what questions could you ask your users in order to start solving these problems?
- How do you usually solve software-related problems when they arise? (e.g., ask colleagues, search online, contact IT support?)
- Do you understand why we use the software we use? (Often users feel “forced” to use something because they only see the frustrations it causes them, and not its benefits or the reasons it was chosen by the organisation.)
- Does the software cause you and/or your team any problems?
- Do you feel that software issues impact overall team productivity? If so, how?
- How do your team’s problems impact the business as a whole?
- What software do you use happily and confidently and why?
- What software do you avoid and why?
- Do you often rely on others to complete tasks that require certain software skills? If so, which tasks?
- Are there any manual processes that could be automated if you had better software knowledge?
- Are there any software tools that you find outdated or difficult to use?
- If you could improve one aspect of the software tools you use, what would it be?
Further reading: how to get people onside during software change projects.
If you’d like to see more hints and tips on how to get the best out of the software and apps you use every day, take a look at our YouTube channel. Follow us for regular updates!
Let’s Take It Further
Could you or your team benefit from some face-to-face training?
Glide Training is one of the leading providers of professional IT training in the UK.
We provide training on Microsoft and Google products including Excel, Docs, Word, Sheets, PowerPoint, Slides, Project and more, delivered on-site at your premises or online.
Unlike most training companies we won’t try to sell you a set course from a fixed list; rather we will discuss your specific requirements and work with you to deliver a training programme that gives you what you need to succeed.
