Management Toolkit

To better manage the LAN, get personal with your users

Steven A. Watson Tech Republic

Published: 30 Apr 2003 14:45 BST

When you're promoted to an IT management position, one of your biggest challenges is to become proficient at working with network users. Gone are the days when you could be successful by immersing yourself in the details of a specific project or task.

In the management environment, success will most often be based on your ability to balance the technical needs of a LAN system with the more subjective needs of its users.

At first glance, it may seem easy to identify and work with your customers or the people who will directly or indirectly benefit from your unit's efforts. However, it is a much more challenging task than it appears. Becoming truly customer-focused does not usually come naturally and takes considerable effort for most of us.

User's-eye view
It is not always enough for the LAN system to be outstanding technically. It is also important to understand what motivates users to view the system as being outstanding and to address those issues as well. For managers of a LAN and related staff, I recommend the following steps:

Look at users with a fresh outlook and not through your assumptions and biases.

Understand the characteristics of your users and what factors will influence how they view their work.

Understand what impact problems with the LAN will have on the work your users do.

View your users as partners in the process and take advantage of their opinions and feedback.

Be aware of the complexity of factors that influence customer satisfaction.

Examine your own assumptions
The best way to begin the process of understanding your customer base is to examine your own assumptions of the people who use your services. Has it been your experience that users of computer and network equipment don't have a clue about what it takes to build and maintain the system? If so, does that cause you to be annoyed or to view them in a negative light?

Your perceptions of the people your unit is serving can have a subtle -- or not so subtle -- impact on how you interact with them. It is always a good idea to scrutinise your own attitudes and assumptions about your customers to make sure that you're not sending negative signals to those you are trying to help.