How To Get The Best IT Team In The Business: Fostering First Class Problem Solvers

While having a lot of knowledge is always a plus, it's not the most important thing for an IT professional. Inevitably you'll run into a problem you've never seen or heard of before and you'll be forced to rely not on your prior experience, but rather your problem solving skills to deal with it. Making sure that an IT team has the tools and training to deal with unforeseen issues is what ultimately will make it successful and what will keep your business running smoothly. Here are a few of the most important capabilities and skills to address.

Deductive Skills and Diagnostics

This is what's referred to as "the Knack" in this viral Dilbert clip. When an unknown problem arises, an IT professional needs to be able to figure out the cause of the immediate problem. They need to be able to understand how to categorize different types of problems and to link those issues to their most likely causes even if they've never encountered those specific issues before. That doesn't mean knowing immediately how to solve any problem; it's more about developing an intuition about where to start.

Scope and Decision Making

Once the problem is properly identified, IT needs the tools and the skills to deal with it appropriately. It's essential that staff be familiar with best practices and adhere to standard procedures so they won't immediately dive into implementing the first solution that pops into their heads. Ideally your business' ERP software has an integrated Configuration Management Database (CMDB) that your IT staff can consult to help them understand the scope of the impact that this issue has on your business. For example, if a router and a ...