{"id":5072,"date":"2016-08-17T22:57:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T21:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=5072"},"modified":"2021-03-31T22:59:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T21:59:01","slug":"4-best-practices-running-your-it-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department","title":{"rendered":"4 best practices for running your IT department"},"content":{"rendered":"

Running your own IT department can be a challenge. Many of us in this position have technical degrees and strong tech backgrounds, but we\u2019ve had to learn the ropes of management and operations in the hard school of Experience. So to help you on your way, I\u2019d like to offer some things I\u2019ve learned in the form of Four Best Practices for Running Your Own IT Department.<\/p>\n

Most of this is centered on a great little saying passed along to me by a mentor. Remember this; \u201cWhat gets measured and rewarded gets done<\/b>.\u201d This little saying communicates big insight into human nature and if we can properly implement it, our departments will run smooth.<\/p>\n

1\/ Make plans and communicate goals<\/h3>\n

Everyone needs to know what is expected of them. How can we reach a destination if the direction hasn\u2019t been clearly marked? We don\u2019t want to spend all our time in meetings or all our efforts on creating documentation, but we DO need to have efficient meetings that result in useful documentation so we all know what is expected.<\/p>\n

We need big picture Workflow Planning that keeps a running list of any upcoming projects and due dates. This is how we make sure we have the resources to meet each goal without conflicts. Each of the individual projects also needs a project plan. We all do a project plan for a complex migration to update our core systems, but keep in mind that even installing a new printer requires planning. Consider questions such as \u201cwhat capacity printer is needed?\u201d and \u201cwhen will be the least disruptive time to install it?\u201d. The project plan can be simple, but it should never be absent.<\/p>\n

Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly maintenance checklists are also part of planning. They lay out the routine tasks that can\u2019t be forgotten.<\/p>\n

2\/ Never separate Accountability from Authority<\/h3>\n

This is an area where many organizations fall down. We should never hold someone accountable for something unless we have given them the authority (and resources) they need to accomplish the task.<\/p>\n

The idea that everyone in the workplace is a \u201ccustomer\u201d of the IT department is faulty. Our fellow employees aren\u2019t customers; rather, they are partners in accomplishing the objectives of the organization. Otherwise people will sidetrack IT and dynamically change the scope of projects because \u201cthe customer is always right.\u201d If you let that happen, you will not meet your goals.<\/p>\n

Every member of an organization needs to understand and comply with ITs\u2019 policies and procedures. For instance, they need to use the\u00a0ticketing system<\/a>\u00a0to open and track an IT issue rather than saying: \u201cHey, since you\u2019re already here can you also look at this problem?\u201d The IT policies and procedures are there to make sure that the organization as a whole succeeds rather than one department looking good at the expense of another. Above all, for each of your projects make sure to allocate what is needed in terms of personnel, hardware and software to meet the goals.<\/p>\n

3\/ Take time to make checks and make updates<\/h3>\n

On a weekly basis my IT team gets together and evaluates how things are going. Do we need to make adjustments or is everything going EXACTLY as we planned (yeah, right)? We also update our documentation now instead of later (we can always identify \u201cnow\u201d but \u201clater\u201d never seems to arrive).<\/p>\n

We use a central repository of simple hyperlinked files for our documentation. Everyone on the team has access to read and update these. Did someone change the configuration on a server? Update the documentation. Did someone find a good solution to a reoccurring problem? Update the documentation. Did something change on our daily, weekly, monthly or yearly maintenance schedule? Yep, update the documentation.<\/p>\n

Our weekly get-togethers and our sharing of knowledge ensures continuity of operation should there be staff turnover. And yes, I do have that documentation automatically backed up each night just in case someone electronically loses some of it.<\/p>\n

4\/ Motivation and rewards<\/h3>\n

Finally, to close the loop, be sure to reward people when they do their job well! Where I work, part of our compensation is in the form of quarterly bonuses. This is a great practice and really helps out with this piece. If your organization doesn\u2019t do that, think of something you can implement that goes beyond the yearly performance review. That by itself is never enough.<\/p>\n

Maybe you can get gift cards that you hand out for a job well done. Have a Pizza Party or bring donuts one day. Give them a certificate for a long lunch or an extra 15 minutes on their break. Whatever you do, you need to have some form of public recognition to let them know you see they are doing their job. Little things can make a big difference and make for a positive work environment.<\/p>\n

Remember, \u201cWhat gets measured and rewarded gets done<\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","topic-msp-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n4 best practices for running your IT department - N-able<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 best practices for running your IT department - N-able\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"N-able\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-17T21:57:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-31T21:59:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/share-image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"N-able\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Nable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Nable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"N-able\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4\u00a0Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"N-able\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b\"},\"headline\":\"4 best practices for running your IT department\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-17T22:57:10+01:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-31T21:59:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\"},\"wordCount\":830,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"MSP Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"de\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\",\"name\":\"4 best practices for running your IT department - N-able\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-17T22:57:10+01:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-31T21:59:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"MSP Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/category\/msp-business\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"4 best practices for running your IT department\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\",\"name\":\"N-able\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"de\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#organization\",\"name\":\"N-able\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg\",\"width\":\"1024\",\"height\":\"1024\",\"caption\":\"N-able\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Nable\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/n-able\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UClnp77HHg4aME-S-3fWQhFw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b\",\"name\":\"N-able\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"N-able\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"4 best practices for running your IT department - N-able","description":"Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"4 best practices for running your IT department - N-able","og_description":"Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department","og_site_name":"N-able","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP","article_published_time":"2016-08-17T21:57:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-31T21:59:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/share-image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"N-able","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Nable","twitter_site":"@Nable","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"N-able","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"4\u00a0Minuten"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department"},"author":{"name":"N-able","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b"},"headline":"4 best practices for running your IT department","datePublished":"2016-08-17T22:57:10+01:00","dateModified":"2021-03-31T21:59:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department"},"wordCount":830,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#organization"},"articleSection":["MSP Business"],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department","name":"4 best practices for running your IT department - N-able","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-17T22:57:10+01:00","dateModified":"2021-03-31T21:59:01+00:00","description":"Running your own IT department can be a challenge, Dan Toth shares 4 best practice ideas to help make things a bit easier.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/4-best-practices-running-your-it-department#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"MSP Business","item":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/category\/msp-business"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"4 best practices for running your IT department"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#website","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de","name":"N-able","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#organization","name":"N-able","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg","width":"1024","height":"1024","caption":"N-able"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP","https:\/\/x.com\/Nable","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/n-able","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UClnp77HHg4aME-S-3fWQhFw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b","name":"N-able","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"N-able"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}