I.T. Technology: Work Effectively in an I.T. Environment

ICAITTW001B Work Effectively in an Information Technology Environment

reference: http://hsc.csu.edu.au/info_tech/core/work/icaittw001b/Main_work_effectively.html

Objectives: to be able to do the following after training:

Comply with general information technology policies and procedures.
Promote the organisation and the Information Technology department in a manner consistent with the organisation's mission.
Identify information technology equipment, software and operating systems supported by the organisation.

Section topics

Key Players Who are key players?	How do you promote the organisation? Learn how employees promote their organisation.	Policies & Procedures What policies are likely to be in the work place?
Mission Statements What are they and look at some examples	Organisational Charts Examples of organisational charts	IT Functions Learn about the five general sectors of I.T
Exercise 1 Short answer questions relating to an IT environment	Unions Learn about unions from a young worker's point of view.	IT Careers Learn about the career choices and planning in IT
Exercise 2 Research an IT career	Exercise 3 Short answer questions about promoting the organisation	Exercise 4 Rights in the Workplace
Exercise 5 Unions have millions of members	Quiz 1 Export and multi-skilling - Toyota	Quiz 2 Violence in the Workplace
Case Study Can you lose your job over email?	Glossary Explanation of terms that will help you with this unit	Other Resources Useful links

Glossary

Anti-discrimination	The Anti-Discrimination Act (1997) is designed to protect your rights and to prevent discrimination. This includes equality in the workplace and in other aspects of your life.
Capital equipment	An object which is a financial asset needed for an undertaking or to perform a service. Generally, capital equipment is a financial asset that adds to the net worth of a business.
Code of conduct	Ethics agreement which details acceptable behaviour and conduct for a particular company or role.
Contractor	A person or organisation that agrees to provide materials or perform services at a specified price, especially for construction or development work.
Contracts	An employment agreement between employer and employee, which is enforceable by law. A contract of employment sets out the conditions and terms under which an employee accepts to work in a particular job, such as the wage or salary amount, number or spread of working hours and whether overtime is paid or allowed.
Computing support	The provision or maintenance of hardware and software assistance.
Consumables	Computer related goods, which are used in the daily use or maintenance of a computer system, for example ink cartridges for a printer.
Corporate hardware and software	Approved hardware and software products used within a business.
Deadlines	A time limit for the completion of a task.
Duty statements	Also known as a job description. A document which describes the purpose, expected activities and responsibilities of a particular job.
E business	E business (electronic business) is the conduct of business on the internet
EEO	Equal Employment Opportunity. Any person employing other people has to take care to treat those people fairly, and not to discriminate on the grounds of race, sex, marital status, physical or mental impairment or sexual preferences.
Employer/employee rights and responsibilities	The duties and conformable rules or guidelines for a worker who is hired to perform a job, the employee, and the person or company that employ workers, the employer.
External client	A customer or someone who pays for goods or services who is independent of the organisation delivering the service.
Help desk	A department within a company that responds to technical questions. Most large software companies have help desks to answer user questions. Questions and answers can be delivered by telephone, email or fax .
Internal client	A customer within the limits of the organisation.
Mission statement	A declaration of a company's vision and role statement.
Organisational chart	A graphic representation of how authority and responsibility is distributed within a company or other organisation.
Outsourcing	Paying another company to provide services which a company might otherwise have employed its own staff to perform, for example software development.
Project teams	A group organised to work together to undertake and complete an extensive task.
Strategic plan	A plan detailing where a company wants to be in the future. These plans usually have a strong emphasis on new technologies and ways of conducting business, such as e business.
Supplier	Someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity.
Workplace committees	A group of people officially delegated to perform a function, such as investigating, considering and/or reporting on a particular aspect of the workplace such as an Occupational Heath and Safety Committee.
Work schedules	A plan for performing work or achieving an objective by specifying the order and allotted time for each part.

Key Players

Key players are personnel within an organisation that are essential for the functioning of that section or department. Within an organisation key players may include:

Your supervisor
Your trainer
A manager
Helpdesk staff
Other colleagues in the department or division

There may be a number of key players outside your organisation that influence how information technology is used in your organisation. These may include:

Government departments
Vendors of information technology products or the customer
Professional bodies and societies such as the Australian Computer Society
Industry publications
Employer organisations and relevant unions

(Reproduced with permission of ANTA. (1998). Information Technology, Client Support Training Package - ICA98. Work effectively in an information technology environment. Learner Guide. Australian Training products - Melbourne.)

