Today my topic is focusing on what the benefits of networking are. Several years ago I joined Linked In and connected with different individuals of whom I either knew of prior to the creation of this account and connect to those of whom I met along the way. Now I understand that people may only want to connect with people that they already know which is fine, however, that may not be enough to just connect to these people. I believe that the entire idea was to follow up with these individuals that you connect to since that is what the whole purpose of this social media business is all about.
We all want to connect to people for various reasons whether it's to help grow our business or pursue job opportunities. I'm one of those individuals who went beyond my comfort zone to join this online social media and have attended multiple events not only just to connect with people, but to learn something new every day while getting out there. So far I've met many different people, some who are entrepreneurs, others who are in transition, etc.
Now I understand that some people are busy with keeping up with their businesses and then there are some who are trying to get out there. During these tough economic times, there were also times that I was feeling like nothing was happening. In order for me to get through these winds of change, I would often turn to other people along the way in order to get through this and then I would give my time to the community to keep me going and focus on other people's needs for awhile. We can only do so much about what is going on right now in the world and can only hope that the leaders of this country are making their best efforts to help bring this country back on it's feet. What we can do however, is try helping each other out in the best way we know how. I've discovered this through introducing people to each other and volunteering my time within the community. Sure there were some things that I've never experienced before, however, if you know me well enough, that's never stopped me from accepting new challenges and it feels great each time I've allowed myself to step outside my comfort zone.
For example, I've been in the Information Technology field for approximately 10 years now and decided that there were some things that I could volunteer for out in the community to stay busy and to make me feel good about the things that I was working on. Along the way, I've met many different people that I've probably would not have had the chance to meet had I stayed within my comfort zone all of that entire time.
The one thing that comes to mind was a PC Refurbishing non profit organization that I signed up for within the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. What this program is based upon is local businesses within the area donating their pc equipment to this program. Volunteer PC technicians would assess the hardware parts as they come in from different organizations. They pull out the hard drives and wipe them with the Department of Defense wiping tool and replace any parts on the CPU that are not functioning. Occasionally, we receive laptop donations, however, sometimes the most challenging thing we face is not having enough hardware parts on the laptops themselves to put together a decent running laptop. We make the best of the situation.
Over the past year, I've spent countless hours giving my time to this group and have met many different technicians with remarkable skill sets. As a team, we have managed to combine our expertise and work together to come up with some fantastic results. These machines are then donated to people with disabilities. One of our technicians donates his time teaching a class on pc usage to these people and everyone enjoys his enthusiasm, kindness, and patience towards everyone. Henry managed to get acknowledged for all of his time and hard work that he puts into his role. This place can bring such an amazing transformation to each person who has the chance to volunteer something to the community. This happens to be better than dwelling on how that one past company let you go after so many years of loyalty that you had given to them. Believe me, I've spent a great deal of time listening attentively to these individuals and I understand what you have been going through.
Now is your chance to get out there and believe me when I say that you will get more out of everything when you give. This does not have to be anything extravagant, simply just introducing two people that might benefit from each other. One man had mentioned in a conversation that he felt that people around him didn't trust him enough to do his job. My question for him is what does he do to earn the trust of others? Volunteering is one of the many ways that you can do this if you are job seeking or for those that just started working somewhere, start proving to your employers what you can do for them and start earning their trust by being honest and true to yourself. After all, we need to start thinking, what can I bring to the table for these people?
We also have a mentor who starts out the new technicians with the guidelines for building machines, handling pickups of donated systems, and distributing them to the consumers when they come in with requests. His background is in eletrical engineering and he has truly demonstrated his compassion for helping other people and knows how to bring out the strengths in everyone that he teaches.
Also, I had mentioned Cleveland GiveCamp in my last blog and there is one additional recurring one that comes around every year. The American Diabetes Association fund raising event with Patti Clair. For anyone who is interested in volunteering, that event is very exciting to volunteer for in that it brings different healthcare organizations together for a good cause. Cleveland Clinic is a bronze sponsor of this event.
Committee members come up with very creative ideas for raising funds for this event. One example that stands out in my mind is with Stephanie Steirn's Fencing event that takes place exactly one weekend prior to the Step Out Walk that will be taking place this year on October 2nd. She has come up with many other creative ideas in both the past and the present.
Like Pat Lyden from the Suicide Prevention Education Alliance for Teens once said, "You Get What You Give". I believe I've also heard something similar along those lines from a movie titled, "Pay It Forward".
I hope to see that there will be more indivuduals taking the time to follow up with one another. Please take the time to reach out and go beyond just making contact connections on Linked IN. For when you start reaching out to others is when you will start seeing results. This doesn't happen overnight, it takes time.
One comment that I received when someone was trying to introduce themselves to a few people on here was, they don't know that particular individual. Well here is my take on this as well. I agree that people should introduce themselves properly first before trying to add another person on Linked IN. On the other end of the spectrum, if a person appears to be reaching out to connect and they are doing it appropriately, it may be a better idea to get yourself introduced by a mutual contact that you both know or taking the time to attend these networking events first and introduce yourself there. Now if you want to expand your network, then it might be a good idea to take the time to meet new people instead of just making assumptions about a person. That's part of the purpose of networking. Yes it's about who you know, however, it's also about getting to know those individuals that you might not know as well in order to find out who they are because that might be the person that gets you to a great lead. If you really think about it, when going to work for a company, it's imperative to get to know your team.
Until next blog.....
