It shouldn’t come as a surprise that support is at the core of this team within UNC-Chapel Hill Information Technology Services: the Internal Support team of On Site Support within User Support & Engagement.
Sure, you’d expect that OSS Internal Support, a three-person team, would serve and support its customers—employees of ITS. But the team members also ensure that they’re supporting one another.
“We all do the same thing and we try to stay interchangeable,” said Richard Hill, Support Specialist with ITS Internal Support.
The team consists of Hill, Tony DeLuca and Thad Dodd. Dodd is an ITS Computer Repair Center staffer on assignment to On Site Support.
Trust is essential
The three IT professionals share their knowledge with one another and thoroughly document what they’re working on to ensure they provide consistent, uninterrupted service to customers.
Hill and DeLuca rotate weeks being on call for those unexpected needs outside of normal working hours.
All three of them “schedule around each other schedules,” Hill said. They support each other to get the job done, and they trust one another to get the job done, he added.
Years together strengthen bond
That maneuverability and trust come with experience, including experience with one another and with their long-time, supportive boss. Hill, DeLuca and Dodd have worked together for many years. Hill and DeLuca have worked together since 2003, except for a brief gap between their respective moves over to ITS from the School of Medicine. Dodd’s been helping the team for two years, but he’s worked for ITS longer than Hill or DeLuca.
Leader supports while also giving space
Another reason for their success, Hill said, is their boss, Ken Yow, On Site Support Manager. He has enabled them to take ownership of their work. “Ken has been extremely supportive in letting us own our positions and really give us a sense of independence that allows us to be successful in the work we do while at the same time being completely available for any problem we may need help with,” Hill said. “He’s one of the reasons we’ve stayed in this position this long.”
“Yow has always been available whether to help us with development, project management … or help us define what we need to do next to be successful,” Hill said. “He’s always been a resource to us to do our job well.”