Work Effectively in an Information Technology Environment
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/info_tech/core/work/icaittw001b/Main_work_effectively.html
On completion of this unit, learners should be competent in assimilating into an information technology environment. This is fundamental for working in an organization.
They should have the ability to:
1. Comply with general information technology policies and procedures.
2. Promote the organisation and the Information Technology department in a manner consistent with the organisation's mission.
3. Identify information technology equipment, software and operating systems supported by the organisation.
Key Players
Key players are personnel within an organisation that are essential for the functioning of that section or department. Within an organisation key players may include:
Your supervisor
Your trainer
A manager
Helpdesk staff
Other colleagues in the department or division
There may be a number of key players outside your organisation that influence how information technology is used in your organisation. These may include:
Government departments
Vendors of information technology products or the customer
Professional bodies and societies such as the Australian Computer Society
Industry publications
Employer organisations and relevant unions
How do you promote the organisation? Organisations promote themselves through corporate advertising. This includes posters, brochures, listings in phone books, promotion of their mission statement within the organisation and having a presence on the internet
Policies & Procedures Each organisation will have its own policies and procedures.
. These policies and procedures may include -
Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) guidelines
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) guidelines
Guidelines outlining work practices in a department
The structure of departments within an organisation
Work agreements or enterprise bargains
Manuals on how to use technological equipment
Preventative maintenance procedures
Purchasing requisition procedures and documentation
Mission Statements A mission statement refers to the core business of the company, their general philosophy and customer service focus
Mission statements are readily accessible for viewing by the public as organisations publish them in documents, such as annual reports and overviews of the organisation.
Mission statements need to be concise and effective, for example, Big W's mission statement is "To provide our customers with the best quality merchandise at the best possible prices".
Another example of a mission statement is Australia Post's. Here is an extract from their mission statement, "Australia Post is committed to providing high-quality mail and parcel services to all Australians"
Organisational Charts An organisational chart usually includes job or position description, and in some cases the name of the person holding that positioA sample organisational chart is shown below:
IT Functions department, division or an integrated function of an organisation.
The five general sectors of the Information Technology industry include:
computer hardware
communications hardware
packaged software
computer services
communication services
For example, in the Computer Services sector, information technology may be used for:
data processing
information storage and retrieval
computer maintenance
computer consultancy
Glossary
Anti-discrimination
The Anti-Discrimination Act (1997) is designed to protect your rights and to prevent discrimination. This includes equality in the workplace and in other aspects of your life.
Capital equipment
An object which is a financial asset needed for an undertaking or to perform a service. Generally, capital equipment is a financial asset that adds to the net worth of a business.
Code of conduct
Ethics agreement which details acceptable behaviour and conduct for a particular company or role.
Contractor
A person or organisation that agrees to provide materials or perform services at a specified price, especially for construction or development work.
Contracts
An employment agreement between employer and employee, which is enforceable by law. A contract of employment sets out the conditions and terms under which an employee accepts to work in a particular job, such as the wage or salary amount, number or spread of working hours and whether overtime is paid or allowed.
Computing support
The provision or maintenance of hardware and software assistance.
Consumables
Computer related goods, which are used in the daily use or maintenance of a computer system, for example ink cartridges for a printer.
Corporate hardware and software
Approved hardware and software products used within a business.
Deadlines
A time limit for the completion of a task.
Duty statements
Also known as a job description. A document which describes the purpose, expected activities and responsibilities of a particular job.
E business
E business (electronic business) is the conduct of business on the internet
EEO
Equal Employment Opportunity. Any person employing other people has to take care to treat those people fairly, and not to discriminate on the grounds of race, sex, marital status, physical or mental impairment or sexual preferences.
Employer/employee rights and responsibilities
The duties and conformable rules or guidelines for a worker who is hired to perform a job, the employee, and the person or company that employ workers, the employer.
External client
A customer or someone who pays for goods or services who is independent of the organisation delivering the service.
Help desk
A department within a company that responds to technical questions. Most large software companies have help desks to answer user questions. Questions and answers can be delivered by telephone, email or fax .
Internal client
A customer within the limits of the organisation.
Mission statement
A declaration of a company's vision and role statement.
Activities
Exercise 1
Using your work placement company or another organisation that you are studying, write a 2-3 page report which addresses each of the following points.
Identify the name, address, telephone and fax numbers of your organisation
Identify and briefly explain the role of the key players in the organisation.
Create an organisational chart for your organisation.
What is the mission statement of the organisation?