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Life Runs On Code
Today, I decided to emphasize the meaning behind the phrase, "Life Runs On Code". I first came upon this quote when I happened to win a t-shirt prize from Microsoft at one of the user group events that I attend often. Since the year 2001, I've started to notice more how life often depends on code. September 11th is a primary example of that. Many often refer to that as the "911" incident. Well as we all know that 911 was most often used as a call for emergency situations.
There are many books out there that have been written in mystery or what one would refer to as codes, such as "The Da Vinci Code as an example. Microsoft primarily uses the expression, "Life Runs On Code" to emphasize their Development Software Platforms. Sometimes codes have often been used throughout the course of history to send messages to individuals in the future of what to look for.
Last weekend from July 16 through 18th, I spent the weekend attending an event called "Cleveland GiveCamp" which was a very interesting hands on opportunity. The event was very significant in that it brought together 21 non profit organizations and many volunteers within the Information Technology Industry to help support a great cause. 21 of these non profit organizations ranging from a Fire Department to a Suicide Prevention Alliance Education group were there anxiously awaiting for web developers, database administrators, and project managers to form into a team in the hopes of creating a new website or making improvements to existing ones.
What turned out to be special about this particular event is that all of these non profit organizations were given a team of experts to volunteer their time for 54 hours to bring ideas to the table. Each team had a diverse group ranging from college students to experienced IT Professionals each coming together to show great team spirit. I truly enjoyed myself as I stepped up to a new challenge of working with things that I've never worked with in the past. Word Press suddenly became the next cool thing to look into. Several of the men and women were either attending or recent graduates from Case Western University, while others were graduates from Akron and Kent. Each individual within the group brought their own enthusiasm and strengths to this team which is something that has not been seen in awhile.
I had met Pat Lyden, the Executive Director for SPEA and she seemed to be thrilled to have improvements made to their website. Most of the content that was originally on it was not targeted towards the specific audience that she wanted this to be focused on. After enhancements were made to this website, the content was more focused on teens. Our entire team worked diligently and carefully to make every possible improvement that was necessary to make this website stand out and be more easily found.
Here is the compliment that she made specifically about our team:
" RE: A Million Thanks!!!
Dear Mary, Doreen, Mike, Tom, David, Ben and Scott,
What a weekend! WOW!
I hope that you are rested after our Give Camp marathon. I can’t thank you enough for devoting your weekend to building a new website for SPEA!!!
I feel enormously blessed to have been selected by Give Camp, and to have had each of you on my Team. Each of you made a huge contribution and you worked tirelessly on SPEA’s behalf. Our website is BEAUTIFUL and it is quite sophisticated. I absolutely love it, and I know that it will transform the way that SPEA does business. Our fundraising will be transformed, thanks to the visual appeal of the site, its ability to interact with Facebook, its Newsletter sign-up function and its five ways to donate online: Into the Light Walk, Links for Life registration/donation, Honor a Loved One, Fund Our Greatest Need and Create a Personal Fundraising Page.
Scott, the design is beautiful! Mary, I’m so happy that our Facebook is cool looking now and thanks to Tom is connected to our site in a cool way.
Doreen, Mike, Tom, Ben and David, you did an amazing job of programming. I am in awe!
A Million Thanks!
Most gratefully,
Pat
Ms Pat Lyden
Executive Director
Suicide Prevention Education Alliance (SPEA)
Sunday was the last day of the event when it was time to wrap up these projects and each team was ready to present the tools they used to make very creative websites or make the existing website that a non profit organization had to make it stand out and more unique. After our presenter gave his presentation, Pat immediately went up to the microphone and said, "This is the best team that I ever worked with" and the feeling behind what she said was great.
As all of the photographers went around the room over the entire weekend snapping all of their pictures to showcase each person's talent, they managed to put together a fabulous and fun youtube video to capture the entire 3 day event and all of the hard work that went into it.
Our entire team got a gracious thank you from Pat Lyden on both facebook and via email when she wanted to make sure that everyone had the final steps working in motion. I'm glad that I had the chance to take on this new challenge and learn some unique features of Word Press and the detail steps of modifying a website.
I will always remember Pat Lyden's quote: "You Get What You Give."
Next week, I will blog about the existing project that I am working on with a colleague which is setting up a software accounting package. More details to come.......
One last thing, I forgot to mention that last month, my cousin Kelli Stack who is a former Silver Medalist Olympian had been visiting the Cleveland Indians Stadium, made a pitch, and was excited to be signing autographs for her fans. She had posted some very interesting blogs while she made her trip up to Vancouver this past year for the 2010 Olympics as an Ice Hockey Player. I've been very proud of her accomplishments as well.
There are many books out there that have been written in mystery or what one would refer to as codes, such as "The Da Vinci Code as an example. Microsoft primarily uses the expression, "Life Runs On Code" to emphasize their Development Software Platforms. Sometimes codes have often been used throughout the course of history to send messages to individuals in the future of what to look for.
Last weekend from July 16 through 18th, I spent the weekend attending an event called "Cleveland GiveCamp" which was a very interesting hands on opportunity. The event was very significant in that it brought together 21 non profit organizations and many volunteers within the Information Technology Industry to help support a great cause. 21 of these non profit organizations ranging from a Fire Department to a Suicide Prevention Alliance Education group were there anxiously awaiting for web developers, database administrators, and project managers to form into a team in the hopes of creating a new website or making improvements to existing ones.
