Blueprint for an IT Team that will Scale with Your Business

IT LEADERSHIP SERIES: ISSUE 2

Find the right people, get them organized, and keep them happy

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As a business leader, you’ve learned firsthand that the cornerstone of any great team is the people. Without a

talented, committed team, it’s difficult — if not impossible — to meet your organizational goals.

That being said, the challenge for all leaders is to build teams that collectively will take a business to the next level.

And if you’re wondering, it’s not your imagination. It really is a little trickier to build a scalable team in IT.

That’s because it’s not just about finding people with the technical know-how required to build and maintain your systems.

With that in mind, here’s a blueprint to ensure that you have a team that can scale to match the needs of your business.

Leaders at all levels within IT need to be skilled in team-building and management to ensure a cohesive team is ready to continually grow to serve the mission-critical, ever-expanding role of IT.

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Step 1: Get the key roles on boardWhile all organizations differ based on your industry and size, there is general agreement on the essential roles. Early on, you may have one person handling multiple roles and, as you grow, there may be an entire team for each role (e.g. a manager plus multiple engineers/analysts). These roles will all report to a Director of IT, a CIO, or similar title.

⊲ Software engineerPrograms applications, manages systems and databases. Understands hardware and software.

⊲ Systems analystAssess business problems, provides gap analyses, anticipates project schedules and estimates time required to implement projects.

⊲ Business analystWorks with business and operations managers to gather requirements for technology investments.

⊲ Help desk supportResponds to end-user concerns. Front line of the team.

⊲ Network engineerImplements, administers and maintains networks.

Typically responsible for security and disaster recovery.

⊲ Application/information specialistDevelops and implements systems at all stages of the project.

⊲ IT project managerManages projects end-to-end. Organizes people and understands skill levels.

⊲ Web developerBuilds websites and manages the associated infrastructure. Can be a more creative role or a more technical role depending on organization.

⊲ Testing engineerTesting apps at every phase and in various use cases to anticipate and head off concerns.

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Finding people for these roles can be challenging — especially if you need people to fulfill multiple roles early on. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Tip 1: Set High StandardsAll too often, managers and business owners settle for “good enough” when it comes to hiring. A candidate might have strong skills in one area and need development in others. That’s okay. But if the minimum skills aren’t there, hold off on making that offer. Just because someone is available, or inexpensive, doesn’t mean it’s the right fit. You’ll be investing a lot in the beginning, so be sure it’s worth it.

You need to outline roles and make hiring decisions based on those standards, even if it means taking longer to find the right candidate — or paying a little more than you planned.

Tip 2: Hire for Both Technical Skills and Personality While it may seem so, personality and skills are not mutually exclusive. It might be tempting to hire someone who is brilliant technically but is lacking in the personality department, but before you do, consider the potential effect on the rest of your team.

Teams work best when individuals actually enjoy working together, and communicate effectively and easily.

Takeaway: When making hiring decisions, carve out 30 minutes of an interview to give the rest of the team an opportunity to meet and gauge the personality fit.

Tip 3: Be Willing to Let People Go Since it’s so hard to find good people, it can cause angst to let someone go. However, for the strength of your team, it’s important that you not only recognize when an individual is holding back the rest of the team through their attitude, poor performance, or other issues, but be willing to take action.

Almost 30% of companies report that it can take a year or longer for an employee to get up to full productivity.

- HR Bartender

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Tip 4: Keep UpskillingThere’s a saying that people who feel appreciated will always do more. Taking care of your team extends beyond offering a competitive salary and benefits (although those are important).

Your team wants to feel challenged and each member wants to feel on top of his/her game. Make sure they all have access to the latest training and certifications so they can keep learning.

Takeaway: ITProTV delivers high quality training that your team will actually want to watch. Hosts and subject matter experts interact and create a better-than-classroom learning experience that’s cost effective.

Step 2: Build the org chart and keep it handyIn the next step of the blueprint, let’s look at your organizational structure. There are many ways to approach your team organization. Mostly you’ll need a leader in systems, networks and business and have those folks report to you. This is a great time to

reach out to your network. Don’t be afraid to ask peer organizations for their org chart to see where you can gain efficiencies. While organizations mostly keep these close to the vest, a friend will likely be willing to anonymize it and give you a peek.

Takeaway: Call on IT colleagues in leadership roles and ask to see how their org chart looks.

While the sample depicted here is pretty common, you can check out tons of examples online to see which one best matches your needs.

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CIO

Network

Systems

Business

Equipment

Info Services

Help Desk

Once you build your org chart, check yourself. As a leader, how many people can you effectively manage? There is a lot of research on this topic. Around 5-6 is average (although there are some crazy outliers as high as 30). Given the complexities of IT, you’ll ideally want to be in that 5-6 range. If you’re over that, think through where you can layer some people. It will have a dual affect: it will take some stress off of you and start developing leaders on your team.

The maximum number of direct reports a person can effectively manage typically is less than six.

– Chief Executive Boards

Keep in mind that your org chart will never be ‘done.’ In today’s IT climate, it should be considered a living document. Expect that it will change as often as every six months. New certifications, resignations, promotions, and new hires will constantly be coming at you.

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Step 3: Retain to gainYou already know that retaining employees is key to your sanity. The good news is that your team is likely to stay loyal to your company as long as every member feels appreciated and valued. Your employees want to see that you’re investing in them. Nearly a third say training increases loyalty.

31% of employees say training and education opportunities increase loyalty.

– 2020 Workforce

Even though your business is on a growth curve, you may not be ready to promote a key team member. Nearly 75 percent of employees are at risk of leaving their organization due to a lack of opportunity to develop in your company. If you can’t move an employee up right away, you can keep upskilling that person as a retention method until a new opportunity opens up.

Nearly 75% are at risk of leaving because they lack development opportunities.

– Bonusly

As an IT leader, you’ll want to give employees access to training for all the major vendor certifications (e.g. CompTIA, Microsoft, Amazon, ITIL, Apple, Cisco, GSEC, EC-Council) and non-certified courses (e.g. general tech skills, Linux, Office 365, SysAdmin, Cybersecurity etc). You’ll also need to ensure that the training provided is current.

Takeaway: ITProTV adds new content every day to ensure your team is up to date.

Justifying spend is part of the role of a leader. Like everything else, expect that you’ll need to show ROI on your training program. Your chosen training partner should offer an online portal where you can set team and individual goals, assign due

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dates, see detailed metrics (e.g. viewing time) to prove the ROI of your training dollars. After all, just because you’re spending money on training doesn’t mean you’re getting the return that you need. Make sure your team is using the training with a convenient dashboard view.

Takeaway: Take a look at the ITProTV supervisor portal on a free demo today.

Let’s Get StartedBuilding and managing an IT team is challenging, but if you follow the blueprint, you’ll have a better shot at developing an IT team that will support your business growth long term. It starts with knowing the key roles you’ll need, organizing them, and then keeping your squad happy and productive with quality training.

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About ITProTVITProTV is an eLearning company that delivers engaging content to train IT professionals in every stage of their careers. With training that’s more like a talk show, you’ll watch your ‘edutainer’ engage with a host and an online audience to create a better-than-classroom experience that you’ll look forward to watching. Access 3,300 hours of friendly content, with new content added daily, plus practice exams and virtual labs. Flexible and cost-effective options are available for both corporate teams and individual learners. Learn on the go, at your desk, or wherever is most convenient. ITProTV delivers proven ROI on training to businesses and individual learners worldwide.

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