If it is not written down, is there an implied mission statement?
What does the mission statement mean to the employees ?. How does it help them to assimilate into the workplace?
Briefly list and explain the information technology functions within the organisation.
Identify information technology equipment in use in the organisation
hardware,
software (including operating system software),
description of any special information technology equipment used in the workplace.
Find out and write down the telephone number and location of your nearest branch of the Australian Computer Society.
Find out where the following policies and procedures are located in your organisation and write down where they are kept.
Occupational Health & Safety
Equal Employment Opportunity
Purchasing Guidelines
Information Technology Trai
Exercise 2
Identify career options in the Information Technology industry.
Your task is to create a profile of a person currently working in the Information Technology industry.
Create a questionnaire to be used to gather information.Include questions that will enable you to gather informationon:
§ Name
§ Job title
§ Name of company
§ Job description or role
§ Information Technology skills required to do this job
§ Salary (optional)
§ Length of time at current job role
§ Training or qualifications required
§ How did you get this job?
§ Future career aspirations
Use desktop publishing software to create a personal career profile - including a scanned photo or photo taken using a digital camera. A Sample format is included below to help you
Exercise 3
Choose an information technology workplace and complete the exercises below.
Locate samples of information that the organisation distributes to its customers. This could include pamphlets, booklets and posters that advertise various aspects of the organisation. What does this information reveal about the organisation?
Does the organisation have guidelines that direct the way in which the organisation is promoted? If so what are they, if not why aren't guidelines necessary?
Exercise 4
Complete the exercise on "Rights in the Workplace", which is located on the Worksite website. This will test your knowledge on rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
Click on this link to access the exercise.
Exercise 5
Complete the exercises on "Unions have millions of members", which is located on the Worksite website. This will test your knowledge on the role of unions.
Click on this link to access the quiz.
Case Study
Email Policy
The following links to the Australasian Legal Information Institute have some interesting information regarding the use of e-mail in the workplace. This is an area that has hit the media and the courtrooms recently due to employee claims of unfair dismissal and invasion of privacy.
The section of the website called, Privacy Law and Policy Reporter, publishes articles relating to privacy and computing. Read the article titled E-mail Privacy
The article recommends that organisations publish their email policy so that employees are aware of the correct use of email and the consequences of any breach of the email policy.
Task 1
Locate your work placement or another organisation's email policy. Briefly outline the acceptable use of email for your organisation. Are the consequences of breaching this policy documented ? If so what are the consequences?
Employees and emails
Look at this web site Read the section Legal Setting of employment. This section discusses the topic of surveillance. Computer software can now monitor every keystroke that an employee makes for as little as $99. This section also refers to "cyber slacking", which is the use of email and the internet during work time posing a threat to productivity.
A well publicised court case involving the use of email during work time was between Ansett and one of its employees, Ms Gencarelli. Ms Gencarelli was a union delegate and she distributed information via email which was critical of Ansett's role in the negotiations with her union. She was dismissed for "unauthorised business use" of email. The case went to court and the judge ruled that the use of email was "authorised business use" and Ms Gencarelli was reinstated.
You can read the details of this case here under the heading Employees and emails
Task 2
Computerisation has increased productivity, however, it also has the capacity to decrease productivity. How?
What strategies are some companies implementing to monitor employees use of computers during work time ? Is this ethical?
Do you agree with the judge's ruling in the case between Ms Gencarelli and Ansett ? Why or why not?
Anti-discrimination
The Anti-Discrimination Act (1997) is designed to protect your rights and to prevent discrimination. This includes equality in the workplace and in other aspects of your life.
Capital equipment
An object which is a financial asset needed for an undertaking or to perform a service. Generally, capital equipment is a financial asset that adds to the net worth of a business.
Code of conduct
Ethics agreement which details acceptable behaviour and conduct for a particular company or role.
Contractor
A person or organisation that agrees to provide materials or perform services at a specified price, especially for construction or development work.
Contracts
An employment agreement between employer and employee, which is enforceable by law. A contract of employment sets out the conditions and terms under which an employee accepts to work in a particular job, such as the wage or salary amount, number or spread of working hours and whether overtime is paid or allowed.
Computing support
The provision or maintenance of hardware and software assistance.
Consumables
Computer related goods, which are used in the daily use or maintenance of a computer system, for example ink cartridges for a printer.
Corporate hardware and software
Approved hardware and software products used within a business.
Deadlines
A time limit for the completion of a task.
Duty statements
Also known as a job description. A document which describes the purpose, expected activities and responsibilities of a particular job.