What turned out to be special about this particular event is that all of these non profit organizations were given a team of experts to volunteer their time for 54 hours to bring ideas to the table. Each team had a diverse group ranging from college students to experienced IT Professionals each coming together to show great team spirit. I truly enjoyed myself as I stepped up to a new challenge of working with things that I've never worked with in the past. Word Press suddenly became the next cool thing to look into. Several of the men and women were either attending or recent graduates from Case Western University, while others were graduates from Akron and Kent. Each individual within the group brought their own enthusiasm and strengths to this team which is something that has not been seen in awhile.
I had met Pat Lyden, the Executive Director for SPEA and she seemed to be thrilled to have improvements made to their website. Most of the content that was originally on it was not targeted towards the specific audience that she wanted this to be focused on. After enhancements were made to this website, the content was more focused on teens. Our entire team worked diligently and carefully to make every possible improvement that was necessary to make this website stand out and be more easily found.
Here is the compliment that she made specifically about our team:
" RE: A Million Thanks!!!
Dear Mary, Doreen, Mike, Tom, David, Ben and Scott,
What a weekend! WOW!
I hope that you are rested after our Give Camp marathon. I can’t thank you enough for devoting your weekend to building a new website for SPEA!!!
I feel enormously blessed to have been selected by Give Camp, and to have had each of you on my Team. Each of you made a huge contribution and you worked tirelessly on SPEA’s behalf. Our website is BEAUTIFUL and it is quite sophisticated. I absolutely love it, and I know that it will transform the way that SPEA does business. Our fundraising will be transformed, thanks to the visual appeal of the site, its ability to interact with Facebook, its Newsletter sign-up function and its five ways to donate online: Into the Light Walk, Links for Life registration/donation, Honor a Loved One, Fund Our Greatest Need and Create a Personal Fundraising Page.
Scott, the design is beautiful! Mary, I’m so happy that our Facebook is cool looking now and thanks to Tom is connected to our site in a cool way.
Doreen, Mike, Tom, Ben and David, you did an amazing job of programming. I am in awe!
A Million Thanks!
Most gratefully,
Pat
Ms Pat Lyden
Executive Director
Suicide Prevention Education Alliance (SPEA)
Sunday was the last day of the event when it was time to wrap up these projects and each team was ready to present the tools they used to make very creative websites or make the existing website that a non profit organization had to make it stand out and more unique. After our presenter gave his presentation, Pat immediately went up to the microphone and said, "This is the best team that I ever worked with" and the feeling behind what she said was great.
As all of the photographers went around the room over the entire weekend snapping all of their pictures to showcase each person's talent, they managed to put together a fabulous and fun youtube video to capture the entire 3 day event and all of the hard work that went into it.
Our entire team got a gracious thank you from Pat Lyden on both facebook and via email when she wanted to make sure that everyone had the final steps working in motion. I'm glad that I had the chance to take on this new challenge and learn some unique features of Word Press and the detail steps of modifying a website.
I will always remember Pat Lyden's quote: "You Get What You Give."
Next week, I will blog about the existing project that I am working on with a colleague which is setting up a software accounting package. More details to come.......
One last thing, I forgot to mention that last month, my cousin Kelli Stack who is a former Silver Medalist Olympian had been visiting the Cleveland Indians Stadium, made a pitch, and was excited to be signing autographs for her fans. She had posted some very interesting blogs while she made her trip up to Vancouver this past year for the 2010 Olympics as an Ice Hockey Player. I've been very proud of her accomplishments as well.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Achievements
Achievements are something that everyone should try to pursue. Does not matter what type of achievement it is, whether it's small or huge, as long as it makes a positive difference.
Over the past year, I can honestly say that there were some changes that I went through with this economy being tough. There were some small achievements that I accomplished along the way that made me feel that I could extend beyond my comfort zone. There are different ways that I have managed to think outside the box just to meet different business professionals that I never had the opportunity to meet before while constantly working.
For example, I had the opportunity to network more and not just within the Greater PC User's Group, I also became familiar with other groups such as the Northeast Ohio SPIN, Information Security Systems Association, and the Northeast Ohio Think Tank Group.
I've attended numerous webcasts, participated in all of these monthly events that focus on the future of the Information Technology World that seems to centralize around Virtualization and not just with one vendor. This is coming from different vendors.
Just on a side note, I started to notice a relative of mine's growing into a leaderhip role within this community as well. For the past several years, she made big accomplishments in this world with achieving her Gold Medals for the World Championships, then a Silver Medal at the 2010 World Olympics in the US Women's Ice Hockey Team. When a former manager of mine suggested that I get in front of as many people as I can, I never realized that it would be down at Progressive Field standing in line waiting for this cousin to start signing autographs.
Yes if you find yourself related to someone famous, be prepared to have a crowd surround you with questions about them. With 80 family and friends gathered on one side of the ballpark, it was very impressive to watch this young athlete throw her first pitch to the Mascot of the Cleveland Indians. I can honestly say, that the Indians could use her help right now.
Anyway, back to focusing on the future. Some people might say that we need to focus on the here and now, but we must be able to focus on what will unfold in the near future, otherwise, these other countries will start becoming more advanced than we are right at this moment.
There are some new things that I would like to focus on right now in order to think outside of the box once again. There is a need to step outside this comfort zone and more than one person needs to do this, otherwise, we could find ourselves behind the times.
Over the past year, I can honestly say that there were some changes that I went through with this economy being tough. There were some small achievements that I accomplished along the way that made me feel that I could extend beyond my comfort zone. There are different ways that I have managed to think outside the box just to meet different business professionals that I never had the opportunity to meet before while constantly working.
