Distributed Computing/Carson Office/Student Computing
                Minutes from meeting (2/27/95)

Attending:  Doug, Manola, Dave, Joan, Justin, Bob

1.  Reviewed the purpose of meeting with this group and identified 11 key 
    problems that we need to address in order to improve the quality of service 
    we deliver:

    (1)  complaints about our relations with customers/colleagues/public.
    (2)  uneven customer satisfaction (some love us, others think we provide
         unacceptable service).
    (3)  spotty customer service (we focus on some customers at the expense of 
         others).
    (4)  uneven follow-through/follow-up to requests.
    (5)  limited evaluation of satisfaction/customer service.
    (6)  lack of fundamental documentation of our services
    (7)  our services are not well-integrated.
    (8)  we have poor internal communications.
    (9)  we must "shift gears" in our work too frequently.
   (10)  there is lack of time for self-development.
   (11)  we are overwhelmed by the load of our work.



2.  We reviewed how much time we spend in each of the roles/functions we fill.  
    and revised our estimates as follows:


                                RJ    JU     DYB     DFB     JS     MS    TOTAL
                               ------------------------------------------------
Documentation                   0      3      0       0       1      1       5
Technical Problem Solving       0      0     13       5      10      0      28
   Installations/Upgrades       0      0      8       3       1      0      12
HELPDESK                        5      5      8      10       5      8      41
Training/Presentations/Demos    4     10      2       1       3      2      22
Instructional Tech. Services    0      0      2       0       1      0       3
Student Computing Support Serv. 0     15      0       0       0      1      16
Supervision of Student Assts.   0     10      0       3       2      1      16
Purchasing                      0      0     13       3       2      0      18
Development                     5      1      5       1       5      1      18
Planning                       10      1      5       3       5      1      25
Office Support                  1      0      2       0       2     16      21      
Public Service                  0      0      1       0       2      0       3
Supervisors Team               22      0      5       0       0      4      31
Network Services Team           6      3      0      20      20      0      49
Information Center              3      0      0       0       4      8      15
Misc. (letter of recommend.)    0      1      0       0       0      0       1
Non-Dept. Activity              1      0      4       0       0      1       6
                               ------------------------------------------------
                     TOTALS    57     49     68      49      63     45     331



3.  We began looking at the goals and strategies for this group.  Doug presented
    his ideas in a 7-page description of goals for this group, as well as a 
    day-in-the-life of a DC staff member.

    a.  customers are treated well. (zero complaints about staff)

    b.  customers are satisfied. (zero complaints about service/resource)

    c.  Assignments/requests are sucessfully completed in a timely manner and 
        are accounted for.  There is a record of: 
                - who made the request/assignment; 
                - who is responsible for completing it;
                - when it is expected to be completed; and,
                - when it is accomplished.

    d.  produce documentation that reduces the need for basic support.  Doing
        this might also point out contradictions in our services and the answers
        we give out now.

    e.  provide training to reduce the need for basic support.

    f.  establish a HELPDESK to reduce demand for basic support. This would 
        allows staff not working for the HELPDESK to focus on problems and avoid
        shifting gears.  A HELPDESK would also help point out what needs are of
        particular importance and may help to keep operations separate from 
        development.

    g.  limit the range of software/applications we support.  This should also
        help minimize "shifting gears" and reduce spotty customer service.

    h.  limit the range of hardware/configurations that we support.

    i   give customers more immediate feedback on the status of their request.  
        This should also reduce spotty customer service.

    j.  install Timbuktu on all customer computers.  This will reduce time
        needed to provide support (*but* consider security risks here!)

    k.  place documentation and information on our WWW and gopher hosts.

    l.  streamline the purchasing/receiving/installation process.  This should
        increase customer satisfaction.

    m.  align our work with the mission of the College and other department's 
        missions.  This should improve customer satisfaction.

    n.  contact/call customers more frequently to inquire about and understand 
        their needs.

    o.  meet w/ department technology coordinators as a group. This should 
        improve customer relations and even out service.  It might also give us
        an opportunity to reward these individuals for efforts they have made.  
        We may also solve some problems or reduce demands with this type of 
        contact.

    p.  notify customers of major changes/problems.  This would reduce the 
        demand to answer questions and help minimize "shifting gears".

    q.  have Student Assts. wear name tags and put signs on staff 
        doors/cubicles.  This would improve internal communication.

    r.  establish a desktop reources planning group.  They would replace out-
        dated resources  to increase customer satisfaction and reduce support
        needs as well as improve the department's external perception.

    s.  Joan suggested that we might find answers to our 11 problems (above) by
        applying this formula:

          problems 6,7,8 are the cause of 9,10,11 resulting in 1,2,3,4,5

 
4.  We agreed that in the next meeting we will look at:

    -  the HELPDESK idea (i.e., support for drop-in and calls for basic 
       problems.).  We will look at:
      
         * where to locate the HELPDESK operation
         * whether to separate student from employee HELPDESK support
         * what is the HELPDESk and WHAT can we do NOW.

    - how to free up time for staff so they have Uninterruptible Quality Time 
      (UQT) to spend working on these problems and developing more effective 
      strategies to deal with them (i.e., separate out the routine, basic
      problems that cause so much gear-shifting.


    - Bob will remind others to think about the routine problems that they are
      constantly working on as well as to think about how to obtain more UQT.



Next meeting:  Friday, 3/6 @ 9am - 11am. (Kellas 217)