How do you promote the organisation?

Promoting the organisation to internal and external customers needs to be done in a manner consistent with organisational policies and procedures. You will need to establish how the organisation wants to be promoted. To do this you may need to understand the organisation's mission statement. Mission statements are usually found in the organisation's strategic plan. The mission statement and organisational plans are often published on the organisation's web site.

Organisations promote themselves through corporate advertising. This includes posters, brochures, listings in phone books, promotion of their mission statement within the organisation and having a presence on the internet. Individuals promote and are a representative of their organisation. The overall image of the organisation can be conveyed by the collective approach that staff have to customers, their dress, telephone manner and how their business is conducted, including meetings, presentations and interviews.

The organisation may also have a code of conduct that outlines the manner in which staff are expected to conduct themselves when consulting customers. If you are unsure about what is expected of you, speak with your supervisor, trainer or mentor who can clarify the situation for you.

Policies & Procedures

Each organisation will have its own policies and procedures. They may be directly related to the use of technology or designed to cover many aspects of the organisation. These policies and procedures may include -

Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) guidelines
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) guidelines
Guidelines outlining work practices in a department
The structure of departments within an organisation
Work agreements or enterprise bargains
Manuals on how to use technological equipment
Preventative maintenance procedures
Purchasing requisition procedures and documentation

Mission Statements

A mission statement refers to the core business of the company, their general philosophy and customer service focus. Organisations often have their mission statement on display in the foyer of their office. Mission statements are readily accessible for viewing by the public as organisations publish them in documents, such as annual reports and overviews of the organisation.

Mission statements need to be concise and effective, for example, Big W's mission statement is "To provide our customers with the best quality merchandise at the best possible prices". This gives the customer and the employee the focus of the organisation, which is to sell products at a lower price than their competitors. More information on Big W

Another example of a mission statement is Australia Post's. Here is an extract from their mission statement, "Australia Post is committed to providing high-quality mail and parcel services to all Australians". For more information about Australia Post look at the website

Organisational Charts

Organisational charts are used to represent the hierarchical or vertical structure of the organisation. These charts depict the reporting and communication lines for the organisation.

An organisational chart usually includes job or position description, and in some cases the name of the person holding that position.

A sample organisational chart is shown below:

Information Technology Functions

Information Technology can be used for a wide range of functions depending on the sectors within the industry, the type of organisation and the business conducted. The structure of the Information Technology department may be a separate branch, department, division or an integrated function of an organisation.

The five general sectors of the Information Technology industry include:

computer hardware
communications hardware
packaged software
computer services
communication services

(Ref - The Information Technology Industry, Scannell, pp. 17)

Each of these general sectors uses information technology in different ways to achieve different organisational goals. For example, in the Computer Services sector, information technology may be used for:

data processing
information storage and retrieval
computer maintenance
computer consultancy

(Ref - The Information Technology Industry, Scannell, pp. 23)

Unions

A union is an organisation of employees which acts collectively for mutual protection and assistance. Unions represent workers in dealings with employers. They negotiate wages and conditions of employment for their members.

For more information on unions, click on the link "Clueless About Unions" . It was written by a 16 year old who did work experience at the Finance Sector Union.

Information Technology Careers

The Information Technology industry is well known for its breadth and diversity. It is a dynamic area and students are well advised to read widely for current trends and emerging technologies. The broad fields in the Information Technology industry can include those associated with hardware, software, web design, networking, marketing, help desk, and communications. Many jobs in Information Technology are a broad combination of several areas. To gain an insight into the careers in the Information Technology industry, look at the following websites listed below. A brief description of each site is included.

Australian Careers Directory

The Australian Careers Directory site is designed to help you understand your career options. Here is an extract from the site. "Welcome to the Australian Careers Directory. This is a collection of links to help you explore sites which can help with career exploration and decision making, job search, decision making, career related education, training resources and law" Click on this link to get more information http://www.careers.gov.au Have a look at the "Get Access - Careers Game". A fun decision support system to help you select the most appropriate career for you.

Click on the "Careers Guidance" link.
Click on the "Self assessment Tools" link.
Click on the "Get Access" link.

Careers Online

The careers online website is designed to help you plan your career. "Through Australia's careers online job seekers of any age get help with their career planning and employment and job search."

Here is the link http://www.careersonline.com.au

Another career planning website is located at: http://www.myfuture.edu.au/

Activities

Exercise 1

Using your work placement company or another organisation that you are studying, write a 2-3 page report which addresses each of the following points.