For example, I had the opportunity to network more and not just within the Greater PC User's Group, I also became familiar with other groups such as the Northeast Ohio SPIN, Information Security Systems Association, and the Northeast Ohio Think Tank Group.
I've attended numerous webcasts, participated in all of these monthly events that focus on the future of the Information Technology World that seems to centralize around Virtualization and not just with one vendor. This is coming from different vendors.
Just on a side note, I started to notice a relative of mine's growing into a leaderhip role within this community as well. For the past several years, she made big accomplishments in this world with achieving her Gold Medals for the World Championships, then a Silver Medal at the 2010 World Olympics in the US Women's Ice Hockey Team. When a former manager of mine suggested that I get in front of as many people as I can, I never realized that it would be down at Progressive Field standing in line waiting for this cousin to start signing autographs.
Yes if you find yourself related to someone famous, be prepared to have a crowd surround you with questions about them. With 80 family and friends gathered on one side of the ballpark, it was very impressive to watch this young athlete throw her first pitch to the Mascot of the Cleveland Indians. I can honestly say, that the Indians could use her help right now.
Anyway, back to focusing on the future. Some people might say that we need to focus on the here and now, but we must be able to focus on what will unfold in the near future, otherwise, these other countries will start becoming more advanced than we are right at this moment.
There are some new things that I would like to focus on right now in order to think outside of the box once again. There is a need to step outside this comfort zone and more than one person needs to do this, otherwise, we could find ourselves behind the times.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Chasing the Olympic Dream, my cousin Kelli Stack
I thought that it was about time to update my blog to let people know how things are going right now. As some of you may have found out, I managed to find an IT Project and so far have found it to be very interesting. This is a big learning curve for me in the IT area, however, I'm enjoying every minute of it and have been informed that I'm doing very well which is nice to hear.
Also, this week starts the Winter Olympics 2010 and I get to hear wonderful things about this cousin of mine, Kelli Stack who is currently playing a forward on the Women's US Hockey Team. For the past 2 years, she has helped this team achieve an outstanding winning status with several goals which earned them 2 Gold Medals at previous games over the last several years.
I got to hear how Kelli enjoyed the opening ceremonies and she gets to play her first game on Sunday, February 14th at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I'm very proud of her mainly because I know that she is very passionate about her career. This has been her dream ever since she was a little girl and I myself had a similar dream of being on the ice with figure skating but I later found my passion in IT. Interestingly enough, I had the opportunity of winning several times over the course of last year different things and the one that surprised me the most was the opportunity for private ice skating lessons with a former Olympian Silver Medalist. Just for fun, I will schedule that and see how I do with it since it's been quite some time that I have been on the ice myself. That was probably the most interesting time that I had was when I was taking lessons and felt really good gliding around on the ice.
Another interesting thing is that this has been quite an "ice breaker". Being able to go to some of these networking events and casually mention the Olympics and non chalantly mention that there is a relative that I am aware of who is currently going to be in this special event. Just to see interesting by standers raise their eyebrows in surprise at the news. The smiles on people's faces just to hear something like that and the fact that this is a young and successful woman.
Just the idea that when you find what you are most passionate about, is where you will end up succeeding. If you hate what you are doing, things will be tougher. If you love what you are doing, it makes all the difference in the world. Only liking half of what you are doing can also be a big challenge. It's imperative to research everything involved with the career path you choose before jumping in.
The idea here is not about the fame or the money involved with Kelli's career. It's all about her enthusiasm, her hard work, and what she is most passionate about that has made her the successful person that she is today. This has nothing to do with age, money, and not even fame: this is all about what you find that you are most passionate about in life. If you love to take care of people, you can be a nurse or a doctor. If you love to solve mysteries, you can pursue the type of career that involves what you are best at doing.
Anyway, just some things to think about as I enjoy watching some of these games and continue to explore opportunities.
Also, this week starts the Winter Olympics 2010 and I get to hear wonderful things about this cousin of mine, Kelli Stack who is currently playing a forward on the Women's US Hockey Team. For the past 2 years, she has helped this team achieve an outstanding winning status with several goals which earned them 2 Gold Medals at previous games over the last several years.
I got to hear how Kelli enjoyed the opening ceremonies and she gets to play her first game on Sunday, February 14th at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I'm very proud of her mainly because I know that she is very passionate about her career. This has been her dream ever since she was a little girl and I myself had a similar dream of being on the ice with figure skating but I later found my passion in IT. Interestingly enough, I had the opportunity of winning several times over the course of last year different things and the one that surprised me the most was the opportunity for private ice skating lessons with a former Olympian Silver Medalist. Just for fun, I will schedule that and see how I do with it since it's been quite some time that I have been on the ice myself. That was probably the most interesting time that I had was when I was taking lessons and felt really good gliding around on the ice.
Another interesting thing is that this has been quite an "ice breaker". Being able to go to some of these networking events and casually mention the Olympics and non chalantly mention that there is a relative that I am aware of who is currently going to be in this special event. Just to see interesting by standers raise their eyebrows in surprise at the news. The smiles on people's faces just to hear something like that and the fact that this is a young and successful woman.
Just the idea that when you find what you are most passionate about, is where you will end up succeeding. If you hate what you are doing, things will be tougher. If you love what you are doing, it makes all the difference in the world. Only liking half of what you are doing can also be a big challenge. It's imperative to research everything involved with the career path you choose before jumping in.
