How can you show your technical support team that they are valued?

A thank you goes a long way. It still astounds me when people say they are not used to being thanked or getting feedback. People need to know that what they are doing is having an impact and matters, they only know that if we recognise it.

Trust in your team members and nurture the creative thinking process! Break the "script" and think outside the box. Recognize contributions and achievements on a regular basis. and the biggest key "Learn from mistakes" - it's a fact mistakes happen. Employee's should not be afraid of mistakes but should learn from them to improve overall skillset and the business in general.

Complement their contributions and give them opportunity to contribute to the team in other areas of the technology giving them exposure to build their career.

Recognition goes a long way in shaping team culture and positively impacting overall dynamics and performance. Celebrate individual and team achievements. Recognize and appreciate your team members living up to your company values. Publicly acknowledge and reward outstanding performance for boosting morale and reinforcing positive behaviours. Team members go above and beyond daily to provide excellent employee service. Recognize agents on the spot, try to be creative, use different recognition methods, and acknowledge people at the department or company level. Use a department-level recognition that can be performance-driven through something like the 'Agent of the Month' award program based on a predefined metrics.

During my career I’ve seen managers inspire their teams by giving them credit for their contributions. A little recognition goes a long way and it doesn’t have to be expensive or take a lot of time. Team lunches or a break room get-together recognizing a member who went the extra mile on a project reenforces their talents to the team and enhances the energy and willingness to do more among their peers. Keeping it balanced so everyone’s work is hi-lighted over time is very important. I once worked for an organization whose managers awarded captioned T-shirts to members that achieved goals or performed well. Before long, everyone was clamoring to get their own T-shirt.

Appreciate everyone. Keep communicating in a positive manner. Keep encouraging. Keep the mood light. Teach assertive communication. Get involved into meetings when someone from your team requests for assistance. Try to have lunch, dinner at office together with the team, discuss things outside work and play games at office. Have fun.

With my team I scheduled a weekly meeting. We had our cameras on and we discussed our tasks for the week (future and past). I acknowledged their successes, while also making sure to take time to mentor as needed. One-on-one sessions where held monthly and these were with the camera on and left to discuss whatever was on their mind (work related or not).

Regular feedback sessions are great for a constructive avenue to recognize individual contributions, identify strengths, and address areas for growth. I hold weekly sessions with the entire team and monthly one on one sessions individually. I find this cadence fosters open communication without being too restrictive on time or unproductive.

Provide regular, constructive feedback to help them improve their skills and performance. Offer coaching sessions to guide them through complex issues and develop new skills. Encourage peer feedback and mentoring to foster a collaborative learning environment. Recognise and reward their achievements to boost their morale and motivation.

Training is important to always keep up on. Coaching is an opportunity for you to let your employees positive feedback or what can help them improve.

Innocent until proven guilty. Give your team autonomy as default. Coach where your expectations are not met, but do not default on over-managing. Balance the needs of the organization, with the fact that real life happens. The most important things in your team's life happen outside the four walls (or circles if you work for Oracle) of your organization. Acknowledge these facts. Your team has needs and so does the organization, Be transparent!

Allowing people to have more flexibility now more than ever is more attractive for employees, you see opportunities to work remotely for Network Admins, for DBAs, Developers and even for Systems Administrators but almost never for Technical support. All your technical support team members can do 98% their work remotely just like everyone else. If there are things to repair have them go only once a week to the office to fix anything that needs to be fix. Its safes money for the company and for the employee.

Provide regular feedback: Regular feedback is essential to let your technical support team know how they are performing and where they need to improve. Be specific with your feedback, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses,Recognize their achievements: Celebrate the successes of your technical support team by recognizing their achievements. This can be done through company-wide announcements, awards, or bonuses, and Offer opportunities for growth: Provide opportunities for your technical support team to learn new skills and advance in their careers. This can be done through training programs, mentorship, or promotions.

Granting your team autonomy shows trust, boosting their confidence and fostering ownership and responsibility. Start by allowing them to make decisions in areas they excel, then gradually expand their autonomy. Flexibility in work schedules promotes a healthier work-life balance. Modern ticket and project management tools streamline accountability, providing peace of mind for both employees and employers. This approach enhances productivity while ensuring team members can manage their workloads effectively.

Muchas veces las buenas ideas o las ideas más creatives salen de nuestro equipo técnico, por lo que siempre se debe tener un ambiente de autonómia y flexibidad, ya que esto también permite que puedan enfocar su tiempo en lo realmente importante y no solo en lo urgente y por ende tener mejores resultados.

