Where are you now? (continued)

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

Looking at this table, we can assume that Richard Piccalilli needs training and support with: spreadsheets, desktop publishing, email, ICT troubleshooting and monitoring skills.