The idea here is not about the fame or the money involved with Kelli's career. It's all about her enthusiasm, her hard work, and what she is most passionate about that has made her the successful person that she is today. This has nothing to do with age, money, and not even fame: this is all about what you find that you are most passionate about in life. If you love to take care of people, you can be a nurse or a doctor. If you love to solve mysteries, you can pursue the type of career that involves what you are best at doing.
Anyway, just some things to think about as I enjoy watching some of these games and continue to explore opportunities.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
A Career is something one is passionate about
This week, I'm going to focus on something a little different. I did not get much of an opportunity to get out to events last week and spent most of it working on leads. Instead, I would like to discuss some of the things that places like the One Stop centers have been trying to communicate to those individuals that are currently in transition.
Whether you are pursuing a specific career or starting up a business keep in mind what your vision is. Some people that I have met in the past may often fail in a particular industry simply because their passion for it was not there. In my entire career as an IT Professional, I spent a great deal of time servicing my customers whether it was the company that I was providing my valued services to or speaking with end users over the phone. Over the course of time, I learned to embrace the customer's needs. This was something that I worked on improving over the years as I learned how to communicate effectively with people with different points of view.
For example, in one place where they frequently had new rollouts and upgrades on systems, people would call in frequently trying to figure out the configuration settings. Not only did I spend the time walking them through what they originally called in about, I would also go over some other items with them using a check list to make sure other things were working properly. My reasoning behind this was so they would not have to make repeated callbacks throughout the entire day which normally disrupts their time if they have to do that. They really appreciated it whenever I spent just an extra amount of time with them just to ensure that everything else was working properly on the new setup. They would specifically remember my name whenever they called in for future services just because I would take that extra amount of time with them.
There used to be a time when this one woman that worked on one of our teams tended to focus more on the quantity instead of the quality of the work. She would often say that she did a certain amount of work compared to everyone else. I simply stayed focused on my own work to pay too much attention to her squabblings. There was one person in a leadership role that had challenged her when she first started the position by asking her the following question. "Yes I see that you did take these many calls but what I want to know is what you did to help them?" Of course the woman was a bit taken aback by this question and it was obvious that she didn't like to be challenged on things. She was a very intelligent person with a strong technical background but she managed to be lacking on the soft skills. The leader strongly emphasized, "Keep in mind that these people come to us for help, and instead of racing other people to push these people off the phone, spend just a little more time with them."
This was the same place where we as technical support reps were given the opportunity to earn some certifications including the widely popular HDI, Help Desk Institute certification. I decided to pursue that opportunity even though I planned on eventually advancing in my career. The woman that headed up that program for us, went to great strides in helping us learn the program and achieving our certifications. After that, I happened to be one of the first ones who had taken my test and earned that HDI certification. Later on, I learned about a group that meets quite often, the HDI group. Later on down the road, it was because of this person that I had known that I was able to make a good networking connection to some other individuals. Having the certification opened doors for me as well.
The same thing goes for selling your clients a product that you may not know how to support. For example, one place used to give out these devices to their users and if there was ever a problem with it, they were faced with calling in only to be told that this company does not support it. That was a safe way for the technicians who were giving this product away to cover themselves without having to say it's never been tested to see how it works in their environment. What would have been a better approach is to give them the number to the vendor that does support that product because someone has to support it if they allowed their users to have it. What I would do is take the time to find out what the root cause of the problem was and take steps to research information on this specific product and then document it. I can understand that it could be time consuming to walk a client through it but why give a product away and then not support it?
Valuable knowledge is key along with taking the time to ensure that the client is taken care of because that's what ensures that you will stay marketable and employed within this industry. If one lacks either of these passions, then they are going to have a difficult time with being in this industry . If they just see dollar signs when transitioning into this career, then they will only be disappointed. Also keep in mind that whatever you learn from the textbook is only a part of the entire picture. Each company has a different environment to adapt to. Whether you have the motivation and drive to learn that environment is what will make you either succeeed or fail.
When presenting your star stories during the interview, keep in mind what you brought to a former company's environment that helped them achieve their goals as a company. Their environment may be different from the past company you worked for, however, if you can emphasize in your star stories how you helped them to achieve the specific goal they were striving for, that's when you will be able to show them how well you can adapt to their environment. When asking them questions about what they need, use your existing skill sets that match what they are looking for to provide them with what you can offer them, then provide the star story example. Provide in this story what was going on in that particular environment and what you did to resolve that issue. The story itself doesn't have to be super heroic, it just needs to demonstrate how well you think on your feet to meet the needs of a specific environment.
One last thing, don't spend a great deal of time focusing on who's right or wrong. Instead, meet that other person half way.
Whether you are pursuing a specific career or starting up a business keep in mind what your vision is. Some people that I have met in the past may often fail in a particular industry simply because their passion for it was not there. In my entire career as an IT Professional, I spent a great deal of time servicing my customers whether it was the company that I was providing my valued services to or speaking with end users over the phone. Over the course of time, I learned to embrace the customer's needs. This was something that I worked on improving over the years as I learned how to communicate effectively with people with different points of view.
For example, in one place where they frequently had new rollouts and upgrades on systems, people would call in frequently trying to figure out the configuration settings. Not only did I spend the time walking them through what they originally called in about, I would also go over some other items with them using a check list to make sure other things were working properly. My reasoning behind this was so they would not have to make repeated callbacks throughout the entire day which normally disrupts their time if they have to do that. They really appreciated it whenever I spent just an extra amount of time with them just to ensure that everything else was working properly on the new setup. They would specifically remember my name whenever they called in for future services just because I would take that extra amount of time with them.
