Let Me Try

The man brought his golf shoes into the pro shop to get new spikes. The current spikes were so old, that he couldn't unscrew them. When he showed the shoes to the sales person and asked if the employee could replace the spikes, the employee could have responded "I'm not sure" or "I don't think so" or "Maybe" or "Ugh." But, instead, he responded "I hope so. Let me try."

All 5 of those statements showed uncertainty, but the last one used wording that conveyed a positive nature, hope, and a willingness to take the next step and try.

A customer comes into your store with an item to return that was bought 32 days ago (you have a 30-day return policy). Do you respond with "I'm not sure we can take that" or "Wow, that's really late" or "I hope we can take it back. Let's me see what I can do for you?"

The client calls in and asks if you can expedite the deliverable to them. Do you respond "I don't know" or "That's awfully tight" or "But it's not due for another week" or "Let me check and see what we can do for you?"

The golf spike example is one that requires effort on the part of the employee to accomplish a task. The item return example is one that deals with addressing a potential conflict with policy. The client deliverable example is one that deals with a change in internal timeframes. Although they all deal with different topics, each requires that an employee respond with uncertainty because he or she does not know the answer yet. Maybe the employee can do what the customer wants, or maybe the employee cannot.

We are not advocating that you say you CAN do something when you cannot.
If you did so, you would be promoting unrealistic expectations.

But what we ARE saying is that you can respond with uncertainty and still give hope. You can respond with uncertainty and show that you'll make the effort. You can respond with uncertainty and create a positive climate for the conversation.

Deal with uncertainty in your response with hope and a next step. Give it a try.

Introducing the IST Planning Site

To learn more about the IST Strategic Plan, please visit the IST Planning site on the new MeckWeb at http://newmeckweb/C4/IT%20Planning/default.aspx.


Here, you will find information about our eGovernment Strategic Plan, the County Wireless Plan update, the 2006 IST Annual Report and many other documents that give an inside look at IST.

Meet: Jeff McIntosh

Time with the County: 10 years this July

Title: Technical Analyst

Best thing about working for Mecklenburg County: The people

Hobbies: Fishing, boating, softball, golf, grilling, volleyball, and basketball.

Favorite Movie: Caddy Shack

Last Book You Read: Essentials MOM 2005

What super-power would you most like to have and why? I would like to fly so I would not have to sit in traffic anymore.

What CD would your friends be surprised that you own? Blue Mongoose-Giving up the ghost

Desktop Services Team Honored for Outstanding Performance

Our Desktop Services Team was recently recognized at a special luncheon for achieving outstanding performance.

The Desktop Services Team is part of the Technical Service Group within IST. The group is made up of numerous areas: Desktop Support Central, Desktop Support East, Helpdesk Central, Helpdesk East, Core Process, and SMS. The organization serves all Mecklenburg County employees and numerous outside agencies. These teams are managed by Robert Howard (Desktop Support), Dan Traweek (Helpdesk) and Ken Tripp (Core Process & SMS).

Earlier this year, Desktop Central and East employees James Burris and Parrish Green helped design a tracking and reporting system to measure employee performance against Balanced Scorecard measures and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Teams that met their SLA targets for at least 90 percent of their work orders are awarded with a luncheon every quarter. The first luncheon was held on May 21. Individual employees were also awarded with prizes for their performance.


The program is off to a very successful start, with a nine percent increase in overall work orders completed within the SLA target of 80 percent. Each team has greatly surpassed its target, with an overall team average of 97%.

“Our employees already understand the importance of customer service,” says Senior IT Manager of Desktop Services Jeff Vince. “This system encourages them to take ownership and measure not only their personal accomplishments, but the teams as well. How our success is measured should directly relate to how well we meet our customers’ needs. If an employee consistently exceeds the SLA target, I consider that exemplary performance. And they should be rewarded for that.”

Numerous other Balanced Scorecard measures are tracked as well. For instance, the Helpdesk tracks first call resolution, call abandonment rate, cost per call and customer survey feedback. Desktop Support tracks cost per call and customer survey feedback. “All of these numbers have been tracked in the positive direction since the inception of this program,” says Jeff.

Brian Nagle Joins Desktop Team East

The Desktop Team would like to welcome Brian Nagle. Brian brings not only technical skills but customer service skills as well, which is an integral part of his new duties and responsibilities. Brian got his start in the IT arena while serving in the US Navy were he served as the IT Administrator and team lead over eleven technicians. Most recently, Brian worked as a Service Technician for Time Warner.

Brian will be assigned to Desktop Team East under team lead Lloyd Murray.

Welcome, Brian!