Internal support systems can include a variety of things and should be aimed at new starters as well as current team members. All employees whether new or old need support from time to time. Current team members may need support to develop new skills. New team members need support in order to integrate and become productive. Everyone knows how intimidating it can be to begin a new job meeting so many people and forgetting all the names straight away. As a team manager, how can you create support methods for all staff members to help them become or stay productive and content?

One of my previous roles included integrating new members of staff into a data team which contained several different smaller teams within itself. There was a certain amount of common information that a new person would be required to know such as the various databases and simple terminology within the company as well as the team structure. I therefore created a new starter pack which was handed out to all new members of the team in an effort to give them a good grounding in the team environment. This also included a floor plan showing where the team members sat so that after the introductions when the team member had immediately forgotten all the names, they still had something to remind them. It may even be worth having staff put name labels in a prominent position on their desks so that new starters or people from other teams know who they are speaking to.

A good way to start building a new starter pack is to talk to the most recent member of your team. Was it a positive experience when they joined? Did they get the help they required or was it an uphill struggle? Find out what they would improve upon and what information would have been helpful. Once you have a basic idea this can be padded by talking to other team members. What information would staff members like 'newbies' to have? How could a new person be integrated into the team more easily? Once a basic pack is produced, request each new team member to review it after they have settled in as things will need to be updated. The information will be better if it comes from a range of perspectives.

When considering new members of staff, think about how they will get help when they need it. Who should they ask for help? It is a good idea to have a team mentor for each new person. Even if that person cannot help them directly, they could point them in the right direction. This person will also take them around the local area and show them the good spots for lunch as well as introducing them to people and generally answering questions etc. This person should always be a kind, friendly person. Although new people are often told they can ask anyone for help, it is better to give them a specific friend so they do know who they should ask. It can be daunting trying to pick someone for them to approach.

Training can be internal and external and qualifications that are recognised are usually external. It is inevitable that good quality training for certain subjects will need to be given by an external source such as a training company, but for some things the skills will already exist. Do not give the training responsibility to a recluse programmer who never talks to anyone and barely ever makes eye contact. In order to give quality training, the trainer must have certain people skills. In a financial office it may be the case that you have expertise on a particular subject, for example Composites in a financial software company. Get experienced members of staff to train lesser experienced members. Talk to your staff about how they learn things and work around their needs.

I cannot stress enough just how important documentation is for supporting all staff members. All processes and procedures should be documented with step by step simple guides, preferably including screen shots where required. Documentation is necessary on different levels. The first is the procedures used on a daily basis. If something needs to be done then how is it done? If the person who normally does it suddenly is not there then would someone else be able to do it from the instructions? Are these procedures in a place where people can easily locate them? One company I worked for had excellent documentation, but it was buried in various illogical sub folders in many different places and was impossible to locate. Consider a logical, clear cut method of storing and navigating to procedures. Bear in mind that this should be in a place where all staff can access it rather than on an individual's PC. Also note that when using screen shots, sensitive data should be blurred out first.

The second level of documentation should be things that are specific to each client. If there are different procedures for each client then there should be a separate client folder per client with the procedures in it. The third level is any documentation that does not fall into this category. It will vary depending on the type of work. For a support desk which has a CRM system to log calls and call progress documentation will be included as notes on the call. Sometime a problem that was fixed for one client may come up for another client. It will drive people crazy and waste time if you locate the previous call and in the notes you find written the words 'all sorted.' Train your staff to include details on how it was fixed.

The systems of support discussed here are few. There are many ways to support your staff and make them more productive. They can also be used to help increase teamwork by integrating new members into a team quickly as well as protecting client work such as documenting it properly. The type of support structures that a manager will need to put in place will be unique to a team. Look at your team in terms of the people and the processes and talk to them about the kind of support they need in the short and long term.