A high-performing IT team that always exceeds expectations is much more than a random collection of specialists. It requires an accomplished team that is goal-oriented, works through difficulties, and respects collaboration and diversity. As their manager, how do you lay the groundwork for and continuously support such a team? Here are the key practices you should be following.
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Define Goals and Requirements
Before establishing an IT team from scratch, you should clearly define team goals and requirements. This will set you and the team up for success. Clearly defined objectives and KPIs will allow every team member to know who’s responsible for what, clarify uncertainty, and reduce downtime caused by confusion.
After that, you’ll want to identify the technical and soft skills required for cooperation and successful project completion from each of your team members. Defining these skills will inform your selection process or influence hiring decisions, ensuring the right fit for any project.
Carefully Select High-Performing IT Team Members
Starting from scratch gives you the discretion to assemble a highly effective team. Although specifics may differ by project type and complexity, you can use a few general guidelines when choosing your team members.
It’s a given that a team member should be familiar with the technologies and processes you’ll be using for daily operations. However, don’t forget to look at the broader picture. Check and evaluate potential candidates’ experience in different projects and see what they learned from them.
In fact, sometimes it’s even recommended to recruit individuals whose skill sets differ from your set requirements or exceed the scope of your project, ideally in other directions. This usually encourages the team to think outside the box and fosters creativity.
Make sure that the individuals you choose are highly motivated, self-starters, and team players. After all, you’ll work closely with them through daily challenges and triumphs, so choose teammates who will elevate both the project outcomes and the daily experience of bringing your vision to life.
Ensure Tool and Resource Availability
High-performing IT team managers must provide their staff with the hardware, software, and other management tools they need to succeed. Be sure to prepare this list before your team starts executing work. For instance, database administrators need workstations with high storage capacity, whereas QA engineers need up-to-date testing frameworks.
Follow-up on meeting the team’s prerequisites by monitoring their performance and implementing ways of streamlining various processes. This will help you determine which tasks can be automated or simplified to free team members up for more complex and impactful work.
Foster a Culture of Security Consciousness
IT teams should know better than anyone else what can happen if you don’t follow best practices for cybersecurity. Still, it wouldn’t be remiss of you to enforce proactive measures like using a password manager to make strong and secure passwords for their important accounts.
You can then implement the use of a password manager for IT teams across your entire organization. This will allow your team to securely distribute and control access credentials for colleagues across all departments, further fostering security awareness.
Apart from password management, network and endpoint security are also important to ensure at all times. Secure your workstations by enabling automatic updates and regularly running virus and malware scans. In addition, boost internal network security with next-generation firewalls and intrusion prevention systems.
As IT personnel can work effectively remotely, securing their connections and access to your company’s internal system is non-negotiable. Make sure that all remote members within your team and organization use the best VPNs before connecting to company networks or exchanging confidential data and files. This can prevent incidents like unauthorized monitoring and tampering by malicious third parties.
Promote a Collaborative, Goal-Oriented Environment
Assembling a team of go-getters is one thing. However, keeping it satisfied and engaged is another. There is a lot that goes into establishing an environment that helps support their needs. Productive team members appreciate being heard and their viewpoints considered, which is only possible in an atmosphere of trust and encouraged open communication.
Driven individuals thrive when they can expand their competencies, which is why investing in their continued training is beneficial for everyone. You get more well-rounded team members who can take on bigger responsibilities while feeling valued and less inclined to look for other opportunities.
Your IT Team Will Thrive
Though it may seem daunting at first, building a high-performing IT team is possible. To do so, clearly state your team’s mission and objectives. Select team members carefully, guaranteeing their values and work habits fit the company. Also, encourage an environment where everyone feels appreciated, and you’ll be sure to build a team that everyone wants to be a part of.
