Your IT department is one of the most important areas of your company, no matter what industry you’re in. All businesses rely heavily on IT systems and if your department isn’t working efficiently, it’ll affect productivity across the board. Too often, business owners underestimate the importance of their IT department and they’re seen as a separate arm of the company. That’s a dangerous attitude to have because, these days, they’re just as important as other departments like sales and marketing. If you’ve been neglecting your IT department and you think it’s time for an overhaul, here are some simple ways that you can increase their productivity.
Remote Repairs
When a computer goes down and that employee can no longer work, you’re losing money. If the whole system goes down, you’re really in trouble. That’s why one of the most important functions of an IT department is fixing those problems as quickly as possible. If technicians are running around the office fixing small issues all day, they’re wasting time that could be spent on projects that will improve the company. The best solution to this is video calling; you can have a remote expert fix the problem without having to walk halfway across the building to do it. It’s a win-win because the IT team aren’t wasting as much time and employees can get back to work quicker.
Cross Collaboration
A good business owner knows that cross collaboration between departments is a good thing, but often this doesn’t extend to the IT department. Imagine, for example, you’ve got a lot of customers that are unhappy with the amount of time it takes for their complaints to be handled. The IT department could help solve that problem by updating customer service software but they’re never going to be able to do that if they aren’t included in meetings etc. IT is relevant in all departments so the first thing you should do if you’ve got a problem consult them and see if there is anything they can do to help.
Prioritize Projects
IT departments often have a lot of different projects on at one time. If they don’t have much direction they’ll usually end up doing bits and pieces of all of those projects and take a while to finish them. If you want to improve productivity in your IT department, you need to prioritize projects. Work out which ones will improve efficiency in the company and put those at the top of the list. That way, you’ll see quicker results and the department won’t be wasting time on the smaller projects that don’t push the company forward as much. They can still finish those projects in future when they’ve got extra time. If you’ve got a couple of different projects that are urgent, split the department into work groups and have them work on one project each.
The IT department used to be a small department that was just concerned with maintenance but that’s not the case anymore. They’re a central part of your business and you should treat them as such.
No comments yet.