Benefits

• Easy access to relevant job-related information cuts training costs
• A priorities-based development approach delivers most critical information first, minimizing work delays
• Off-site access to support documentation improves the quality of on-call resolution and eliminates the need for after-hours travel to the work site

Challenge

The IT department in a large organization provides 24/7 support to 160 retail stores across the country. Job tedium and high employee turnover in the department prompted the organization to rotate IT staff members more frequently among new teams and assignments.

The shorter rotation cycle forced employees to acclimate themselves more quickly to new tools, work processes, and work locations. To prepare the on-call support staff with vital support information and documentation in this new environment, an internal committee developed a universal directory structure for all IT areas. But the structure was too complex, and it failed. Deadline pressures necessitated a quick resolution to this problem.

Stratagem's Solution

A Stratagem Writing/Knowledge Transfer consultant analyzed the content, format, and organization of the existing on-line documentation and directory structure. She made recommendations to the Support Documentation committee, and then implemented the changes.

To help the IT staff resolve its temporary inability to access the support documentation off-site, the consultant proposed that the documentation be produced in a CD-ROM format. She also helped the client develop a process to create the CDs.

The consultant then recommended the creation of a series of documents to answer basic questions for those employees new to each team. The documents would include such information as the location of existing guides and on-line libraries, log-on procedures, and the use of software tools. She interviewed subject-matter experts and wrote documents for the store support team. From these documents, templates were created that could be used for developing future IT department guides.

Result

Stratagem’s work was a hit with the client even before it was finished. The consultant gave a presentation to upper-level managers, demonstrating the value of this strategy, the simplicity of implementing it, and the benefits to each IT area.

The work already implemented was so well received by the client that it was used as a department model. The templates of the consultants’ work were rolled out to all the remaining IT areas. This project has led to additional knowledge-transfer work by Stratagem for this client.