10 Rules of the Technology Leader
Every site technology leader should have rules. Rules establish boundaries for what you will and will not do, and, most importantly, how others will relate to you.
Here are the top ten rules that I live by. These rules have saved me money, saved me time, and most importantly allowed me to focus on the objectives of the job.
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10 RULES OF A TECHNOLOGY LEADER
1. Don’t make house calls or become the “personal” tech guy or gal for the staff. Support only computers inventoried for the school. There’s only so much time in the day, and you need to manage it well. Answering personal computer questions can monopolize your time. Once you begin to make personal house calls or answer personal technology questions, you’ve created an environment in which individuals will feel comfortable seeking out your services for their personal computer needs.
2. Learn to say no and learn why you’re saying no. When you’re starting off in this position, it’s easy to fall into the “yes” mode, which will lead you to say yes to reasonable and unreasonable requests, alike. Setting your boundaries early in the job, and establishing protocol around those boundaries, will help you determine what you really should be doing, and how you should be serving the school.
3. Know when to call it a day; and don’t take work home, if possible. Organize your day so that you can leave the work where the work happens. If you’re constantly staying late, well after everyone else has left, something is wrong with how you’re doing the job. Find out what it is, and address it!
4. Put student needs first. No matter what happens on the
campus, understanding this rule means understanding the purpose of technology in an educational environment.
5. Don’t accept someone else’s old technology unless you’re willing to invest time and resources to bring it up to standards. Though the offer is kind, receiving used technology isn’t always the best way to sustain a technology program. Issues will always surface involving system compatibility and additional resources needed, such as RAM, network cards, and software licenses, among other things. Dealing with the unknown makes accepting donations a challenge.
6. Set limits on what technology you’re willing to support. Just because it has a plug, doesn’t mean you have to plug it in. Be clear on what devices you’re authorized and able to fix.
7. Keep your sense of humor. Tell a joke instead of telling someone off. Working in the field of technology, and dealing with adults, can be stressful. The needs of the staff, students, and the principal can get to you emotionally. But through it all, it’s important for you to heed this advice: There’s no glory in giving people a “piece of your mind.” But I do admit that it does feel good, at times.
8. Document everything. People have a tendency to forget. Help them remember by documenting everything, and keeping an organized file system to call on during those moments of forgetfulness.
9. Don’t work alone. Find others who express an interest in helping you infuse education with technology. These are the people to whom you’ll need to market the technology program. A leader can’t do everything, but he or she can inspire others to do something. Finding other interested parties increases your effectiveness as a leader. You can’t lead if there is no one to follow you.
10. Spend time reading, learning, and listening to experts in the field of educational technology. You’re the resident “expert,” but experts have to learn, too. So, expose yourself to new information and strategies within education, technology, and
Rules are important to your success. Don’t be afraid to implement them. What you bring to the school environment is golden. So, protect your time, your knowledge, your talent, and your sanity with rules—rules to Take CTRL.
Do you have rules? Log on to the TL Confessions forum and contribute!
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