Where are you now? (continued)
Getting started with ICT |
DIY ICT health checklist
A DIY ICT health check gives you a better understanding of your current situation, helps identify priorities and leads to more detailed information-gathering.
Prepare a simple report using these headings.Talk to colleagues to check the answers, then use the draft report to identify key issues.This initial health check is a good way of approaching staff, trustees, volunteers and ICT support workers.
Current ICT usage
- How long have you been using computers and the Internet?
- What are the three best and worst things about your current ICT set-up?
- What accessibility issues do you need to consider, e.g. working with people with disabilities or using community languages?
Computers, software and other equipment
- How many computers do you have?
- Are they connected to the Internet and do you have a network connecting the computers together?
- Do you have any specialist software? If so, what for?
- What are the three most common problems reported about your ICT?
Current skills: staff, volunteers and clients
- Who uses ICT and what for?
- What level of computer skills do the staff and volunteers have?
- What extra training do staff and volunteers need?
- Do your clients have or need specific ICT skills?
Managing ICT
- Do you have an ICT plan, or anything similar in any other plan?
- Who is responsible for the computers in the organisation?
- Who do you turn to when your computer doesn’t work?When are they available?
- Do you have anyone to help buy equipment?
- Do you have arrangements for backing up, preventing viruses and keeping computers secure?
- Where do you keep key details about your ICT and are they secure, e.g. inventory, licences, passwords, instructions, etc?
Money and other resources for ICT
- How much do you think you will spend on ICT in the next 12 months, including computers, software, maintenance and training?
- Do you have a budget for this?
- Does your fundraising target include this cost?
A simple
survey of staff ICT skills
Remember that people are the key to your success, so take stock of the ICT-related skills their work requires and identify where they need more help:
- Create a simple table with each of your team members.
- List the ICT skills needed in their role, e.g. word processing, mail merge, desktop publishing.
- Use a simple scale, such as Beginner, Intermediate,Advanced, to decide the level needed in each role. Make a note of how they defined the level needed.
- Ask them to place themselves on the scale according to their current skills.
- Identify gaps that exist between the skills a role requires and the skills of the person in that role.
- Identify current strengths and weaknesses to be addressed in your ICT plan.
- Address individual training and support needs in your ongoing management processes.
- Identify opportunities for buddying and other ways of sharing skills within your team.
Example of a simple ICT skills survey |
NAME: |
RICHARD PICCALILLI |
ROLE: |
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR |
|
|
BEG |
MED |
ADV |
NOTE |
|
Word Processing |
xo |
Mail merge + letters
|
||
|
Spreadsheets |
o |
xo |
Printing Board Reports |
|
|
Contacts database |
Updating records + helping others use it |
|||
|
Desktop publishing |
o |
x |
Flyers for events |
|
|
Accounts software |
ox |
Data entry |
||
|
|
o |
x |
Handling email mailings |
|
|
ICT troubleshooting |
o |
x |
Printers, word processing, contacts database, supplies |
|
|
Web browsing |
ox |
Office supplies purchased online |
||
|
Monitoring/reports |
o |
x |
Collating data from different sources |
Key: |
X = Skills I think job requires |
O = How I see my own skills |
Looking at this table, we can assume that Richard Piccalilli needs training and support with: spreadsheets, desktop publishing, email, ICT troubleshooting and monitoring skills.