Keeping school devices up and running can be one of the most important tasks an IT technician can have. But, as Timothy Jaw says, it's not just about focusing on the practical side of IT. Attending to the human side of IT can also be a great help in establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships within a school environment.
Jaw, technology coordinator for the Warren Hills Regional School District in New Jersey, was recently honored with a Innovative Leader Award at a recent conference on technology and learning Regional Leadership Summit for his IT work.
Your call is very important to us
Dealing with customer service can be stressful for many, as it involves trying to resolve an issue or resolve a problem that you cannot resolve on your own. Sometimes you need to explain a problem to another living person, and this can lead to variable results depending on a number of factors. The most important thing is that you never know what kind of person you will be dealing with and whether your problem will be resolved or not.
Jaw maintains that the way to make the customer service approach work in an educational setting is to start by showing patience and understanding. Exhibiting qualities that characterize excellent customer service can be very helpful when others are looking for answers to their technical questions. With the amount of technology we use in schools, a single device that doesn't work can ruin an entire day. As Jaw says, showing empathy and compassion can go a long way.
“Start with me, right?” Jaw says. “If I don't behave with the level of patience, customer service, empathy and compassion that I expect the people who work in my department to show, then it's not going to work. The first step is to start with me and make sure I'm doing it. From there, when I bring people on board, we go over our values, talk about what's important to us, and try to come up with a set of shared values.”
Involving the people who come to work in IT from the beginning mitigates potential setbacks.
“It doesn't take much effort,” says Jaw. “If we are not there serving the people who work in the school community, what are we doing?”
Make customer service the standard
Customer service typically invokes images of business, not education. However, as Jaw says when asked how other schools and IT departments can follow suit in revamping their own offerings, changing a mindset costs nothing.
“I would say people are the most important thing,” Jaw says. “It is simply how we behave, how we communicate and how we operate that creates that success. It is not due to a system. It is not due to a product. It is what we do every day, who we are as people, and what we bring to the school community every day that makes the biggest difference. (If another school wanted to do the same thing) that's what I think will have the biggest impact.”
But what happens if a customer service-oriented mindset is rejected?
“Everyone has different experiences and different personalities,” Jaw says. “I think if we hope to have that level of understanding, patience and empathy toward the stakeholders we serve in the school community, then we should have it toward each other as well. When people are having a bad day or have something to do, I let my people know that I will take that call. I will help that person. I will make sure it is done the way we want the department to be perceived by the school community. “We support each other.”
Going the extra mile to help those in need, no matter what they're dealing with, can help an IT department go from a feared environment to the school superhero.
