In this issue
Guest speaker: David Filwood on: HOW TO COST-EFFECTIVELY
RECRUIT & HIRE TOP TALENT FOR YOUR TECHNICAL SUPPORT/HELP DESK
CALL CENTER
You are invited to attend the Help Desk Calgary luncheon. We
look forward to seeing you there! RSVP by Registering By Friday ,
November 12th, 2004 Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 Place: Bankers
Hall Auditorium Lower Level, 315 8th Avenue SW, Calgary, AB Time:
11:30 A.M. - Noon Networking 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Luncheon Topic: HOW
TO COST-EFFECTIVELY RECRUIT & HIRE TOP TALENT FOR YOUR TECHNICAL
SUPPORT/HELP DESK CALL CENTER Cost: Members $25 Non-Members $40
Learn how to Attract the Right Candidates (and Discourage the
Wrong Ones) through Effective & Targeted Recruiting
Communications.
Learn how to Craft Your Recruitment Message so that you "Sell the
Opportunity"; Clearly Convey the Job Specifications, Special
Requirements (Shift Work, Schedules, Typing Speed, Software
Literacy, etc.) and the Culture of your Company.
Learn how to Deploy Telephone Pre-Screening that gives Candidates
a Clear-Eyed Understanding of the Job, while Letting you Quickly and
Economically Pick Out the Right Candidates to Invest In for a
Face-to- Face Interview.
David Filwood -
Telesoft Systems
Quick Links...
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Welcome to the monthly Help Desk Calgary newsletter. This
newsletter is distributed to provide news and information
about events sponsored by Help Desk Calgary and Help Desk
Institute. You are receiving this newsletter either because
you opted-in from the registration page on our website, or you
are a current member.
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Learning to Rely on IT Standards By
George Spafford
I was buying some clothes at a major department store the
other day and was struck by the extra effort the clerk was
putting in -- simply because of a lack of standards. And if it
was causing a problem in this store, imagine what it would do
in your IT department.
The problem arose from those anti-theft ink tags that are
attached to some clothes to dissuade shoplifters. If they're
not removed with the proper tool at the store, they often
burst and plash ink all over the clothing.
What was gumming up the works was the fact that the tags
weren't attached to all the clothes, and when they were, they
weren't always attached in the same place. My bet is that it
took the sales clerk at least five times longer to check, fold
and bag my clothes simply because of the lack of standards
regarding these tags and what they're attached to.
It was the perfect example of the inefficiencies caused by
a lack of standards.
Read
rest of article »
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What is morale anyway? By Shannon Kalvar
Does your team lack enthusiasm for its work? Do they not have
sufficient dedication to carry them through the rough times?
Is there a goal misalignment somewhere in the system? Or does
the team suffer from a lack of unification? Find out what you
can do in this article.
In today's overworked, high-stress IT environment, managers
must deal with constant "morale" problems. The "do more with
less" expectations established by the productivity gains we
provide the company exacerbates this situation as we fight for
more staff and resources to cover basic operational tasks.
However, as I learned much to my chagrin early in my
management career, the umbrella concept of "morale" does not
provide us with an adequate tool to analyze employee behavior.
On my first project as a manager-a simple deployment-I
sensed my team was not entirely happy with the situation. They
worked hard, but without the sense of enthusiasm I thought
appropriate to high "morale." Toward the end of the project,
as their dedication waned, I threw a lot of hours into
task-oriented management to ensure the work finished on time
and under budget. My managers commented to me on several
occasions about the "slipping team morale," but finishing the
project took priority over "fluffy things."
During the end of project review the team gave me extremely
high marks for leadership and low marks for matching their
work and personal goals to the project tasks. They only worked
as hard as they did, they indicated, because they liked me and
wanted the project to succeed.
Read
rest of article »
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The Proactive Helpdesk: CIO Strategies to Delivery
Quality Support By: Mark Scapicchio
Consider the following remark, made by a CIO of a nationally
known food company. "According to my help desk case log, my
call volumes are manageable, and we're closing cases faster
than ever. I don't need to know anything else to know that
we're ahead of the problem, that our help desk is doing its
job and our users are more satisfied than ever."
Intuitively this seems like a reasonable argument. In fact,
many help desks today pursue manageable call volume growth and
fast closings as a kind of holy grail-to the extent that help
desk managers' and technicians' bonuses are based on the speed
with which they close cases.
But to accept this intuitive argument you have to accept
two not-so-intuitive assumptions: First, that users call the
help desk with every problem they have, and second, that every
closed case signifies a solved problem. If these assumptions
are incorrect, manageable call volumes and fast closings will
not correlate with user productivity or satisfaction.
Read
rest of The Proactive Helpdesk »
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Future Chapter Events and Notices
NEXT 2004 Calgary Luncheon: November 16 Executive Meetings:
Location: Metafore, 4th Floor 333 - 11 Ave SW Tuesday, October
5, 2004 Tuesday, November 1, 2004 Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Members are welcome to attend executive meetings. Please
RSVP to info@hdi-calgary.org if you would like to attend.
Monthly Luncheons may be paid by: - prepaid tickets
(tickets must be presented at event) - cash, cheque or Visa
Price Change Effective January 1, 2004 - Members $25.00
Non-members $40.00 No-shows will be invoiced
Notice Regarding Luncheon Tickets Effective December 3,
2004 we will no longer be selling lunch tickets. All luncheon
tickets issued in 2003 and prior years must be used by June
30, 2004. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.
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