Intellectual Property - EDUCAUSE 2008 Midwest Regional Conference Think Stops
5/5/2008 5:02:20 PM
EDUCAUSE 2008 Midwest Regional Conference Think Stops
Think Stop #1 What are you bringing back to your campus from this conference? (photo not available)
- Start with the goal, not the tool/product.
- Talk about learning not teaching: its service not IT.
- IT shouldn’t be a hurdle between users & a/their goal, rather a path toward that goal. Goals are collaborative processes.
- Copious notes.
- Lots of “little & good” ideas.
- Peditechnical.”
- Software “true ups”.
- A big ear & open mind.
- Teach IT staff customer experience skills – mode QT, and other companies that have exceptional care@u models
- Relationships between central IT and unit IT.
- Front offices, lounge
Think Stop #2 What keeps YOU awake at night? (Focus on IT-related issues from your perspective.) (photo not available)
- Data security/privacy.
- Too many projects, not enough time, staff, funding, buy-in, [each of the previous 4 crossed out followed by] pathos.
- Telling my boss, “I told you so”.
- Data Loss
- I take Ambien, no problems!
- Did a purchase get through that should have been reviewed?
- Newborn child.
- Coffee.
- PCI/DSS.
- Internal IT culture clash.
- Not being prepared for the 14 year old that is making the next security breach.
- Staff Retention
- Lack of resources
- The next big thing.
Think Stop #3 How can we address general frustration with campus IT? [Examples, “They” don’t listen to us, “They” don’t build what we want, “They” make everything complicated, Why don’t “They” just do their job right?] (See Photo above)
- Don’t begin every response to a request for assistance with “You can’t…” or “We can’t…”
- Why not go to the especially frustrated user and ask what he/she really needs – make it a success!
- Deliberately hire staff with adaptable skills, customer service, communications, extroverts & introverts (can be effective too!), etc. Demand these skills in all our staff including the “techies”.
- Stop calling these “soft” skills; they are very difficult and very rare. Put them squarely in our performance goals and compensate for them accordingly.
- Many can’t be taught, so make good smart choices (in talent not skills).
- Stop calling people “users”!
- Answer the phone, David! Excellent!
- Deploy technology that’s transparent
- Put IT under Academic Affairs in the organizational structure. [added: No! Now that’s frustration! ][added: I agree, we have part of IT under Academic Affairs and it made us talk, collaborate, and cooperate.]
- Greater transparency.
- Service level agreements.
- Be willing to consider projects that are “not on your radar screen”.
- Include the rest of campus in planning. Create shared goals that IT executes. We are all in it together.
- Make use of high tech anthropology.
- Ask this very question and listen to the responses.
- Tailor customer service training to introverts.
- Provision: What will you stop doing? Do fewer things well. Decide how to scale.
- Through listening! Meeting our clients face to face more often?
- Listen. Advertise successes. Confront challenges. “Humanize IT”.
- Demystify. Document. Hire grownups to work with grownups.
- Communicate better. Be more visible.
- Comprehensive training of front line support personnel.
- Talk to customers.
- Marketing.
- More transparency in dealing with other campus units.
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