The technical support team will usually be able to feel the pulse of customers. They will generally know how customers will react to changes made to the products that they support. Technical support teams should be involved in changes, innovation, and customer impacting decisions because they will likely be able to foresee issues and customer's frequently asked questions. Decision making that excludes the technical support teams often lays additional work onto them that could have otherwise been avoided.

Involving your team in decision making and innovation gives them a sense of belonging. They feel like they are recognized and their inputs are valued . This in turn raises their morale

This truly allows them to innovate and it will allow them to perform tasks to the best of their knowledge in any senario they will be exposed to

Techniques like brainstorming sessions, voting, and prototyping are excellent ways to harness their creativity and expertise. Creating a supportive environment where they can freely express their thoughts without fear of judgment or criticism is crucial. The contributions of those who have boots on the ground are to be taken seriously when they suggest how to deliver a better and more efficient way to conduct operations. This inclusive approach not only values their contributions but also drives continuous improvement and growth across the board.

Always getting their input and suggestions on upcoming projects to be able to have different solutions to what problems can come up to solve together.

Support them with processes. Investing in Change and Transition management processes will show support staff their time is valuable, because they shouldn't need to 'figure it out as they go.' Similarly, technical support staff should see progress in matters they raise to other departments. Product, engineering, and other teams must continuously improve and demonstrate how they are reducing problems that impact the customer and Support teams.

Pequeños gestos son suficientes mantener la motivación. Sólo los valientes que realizan cambios significativos son capaces de aumentar el compromiso y la motivación.

In my opinion this is the best way to show your team is valued. Don't scrimp on the equipment you provide for them and make them try and do their job on subpar hardware. Make sure the tools and software are fit for purpose and make sure they can do their job in the easiest way possible. That way their expertise is the only thing they need to bring to the job.

Inform the techs of updates coming, when they will take effect, and what they are for so the techs can be ready for issues related to the updates. Provide back up alternatives for when the "auto" update doesn't come through properly.

Provide them with the tools to do the job right the first time around. Tools not being the physical object it can by means of regular training. Ensure communication across all teams to keep everyone informed about the changes or processes.

Creating an environment where everyone feels respected, valued and invested in. In technical communities, like any other, that’s not always a given. From the leaders it requires awareness and leadership by example. Besides increasing performance and output, it is simply the right thing to do.

Often your staff work during weekends and holidays (for example during Christmas or Diwali). Recognize their time away from their families and don't discount the work they put in for you.

Don't just do the "pizza party" thing. It's a joke by now. If you do an offsite, find out from your people if they may have problems with the nature of the offsite activity. Bar night will not do well with someone who is on certain medications are in recovery. Long walks and other outdoor activities can be problematic for disabled members of your team. Listen to their calls. If they have a frustrating call or caller, they may need an unscheduled break or time away from their desk. Having a small quiet room for a brief relaxation may be worth the lost of office space. Finally, most support staff can work remotely, so let them.

I'm no longer managing the people at my previous company, however the guys still reach out and ask me for support. I'm able to express empathy and the support they need by mentoring and giving the gentle nudges needed to move forward in life and work.

Esse é um ponto importante, não é apenas deixar a equipe se virar com os problemas, tem que dar auxílio, não apenas técnico, mais amparo, ter empatia e tentar de fato entender o que ocorre no dia a dia, principalmente quando ocorre um atrito entre os membros da equipe, tentar entender a situação do problema, auxiliar na resolução, causar entrosamento dentro da equipe, não ficando apenas limitado a funções a serem executadas e cobrança das atividades.

"Where do you want to be in 5 years?" "I want your job!" "Great, let's make that happen!" It's the most rewarding thing to do in any role - for both parties.

It is essential to show your team how they can evolve themselves as well. At many times a job like this could be a thankless one (you are engaged in crisis almost always), how they can evolve themselves and evolve the business is essential to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as Napoleon Bonaparte said "A leader, is a dealer in hope".

Many leaders rely only on dashboards to gague how the Technical Support teams are performing. In my experience, taking a shop floor walk at the beginning and end of a shift is a great way to not only to understand the motivation levels of the team, but it also provides an opportunity to understand the ground realities. The best motivation for front line staff is to have their leader among them, listening to their concerns, feedback and suggestions. When you are at the coalface, you understand what is causing the pain for both the customers and the staff, thereby make the right decisions that make the difference.

Mentoring creates a happier and more engaged workforce, improving employee retention. Most importantly, it builds the road for future leaders. I have noticed over the years that by mentoring the support team, they will be likelier to put more effort into their day-to-day help desk operation. I have always noticed when mentoring team members for better time management that the more they get engaged and invest more time in themselves and their role in a company, the likelier they are to stay in the company longer.

We shouldn't forget either that people also usually works for making a living. We need to ensure that great achievements and overperforming are valued at the end of the day during the salary revisions and yearly evaluations.