There used to be a time when this one woman that worked on one of our teams tended to focus more on the quantity instead of the quality of the work. She would often say that she did a certain amount of work compared to everyone else. I simply stayed focused on my own work to pay too much attention to her squabblings. There was one person in a leadership role that had challenged her when she first started the position by asking her the following question. "Yes I see that you did take these many calls but what I want to know is what you did to help them?" Of course the woman was a bit taken aback by this question and it was obvious that she didn't like to be challenged on things. She was a very intelligent person with a strong technical background but she managed to be lacking on the soft skills. The leader strongly emphasized, "Keep in mind that these people come to us for help, and instead of racing other people to push these people off the phone, spend just a little more time with them."
This was the same place where we as technical support reps were given the opportunity to earn some certifications including the widely popular HDI, Help Desk Institute certification. I decided to pursue that opportunity even though I planned on eventually advancing in my career. The woman that headed up that program for us, went to great strides in helping us learn the program and achieving our certifications. After that, I happened to be one of the first ones who had taken my test and earned that HDI certification. Later on, I learned about a group that meets quite often, the HDI group. Later on down the road, it was because of this person that I had known that I was able to make a good networking connection to some other individuals. Having the certification opened doors for me as well.
The same thing goes for selling your clients a product that you may not know how to support. For example, one place used to give out these devices to their users and if there was ever a problem with it, they were faced with calling in only to be told that this company does not support it. That was a safe way for the technicians who were giving this product away to cover themselves without having to say it's never been tested to see how it works in their environment. What would have been a better approach is to give them the number to the vendor that does support that product because someone has to support it if they allowed their users to have it. What I would do is take the time to find out what the root cause of the problem was and take steps to research information on this specific product and then document it. I can understand that it could be time consuming to walk a client through it but why give a product away and then not support it?
Valuable knowledge is key along with taking the time to ensure that the client is taken care of because that's what ensures that you will stay marketable and employed within this industry. If one lacks either of these passions, then they are going to have a difficult time with being in this industry . If they just see dollar signs when transitioning into this career, then they will only be disappointed. Also keep in mind that whatever you learn from the textbook is only a part of the entire picture. Each company has a different environment to adapt to. Whether you have the motivation and drive to learn that environment is what will make you either succeeed or fail.
When presenting your star stories during the interview, keep in mind what you brought to a former company's environment that helped them achieve their goals as a company. Their environment may be different from the past company you worked for, however, if you can emphasize in your star stories how you helped them to achieve the specific goal they were striving for, that's when you will be able to show them how well you can adapt to their environment. When asking them questions about what they need, use your existing skill sets that match what they are looking for to provide them with what you can offer them, then provide the star story example. Provide in this story what was going on in that particular environment and what you did to resolve that issue. The story itself doesn't have to be super heroic, it just needs to demonstrate how well you think on your feet to meet the needs of a specific environment.
One last thing, don't spend a great deal of time focusing on who's right or wrong. Instead, meet that other person half way.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
working in a team
There were many years that I was involved with a Team of IT Professionals. What is most imperative in any team oriented environment is being able to form a trusted relationship with each of your Team Members. You want to build a positive atmosphere so that it makes a fun and professional environment. Over the years, I have seen teams on both sides of the spectrum , there may have always been one or two extremely negative people trying to influence things in a different way. What I have learned is that those individuals often have some insecurity going on with them and decide to project that onto others so it's best to let those negative remarks slide but do something to try to make it a positive approach.
First off, in order to be trusted as a Team Member it's imperative to be a positive influence over others meaning you want to ensure that all team members are going to learn what they need to learn and grow within the atmosphere. This is not to say that everyone is not going to have their good days and bad days. Several things to stay away from if you want to be a respected team member:
1. Never gossip or complain about a person behind their back. This always leaves room for people not trusting you and even if you have very valuable information to offer, it might turn on deaf ears because of anything said that might be viewed as putting down another person. Keep in mind that everyone is at different levels of knowledge and unless that person does not express any interest in what they are currently doing, it's imperative to find out some things first before jumping to conclusions.
2. Never assume anything about Team Members. Having an open line of communication is important with them. For example, if I happened to know something valuable about a certain process or fix, I would share that information for anyone who is interested. If I was not sure of the information's validity, then I would take the time to research into it. That's what I love to do.
3. Everyone's learning curve is a little different. Some may take a little longer than others and it's imperative to be patient with them when in a technical support role.
4. If faced with a situation where a customer is calling into complain about something and one specific person is mentioned, take the time to quickly apologize about the situation without putting down that other team member. After the call, then it would be appropriate to approach the other team member to inform them of the situation but it's best to do it in a way where they understand that you are really helping them.
One prime example is of a person who approaches another team member who may be venting about management or someone else. You're better off refraining from those complaints so this person feels comfortable approaching you instead of feeling that you are not approachable. It's often better to take your concerns to management directly so that everyone feels like there really is a team and not this big division. While nothing is perfect and everyone has their good and bad days, you want to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
5. Helping others out in a team is very important instead of leaving some hanging. If I'm helping out in a team, then I also expect to be helped out as well during peak times. Make it a two way street and not a one way street where only certain members of it can call the shots. I think that it's imperative for everyone to have a role on the team and maybe a specialty that they can bring to the team.
6. Don't pretend to know something that you may not really know. I prefer it when someone is eager to learn something new and can honestly admit when they are stumped about something. It's often best to find someone on the team to ask questions about a certain process instead of wasting time trying to figure something out or trying to bluff it.
