Building an Effective Technology Support Team Creating

Building an Effective Technology Support Team

Creating and managing an effective technology support team needs to be predicated on more than just the traditional four areas of planning, organizing, leading and controlling and include the critical skill sets of transformational leadership skills. Those four components of management theory don't take into account the broader aspects of transformational leadership's contributions of a compelling vision and galvanizing mission, both of which are critical for any technology support team to excel. The intent of this analysis is to illustrate the best approaches to building an effective technology support team. Included in this analysis are recommendations for managing personalities and how they affect relationships within and beyond the technical staff.

Creating and Effective Technology Support Team

Teams are by definition a group of people all working towards a common goal. Increasingly teams are both in-person and virtual, as evidenced by the use of cloud computing-based technologies to unify diverse workgroups and teams across broad geographic distances (Braun, Michel, Martz, 2012). The foundation of any effective technology support team is the ability to stay focused on a common goal, charter or mission, which is the purpose for working together (Kezsbom, 1993). The highest performing teams have a shared sense of interdependency and also a recognition that unity is necessary for the success of the initiatives, programs and strategies being undertaken. They also have a shared sense of importance as to the synergy necessary for the group to attain objectives over the long-term (Kezsbom, 1993). These aspects of teams also lead to a shared sense of accountability despite their widely varying backgrounds.

All of these attributes of effective teams are all the more critical in a technology support team, where customers' perceptions of responsiveness and time are the most important determinants of satisfaction. Creating and continually improving a technology support team needs to start with a strong vision and a galvanizing mission if it is to succeed. This requires leaders who are not merely managers who seek to keep the status quo; a truly effective technology support team must be led by transformational leaders who can define and execute on a compelling vision (Kezsbom, 1993). The best-run technology support teams all center on this aspect of a compelling customer-driven vision of performance and success. They build their reason for being or sense of purpose around customer-driven success and performance, which permeates to the analytics and metrics of performance used to evaluate performance as well (Braun, Michel, Martz, 2012). All of these factors are critically important for creating as shared sense of accountability and purpose for the team. Only a strong leader c an continually show the value of a strong customer-centric vision for a technology support team. Managers will often capitulate and seek to create an increasingly hostile environment due to indecision (Kezsbom, 1993). Unable to make decisions pertaining to the vision and mission of the group, managers who capitulate send a message whether intention or not, of not having a solid vision to execute against. That is why a compelling

Once a compelling customer-centric vision (and the customers are often internal departments or divisions) the technology support team leader(s) must next have a very clear definition of roles, responsibilities and a very clear definition of task ownership. Leaders who excel at this aspect of developing and growing a technology support team realize that each member of their team must take ownership of their specific aspect of their role in order to succeed at it (Kezsbom, 1993). Ownership of roles within teams can avert conflicts of role confusion, implied vs. explicit definition of roles by leaders, and the clear assignment of takes accountability as well. Too often managers of technical support teams also capitulate on this aspect and often give their most visible and politically sensitive projects to their favored subordinates. This creates resentment, jealousy and breaks a team's structure down quickly. Exceptional leaders of technology support teams don't allow this to happen as they seek to create a very clear sense of purpose (Ramsey, 2010) with regard to these core aspects of their support strategies.

Technology support teams who leaders also concentrate on the four aspects of transformational leadership also create a more galvanized team over time as well. These four aspects of transformational leadership include individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence (Kezsbom, 1993). Leaders of technology support teams who rely on these four aspects often succeed at defining and keeping their teams focused on a compelling vision over time. They also are able to mitigate conflicts in the team as each of the team members; needs are met. Often conflicts occur in teams due to the perception of one team member getting unfair treatment, more privileges, or the opportunity for greater status at the expense of another (Kezsbom, 1993). To alleviate these many forms of conflict, a transformational leader will rely on these four aspects to keep the team balanced and focused over time. Conflicts are inevitable in any team, yet having an equitable strategy that shows impartiality and underscores a leader's willingness to sacrifice for the vision they are galvanizing a team around is critical to retain credibility and trust (Braun, Michel, Martz, 2012). Any leader of a technology support team needs to continually add to their credibility and consistency of action to keep and grow trust; without it they will become ineffective very quickly and los control of their group or department.