Questions to ask a computer consultant before you hire him

Today's office run on information, and for many businesses, a significant amount of this information is vital and confidential. Therefore, it's vital that you hire a competent, responsive, trustworthy computer consultant, and you should do your homework on your options before you experience a major system crash or potential data loss.

Despite the challenges constantly changing technology poses to the casual computer user, computers are much more user friendly and versatile than they used to be with a plethora of different built-in programs to help recover data, restore programs, quarantine viruses and address a host of other problems that used to be much harder for the average person to deal with. More intrepid users have never had lower or cheaponer technology hurdles as open source software is free and continuously being expanded. Still the average business owner is knowledgeable about his business, not necessarily about computers or technology. And as he would want to find someone trustworthy to work on his car, as his life literally depends on the work done, he needs to find a quality computer "mechanic" for his company's needs as well. Customers who have

Vetting computer consultants is, in many ways, like vetting other employees; you need to determine if they are dependable, trustworthy, responsive, responsible, and comprehensive. Here are the things you must determine:

Responsiveness: You should ask if the consultant has a live operator, or if there are only scheduled hours for customer service. How soon will they respond to telephone or email inquiries? How soon during a data or systems emergency? Do they take the time to explain to their clients what is wrong with their computers or systems and how this might be avoided in the future? Will they give details as to what the problem is, in everyday English that people who are not technical will be able to understand? Is their customer service based locally or is it outsourced to another country?

Diligence: Will the consultant be proactive with your system, avoiding problems before they crop up, maintaining and updating hardware, software, virus definitions, and backups, regularly checking them all to make sure everything is functioning and there are multiple copies of important data? Is the consultant's organization large enough that it can function just as smoothly when someone goes on vacation or gets sick?

Liability protection: Is this consultant's company fully insured so that if, in the unlikely event mistakes happen, your business is protected from financial harm and could be compensated for lost time and productivity?

Trustworthiness: How does this consultant's company vet their own employees? Do they do full background checks? Are they required to remain current on their certifications? Have they had any previous incident with breaches of data?

Comprehensiveness: The consultant will take responsibility for the functionality of which systems, networks, or machines, specifically? Which will remain your responsibility?

Obviously, you should never hire based on brand recognition or price alone. Plenty of people think they know computers and can fix whatever you need for cheap. How much your data worth to you? How much is your data's security worth to you? The neighbor's kid may know computers; if so, hire him for smaller projects, not your overall system security. But big names are no guarantee of good service - ask the woman who sued Geek Squad for leaking her nude pictures online. Or the owner of the missing laptop Geek Squad tried to cover up.

What Should Your Dream Team Look Like?

Last week, we talked about hiring people. This week, we'll continue that same conversation because tackling everything on your own is impossible. If you want your business to grow, you're going to need people to help you. The question is who?

In order to figure out which people you should bring aboard the ship, you should take a long, hard look at its captain: you. This may sound a little odd, but consider what value a frank self-examination could have. To do this, an owner, a founder, a manager--whatever you may be--must look at what she or he is good at. Are you a quality networker? Are you well-organized? How is your foresight? If you aren't good at networking, consider bringing someone on board who is. If you struggle when it comes to staying organized, look for an individual that can keep your ship tight and tidy. Struggling when it comes to predicting the future? Hire a person who has an analyzing eye.

By hiring in this manner, you strengthen your team and your company. Here's a bonus too: Bringing on people who buffer your deficiencies may even strengthen you as a leader. It's only a matter of time before you learn a thing or two about networking if you are attending events with your new hire, and paying attention to the organizational skills of that new executive assistant could shed some light on behaviors that have made you less efficient in years past. And what about foresight? Your company may become more predictable as you understand what comparing monthly revenues can highlight, when certain expenses are higher than normal, and what all of those figures truly show, thanks to the analyst you chose to cover your inadequacy in this area.

In Mother Russia, happiness works you! | Courtesy of Happy Worker

Once you have your company's dream team, be sure to give them some wiggle room to fall into their respective roles. You can't have rigid expectations of them or they may move onto a different position at a different company, seeking out the flexibility that allows them to get comfortable. That comfort is something that will hopefully give them the environment they need to spread their wings and show their true value to the operation. Inflexible requirements may stifle this sort of contribution by making an employee feel forced to work or taken for granted, neither of which are a part of a happy workplace. When you've found a way to give your new crew the self-motivation and the flexibility they need to prosper, it's time to make sure that they want to stick with it for the long haul. If your employees love the company and feel fulfilled, it's likely that your workers will feel satisfied, thus giving you a low turnover rate.

Even with a low turnover, you should still go out of your way to remind your employees how important they are. This can come in the form of small gestures such as a "good job" or randomly having lunch catered. It could also be represented by something bigger like a get-together for employee appreciation day or closing down the shop so that employees can give back to the community through a volunteer day. Making sure that you have a quality team on hand is important and keeping their morale high is essential to maintaining that quality.

Thinking About Hiring? Be Sure Not to Discount the Millennials

When a business begins to grow, it may mean that it's time to begin hiring people. Sure, your partner or your children may have been able to pick up some slack here and there, but a part-time or full-time employee can be much more helpful, considering the dedication they must have to the business. But how do you select the right employee from the candidate pool? The obvious answer is to interview the candidates and consider each of them individually, but what if your own thoughts about people--specifically, those in regard to age--are getting in the way of your selection? Your biases could be holding your company back, so you better get past some stereotypes that are floating around largely thanks to media.

Some of the most ridiculous stereotypes out there right now surround millennials, people born between the years 1982 and 2000. Considered to be lazy, apathetic, and prone to mooching, the millennials are getting a bad rap for reasons that escape many of those that are included in this demographic. Like baby boomers before them, the news media has put millennials under the microscope and dissected them bit by bit, typically reporting findings that are negative. For instance, a number of articles have highlighted the fact that some millennials are still living with their parents. Though this is true, wasn't it true for previous generations like Generation X? People fall on tough times and with the massive costs associated with college--and the social expectation to enroll--countless teenagers have been groomed into educated, indebted twentysomethings.

An infographic explaining some of the intricacies of Generation Y. | Courtesy of Flowtown

Combine this with the economic downturn and, suddenly, many of these newly graduated college students couldn't find a job, let along afford an apartment. When the media started asking why, they began examining and blaming the personality traits of those who had received the short end of the stick. Of course they found negativity and apathy and angst: Wouldn't you be upset if you were told that college would get you a great job and those expectations fell flat? So, now there is an educated class, eager to work toward and for their passions, but many people have been convinced that they are lazy good-for-nothings, further complicating the debts they cannot pay. These stereotypes are false--many millennials possess entrepreneurial spirits and tend to be marketing savvy. They know that quality of product matters and that success takes hard work--their life experiences so far have largely convinced them of this latter understanding. Moral of the story is this: Do not underestimate millennials when considering them for a position. In fact, don't underestimate any applicant based on your own assumptions--it could mean the difference between your business succeeding or failing.