In August 2023, the DELTA LearnTech Help Desk welcomed two new hires: Grace, a help desk manager, and Mike, a lead technology support technician. Since Fall Semester was already underway at the time of their hiring, Grace and Mike were tasked with quickly mastering more than 20 instructional tools and an enterprise-level Learning Management System. With an abundance of training materials available for each instructional technology, Grace and Mike devised several methods for organizing and prioritizing knowledge resources. Reflecting on their experiences over the past year, they have identified commonalities in their approaches and valuable lessons that can be shared with future cohorts of incoming technical support staff. This lightning talk introduces a conceptual framework envisioning "levels" of resources available to new technical support staff. Beginning with vendor-provided resources, then advancing to institutional resources, peer resources, and finally, knowledge management resources, we will explore how each resource “level” can provide scaffolding for new IT staff during the onboarding process. We will also share practical recommendations for managers and team members on how to effectively support new hires throughout their learning journey. Join us as we delve into strategies for streamlining onboarding and fostering a culture of continuous learning within technical support teams.