I'll never forget a time where I was very interested in helping the team out with this new automated fix. There was something going out in the field where the clients would call in because their paint mixing system reached a halt as soon as they started pouring the mix. Another former team member had researched into the situation with a 3rd party vendor and it had been discovered that there was what is known as a serial mouse issue. Most of the devices that connected to the CPU unit were using serial ports to connect. Paint Mixing is a very precise procedure so it must be done with great care. What was happening is that the Microsoft Serial mouse was detecting the serial ports at the same time that the mix was taking place and it would disconnect the paint scale. There was a registry fix for this and the other team member provided that information. I decided to go a step further to consider the following:
1. Save money for the company
2. Save time on the phones for other team members
3. Save clients peace of mind that the fix would be conducted properly
Now there were several choices we had: Since there was no remote assistance at the time: walk clients through registry fix which I felt would make them feel uncomfortable, have them ship the CPU unit into the local branch office of this company (expensive shipping costs), and not to mention, waiting for that CPU to take up to 3 days to ship in.
So based on the advice that I had heard at several different Team Lead meetings to "think outside the box", I decided to brainstorm, research, and test out the solution. I had thought about a previous company and how they had handled their deployment issues with upgrading their software. Since most clients with the exception of a few with a large network infrastructure, I decided to automate the process. In most cases, Microsoft would have a Windows patch but I had to think that most of these clients did not have internet access and we did not support it at this company.
I spent time going over it with a few managers and this other team member and was given advice to take the time to test it on some systems there that were setup for a testing environment. So I went ahead with it and after getting the approval, as soon as more calls starting coming in, I went ahead and started sharing with team members the fix. The best way to get this out there was to have this file copied to a CD and then send out to the client. The walk through went much more smoothly because it only required a double click on the file instead of this 6 step process which in my opinion could produce negative results. Clients felt relieved that it did not take nearly as long to fix and that the fix was permanent. This fix was already added to the current images that resided on the servers, however, this fix needed to be addressed to images no longer stored on the servers.
After several months when they carefully observed things, they decided to give me another opportunity to learn how to put together these images on the next rollout and it was a very exciting process.
There are several other examples, but I'm saving those for other blogs, I just thought that I would share what I feel is important in a team environment. Keeping things positive and an open line of communication as well as respecting each other's strengths is very important to team growth.
First off, in order to be trusted as a Team Member it's imperative to be a positive influence over others meaning you want to ensure that all team members are going to learn what they need to learn and grow within the atmosphere. This is not to say that everyone is not going to have their good days and bad days. Several things to stay away from if you want to be a respected team member:
1. Never gossip or complain about a person behind their back. This always leaves room for people not trusting you and even if you have very valuable information to offer, it might turn on deaf ears because of anything said that might be viewed as putting down another person. Keep in mind that everyone is at different levels of knowledge and unless that person does not express any interest in what they are currently doing, it's imperative to find out some things first before jumping to conclusions.
2. Never assume anything about Team Members. Having an open line of communication is important with them. For example, if I happened to know something valuable about a certain process or fix, I would share that information for anyone who is interested. If I was not sure of the information's validity, then I would take the time to research into it. That's what I love to do.
3. Everyone's learning curve is a little different. Some may take a little longer than others and it's imperative to be patient with them when in a technical support role.
4. If faced with a situation where a customer is calling into complain about something and one specific person is mentioned, take the time to quickly apologize about the situation without putting down that other team member. After the call, then it would be appropriate to approach the other team member to inform them of the situation but it's best to do it in a way where they understand that you are really helping them.
One prime example is of a person who approaches another team member who may be venting about management or someone else. You're better off refraining from those complaints so this person feels comfortable approaching you instead of feeling that you are not approachable. It's often better to take your concerns to management directly so that everyone feels like there really is a team and not this big division. While nothing is perfect and everyone has their good and bad days, you want to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
5. Helping others out in a team is very important instead of leaving some hanging. If I'm helping out in a team, then I also expect to be helped out as well during peak times. Make it a two way street and not a one way street where only certain members of it can call the shots. I think that it's imperative for everyone to have a role on the team and maybe a specialty that they can bring to the team.
6. Don't pretend to know something that you may not really know. I prefer it when someone is eager to learn something new and can honestly admit when they are stumped about something. It's often best to find someone on the team to ask questions about a certain process instead of wasting time trying to figure something out or trying to bluff it.
I'll never forget a time where I was very interested in helping the team out with this new automated fix. There was something going out in the field where the clients would call in because their paint mixing system reached a halt as soon as they started pouring the mix. Another former team member had researched into the situation with a 3rd party vendor and it had been discovered that there was what is known as a serial mouse issue. Most of the devices that connected to the CPU unit were using serial ports to connect. Paint Mixing is a very precise procedure so it must be done with great care. What was happening is that the Microsoft Serial mouse was detecting the serial ports at the same time that the mix was taking place and it would disconnect the paint scale. There was a registry fix for this and the other team member provided that information. I decided to go a step further to consider the following:
1. Save money for the company
2. Save time on the phones for other team members
3. Save clients peace of mind that the fix would be conducted properly
Now there were several choices we had: Since there was no remote assistance at the time: walk clients through registry fix which I felt would make them feel uncomfortable, have them ship the CPU unit into the local branch office of this company (expensive shipping costs), and not to mention, waiting for that CPU to take up to 3 days to ship in.
