WPT Resources – People – Part 1
In my ‘WPT Resources’ series I’ll be talking about the key resources for a modern Workplace Tech or IT team. We’ll look at People, Technology, Time, and Money, and the interplay between them. This article will look at the role and value of People in the technology-first world of enterprise and Workplace Tech.
There are probably many of you reading this who are unsure of what the future of their employment holds. In an increasingly automated and AI-driven world how do you prove your value in IT? I myself have struggled with this question in the past years.
UncertAIn Times
As I write this post an AI Assistant icon has appeared in my WordPress formatting bar which offers to improve my writing. My new phone tells me how I can use AI to edit photos, generate wallpapers, and even live-translate the audio in my phone calls to my native language. I open a SaaS tool to see how a task that would have taken me minutes or even hours before is now doable with a quick query or a single click. Even the automation tools are using AI to automate creating automations!
I’d strongly suggest checking out Pipedream and its aforementioned AI tools if you’re looking at building API workflows or SaaS orchestration. Try it for free.
The speed in which these AI tools are being introduced in to our daily lives is staggering. And this is just the beginning.
Finding your place
So what can you do to prove your value as a person amongst all this technology? Here are the things I encourage my team to do every day.
Identify issues
Don’t just treat the symptoms of an issue – find the root cause. If you’re able to identify why a ticket is created over and over you can fix it. Break the process down into it’s core parts and work out which isn’t working.
Problem solve
This one sounds obvious but a lot of people don’t do it. Focus on solving the root cause of issues so they don’t reoccur. Use the time saved to fix something else and so forth. Focussed problem solvers are, and always will be, the most useful people in your team. Without them nothing will ever improve.
Less conversation, more action
I’ve spent hours in the same weekly meetings talking about solving the same problems over and over again. No more. Once you all agree and understand the desired outcome the quicker you start working towards it the better. Making mistakes along the way and learning from them is much better than talking for an hour a week about hypothetical issues and potential blockers.
Make sensible decisions
Prioritise based on the resources you have and the ones you need. Budget to spend but no time to do anything? Outsource. Unoptimised tech stack but no money? Throw as much time and people as you possibly can into fixing and optimising it. Lack of tools to do what you need? Build or buy based on your teams skillset and budget availability.
Don’t suggest an expensive tool if it’s never going to get approved. Ensure skillsets are utilised correctly and that you and/or your team are comfortable with their tasks. Never start a project if you don’t have the time or people to do it successfully. Regardless of your role or seniority push back and try to course correct at the first sign of trouble.
Embrace new technologies
As the name implies technology is a key component to our jobs! An IT professional with a good grasp on how to use AI and other new technologies is going to be better than one who is determined to stick with what they know. Be open-minded and trust that your knowledge of existing adjacent products will give you a head start on learning new technologies. All of these skills are transferable, and most of these new technologies have the same underlying principals of those that came decades before.
Champion efficiency in everything you do
Be efficient with your time, money, and technology. Identify which area needs the most attention and plan your work around it. If you’re struggling for time invest as much of it as you can into initiatives that will save you more time down the line. Constant firefighting and not addressing root-cause issues hamstrings entire teams.
Cast your net wider
Too many IT professionals shy away from getting involved in non-IT owned SaaS products because they’re ‘not IT’s problem’. I say ‘Yes they are!’. If you truly want to make a difference you must ensure that all technologies used in the workplace are included.
Would custom Salesforce notifications in Slack/Teams vastly improve your Sale’s teams lives? How about a Slack workflow to save your HR team from manually entering data into a spreadsheet? Maybe helping your Marketing team by showing them how to set up an automation in Monday.com to create a new board at 9am every Friday morning. These are all genuine examples I’ve experienced in the last month. They’ve all made a huge impact on people and allowed them to spend more time proving their value in their own roles.
Empower Others
Whether we work on the Helpdesk or as WPT Engineers we exist to support. And when I say support I don’t just mean solve tickets. If you have the same person coming to you for help over and over perhaps sit down with them and find out if there’s a larger underlying issue. Maybe they’re not used to using a MacBook. Perhaps you notice your HR team are struggling with onboarding new staff. This is a perfect area to introduce automations and Workplace Tech-first processes.
People & Technology
Jobs exist because of people. Someone has a problem, and someone else offers a solution (often with technology’s help). That’s business in a nutshell. The key is not to fear technology, but to use it as a tool to better understand and solve human problems. Your human skills like critical thinking and communication will always be valuable, so embrace new technologies and use them to empower yourself and others.
Speaking of technology… Pipedream is an incredibly powerful tool if you’re looking at building API workflows or SaaS orchestration. Try it for free.