Identify the name, address, telephone and fax numbers of your organisation
Identify and briefly explain the role of the key players in the organisation.
Create an organisational chart for your organisation.
1. What is the mission statement of the organisation?
2. If it is not written down, is there an implied mission statement?
3. What does the mission statement mean to the employees ?. How does it help them to assimilate into the workplace?
Briefly list and explain the information technology functions within the organisation.
Identify information technology equipment in use in the organisation
1. hardware,
2. software (including operating system software),
3. description of any special information technology equipment used in the workplace.
Find out and write down the telephone number and location of your nearest branch of the Australian Computer Society.
Find out where the following policies and procedures are located in your organisation and write down where they are kept.
1. Occupational Health & Safety
2. Equal Employment Opportunity
3. Purchasing Guidelines
4. Information Technology Trai

Exercise 2

Identify career options in the Information Technology industry.

Your task is to create a profile of a person currently working in the Information Technology industry.

Create a questionnaire to be used to gather information.
Include questions that will enable you to gather information
on:

Name
Job title
Name of company
Job description or role
Information Technology skills required to do this job

Salary (optional)
Length of time at current job role
Training or qualifications required
How did you get this job?
Future career aspirations

Use desktop publishing software to create a personal career profile - including a scanned photo or photo taken using a digital camera.
A Sample format is included below to help you

Exercise 3

Choose an information technology workplace and complete the exercises below.

Locate samples of information that the organisation distributes to its customers. This could include pamphlets, booklets and posters that advertise various aspects of the organisation. What does this information reveal about the organisation?
Does the organisation have guidelines that direct the way in which the organisation is promoted? If so what are they, if not why aren't guidelines necessary?

Exercise 4

Complete the exercise on "Rights in the Workplace", which is located on the Worksite website. This will test your knowledge on rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

Click on this link to access the exercise.

Exercise 5

Complete the exercises on "Unions have millions of members", which is located on the Worksite website. This will test your knowledge on the role of unions.

Click on this link to access the quiz.

Quizzes

Quiz 1

Complete the quiz "Export and multi-skilling - Toyota" , which is located on the Worksite website.

Quiz 2

Complete the quiz "Violence in the Workplace" , which is located on the Worksite website. Click on the link below.

Case Study

Email Policy

The following links to the Australasian Legal Information Institute have some interesting information regarding the use of e-mail in the workplace. This is an area that has hit the media and the courtrooms recently due to employee claims of unfair dismissal and invasion of privacy.

The section of the website called, Privacy Law and Policy Reporter, publishes articles relating to privacy and computing. Read the article titled E-mail Privacy

The article recommends that organisations publish their email policy so that employees are aware of the correct use of email and the consequences of any breach of the email policy.

Task 1

Locate your work placement or another organisation's email policy. Briefly outline the acceptable use of email for your organisation. Are the consequences of breaching this policy documented ? If so what are the consequences?

Employees and emails

Look at this web site
Read the section Legal Setting of employment. This section discusses the topic of surveillance. Computer software can now monitor every keystroke that an employee makes for as little as $99. This section also refers to "cyber slacking", which is the use of email and the internet during work time posing a threat to productivity.

A well publicised court case involving the use of email during work time was between Ansett and one of its employees, Ms Gencarelli. Ms Gencarelli was a union delegate and she distributed information via email which was critical of Ansett's role in the negotiations with her union. She was dismissed for "unauthorised business use" of email. The case went to court and the judge ruled that the use of email was "authorised business use" and Ms Gencarelli was reinstated.

You can read the details of this case here under the heading Employees and emails

Task 2

Computerisation has increased productivity, however, it also has the capacity to decrease productivity. How?
What strategies are some companies implementing to monitor employees use of computers during work time ? Is this ethical?
Do you agree with the judge's ruling in the case between Ms Gencarelli and Ansett ? Why or why not?

Other Resources

ANTA. (1998). Information Technology, Client Support Training Package - ICA98. Work effectively in an information technology environment. Learner Guide. Australian Training products - Melbourne.

Australia Post

Australasian Legal Information Institute

Big W

Le Rossignol, K. (1999). Communication Skills for the Workplace. Eastern House - Victoria.

Scannell, D. (1996). The Information Technology Industry. Eastern House - Victoria.

Sydney City Council

Worksite.

I.T. Technology

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Work Effectively in an I.T. Environment