So based on the advice that I had heard at several different Team Lead meetings to "think outside the box", I decided to brainstorm, research, and test out the solution. I had thought about a previous company and how they had handled their deployment issues with upgrading their software. Since most clients with the exception of a few with a large network infrastructure, I decided to automate the process. In most cases, Microsoft would have a Windows patch but I had to think that most of these clients did not have internet access and we did not support it at this company.
I spent time going over it with a few managers and this other team member and was given advice to take the time to test it on some systems there that were setup for a testing environment. So I went ahead with it and after getting the approval, as soon as more calls starting coming in, I went ahead and started sharing with team members the fix. The best way to get this out there was to have this file copied to a CD and then send out to the client. The walk through went much more smoothly because it only required a double click on the file instead of this 6 step process which in my opinion could produce negative results. Clients felt relieved that it did not take nearly as long to fix and that the fix was permanent. This fix was already added to the current images that resided on the servers, however, this fix needed to be addressed to images no longer stored on the servers.
After several months when they carefully observed things, they decided to give me another opportunity to learn how to put together these images on the next rollout and it was a very exciting process.
There are several other examples, but I'm saving those for other blogs, I just thought that I would share what I feel is important in a team environment. Keeping things positive and an open line of communication as well as respecting each other's strengths is very important to team growth.
Local Seminars for Week of October 19th
Last week, there were several events that I attended were the following: First I attended a Board Meeting of the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group. I met with President Bert Boyd, Vice President Jim Evans, SIG Co Ordinator Karl Kuhn, and Treasurer Ed Biesiada last Monday evening to discuss the future events of The Greater Cleveland PC User's Group. Generally these Board meetings are held periodically to help drive the direction that this group is going in. Next General Meeting will take place on Saturday, November 14 at CSU between 9:30AM to 12:00PM. If interested in joining this group to receive some information on the latest in IT Technology, feel free to visit our website at http://gcpcug.org to find out more.
On Tuesday evening, Sam Nassir's SIG group WPF met at Beacon Hill Building in Independence where current SIG member, Sarah Dutkiewicz, gave an excellent presentation on Silverlight version 3.0. She has a blog with many different articles that can be found on http://www.codinggeekette.com. Following this presentation, a group gathered at Mavis Winkles afterwards to discuss many different things related to IT including the launch of Microsoft's latest operating system Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. Sam has another SIG group, C#/.NET meeting this Tuesday, October 27th from 6:30 to 8:00PM subject "Production Debugging". Also on Thursday, October 29th, Stephen Toub will be giving a presentation on Parallel PG MNG from 6:30 - 8:00PM.
On Wednesday, Bob Coppege, CIO of Simplex Technologies had speaker, Mark Geyman, of Ohio Biz gave a presentation on giving Small Businesses a strong marketing presence online with his extensive research and experience in Directory Business. After this event, I attended the Workforce Development event out in Twinsburg where various colleges and technical schools merged together to encourage individuals who maybe in transition to consider returning to school and get their degrees and certifications updated. Also featured at this event were assistance with healthcare finances, resume writing, job interview techniques, and different breakout sessions for those interested in getting into a specific field.
On Thursday, Avvenire Solutions, a company based out of Brecksville hosted an event in the morning at Microsoft Center giving presentations on the following: Windows 7 , Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Office 2010.
Saturday, there were several events. One being at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center held by The Brecksville Chamber of Commerce where several local businesses met to demonstrate what their businesses have to offer to the community. There was also a pancake breakfast to help raise funds for the Brecksville Community.
In the evening, Benedictine High School's German Club held their Octoberfest. Festivities included a festive meal, followed by music/dance, and a raffle. My family was pleased to participate in the event and were happy to win some outstanding prices including 2 free tickets to see the Cavs for next month.
That's the summary for the past week. Stay tuned for next weeks blog.
On Tuesday evening, Sam Nassir's SIG group WPF met at Beacon Hill Building in Independence where current SIG member, Sarah Dutkiewicz, gave an excellent presentation on Silverlight version 3.0. She has a blog with many different articles that can be found on http://www.codinggeekette.com. Following this presentation, a group gathered at Mavis Winkles afterwards to discuss many different things related to IT including the launch of Microsoft's latest operating system Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. Sam has another SIG group, C#/.NET meeting this Tuesday, October 27th from 6:30 to 8:00PM subject "Production Debugging". Also on Thursday, October 29th, Stephen Toub will be giving a presentation on Parallel PG MNG from 6:30 - 8:00PM.
On Wednesday, Bob Coppege, CIO of Simplex Technologies had speaker, Mark Geyman, of Ohio Biz gave a presentation on giving Small Businesses a strong marketing presence online with his extensive research and experience in Directory Business. After this event, I attended the Workforce Development event out in Twinsburg where various colleges and technical schools merged together to encourage individuals who maybe in transition to consider returning to school and get their degrees and certifications updated. Also featured at this event were assistance with healthcare finances, resume writing, job interview techniques, and different breakout sessions for those interested in getting into a specific field.
On Thursday, Avvenire Solutions, a company based out of Brecksville hosted an event in the morning at Microsoft Center giving presentations on the following: Windows 7 , Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Office 2010.
Saturday, there were several events. One being at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center held by The Brecksville Chamber of Commerce where several local businesses met to demonstrate what their businesses have to offer to the community. There was also a pancake breakfast to help raise funds for the Brecksville Community.
In the evening, Benedictine High School's German Club held their Octoberfest. Festivities included a festive meal, followed by music/dance, and a raffle. My family was pleased to participate in the event and were happy to win some outstanding prices including 2 free tickets to see the Cavs for next month.
That's the summary for the past week. Stay tuned for next weeks blog.
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