E business
E business (electronic business) is the conduct of business on the internet
EEO
Equal Employment Opportunity. Any person employing other people has to take care to treat those people fairly, and not to discriminate on the grounds of race, sex, marital status, physical or mental impairment or sexual preferences.
Employer/employee rights and responsibilities
The duties and conformable rules or guidelines for a worker who is hired to perform a job, the employee, and the person or company that employ workers, the employer.
External client
A customer or someone who pays for goods or services who is independent of the organisation delivering the service.
Help desk
A department within a company that responds to technical questions. Most large software companies have help desks to answer user questions. Questions and answers can be delivered by telephone, email or fax .
Internal client
A customer within the limits of the organisation.
Mission statement
A declaration of a company's vision and role statement.
Activities
Exercise 1
Using your work placement company or another organisation that you are studying, write a 2-3 page report which addresses each of the following points.
Identify the name, address, telephone and fax numbers of your organisation
Identify and briefly explain the role of the key players in the organisation.
Create an organisational chart for your organisation.
What is the mission statement of the organisation?
If it is not written down, is there an implied mission statement?
What does the mission statement mean to the employees ?. How does it help them to assimilate into the workplace?
Briefly list and explain the information technology functions within the organisation.
Identify information technology equipment in use in the organisation
hardware,
software (including operating system software),
description of any special information technology equipment used in the workplace.
Find out and write down the telephone number and location of your nearest branch of the Australian Computer Society.
Find out where the following policies and procedures are located in your organisation and write down where they are kept.
Occupational Health & Safety
Equal Employment Opportunity
Purchasing Guidelines
Information Technology Trai
Exercise 2
Identify career options in the Information Technology industry.
Your task is to create a profile of a person currently working in the Information Technology industry.
Create a questionnaire to be used to gather information.Include questions that will enable you to gather informationon:
§ Name
§ Job title
§ Name of company
§ Job description or role
§ Information Technology skills required to do this job
§ Salary (optional)
§ Length of time at current job role
§ Training or qualifications required
§ How did you get this job?
§ Future career aspirations
Use desktop publishing software to create a personal career profile - including a scanned photo or photo taken using a digital camera. A Sample format is included below to help you
Exercise 3
Choose an information technology workplace and complete the exercises below.
Locate samples of information that the organisation distributes to its customers. This could include pamphlets, booklets and posters that advertise various aspects of the organisation. What does this information reveal about the organisation?
Does the organisation have guidelines that direct the way in which the organisation is promoted? If so what are they, if not why aren't guidelines necessary?
Exercise 4
Complete the exercise on "Rights in the Workplace", which is located on the Worksite website. This will test your knowledge on rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
Click on this link to access the exercise.
Exercise 5
Complete the exercises on "Unions have millions of members", which is located on the Worksite website. This will test your knowledge on the role of unions.
Click on this link to access the quiz.
Case Study
Email Policy
The following links to the Australasian Legal Information Institute have some interesting information regarding the use of e-mail in the workplace. This is an area that has hit the media and the courtrooms recently due to employee claims of unfair dismissal and invasion of privacy.
The section of the website called, Privacy Law and Policy Reporter, publishes articles relating to privacy and computing. Read the article titled E-mail Privacy
The article recommends that organisations publish their email policy so that employees are aware of the correct use of email and the consequences of any breach of the email policy.
Task 1
Locate your work placement or another organisation's email policy. Briefly outline the acceptable use of email for your organisation. Are the consequences of breaching this policy documented ? If so what are the consequences?
Employees and emails
Look at this web site Read the section Legal Setting of employment. This section discusses the topic of surveillance. Computer software can now monitor every keystroke that an employee makes for as little as $99. This section also refers to "cyber slacking", which is the use of email and the internet during work time posing a threat to productivity.
A well publicised court case involving the use of email during work time was between Ansett and one of its employees, Ms Gencarelli. Ms Gencarelli was a union delegate and she distributed information via email which was critical of Ansett's role in the negotiations with her union. She was dismissed for "unauthorised business use" of email. The case went to court and the judge ruled that the use of email was "authorised business use" and Ms Gencarelli was reinstated.
You can read the details of this case here under the heading Employees and emails
Task 2
Computerisation has increased productivity, however, it also has the capacity to decrease productivity. How?
What strategies are some companies implementing to monitor employees use of computers during work time ? Is this ethical?
Do you agree with the judge's ruling in the case between Ms Gencarelli and Ansett ? Why or why not?
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