Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 845 Chapter 24 Customer Support, Communication, and Professionalism completion time, and other terms on which the two parties agree. By having a cus- tomer signature before work, you always protect yourself against a misinterpretation of expectations. A client or customer should never receive less than they agreed to. At times, they may receive more, but never less. Teamwork Teamwork is the cooperative eff orts by individual team members to achieve a goal. Th e team goal of customer support is customer satisfaction. When you work as part of a team, you place the common goal of the team above your own goals, such as recognition and promotion. Teamwork is an essential component of a successful business. As a team member, you must be willing to help other team members and to share your expertise and knowledge with others. For example, a customer calls and asks about the status of his or her computer. If the person assigned to repair the computer is out of work that day, you should check the job ticket to review the status of the repair. It could be ready for pickup or awaiting parts. You should try to help the customer even if it is not your assigned repair. Make a note of the customer call and record your actions. For example, you might write a note on the ticket such as, “Customer called and asked the status of the repair. I informed him it was awaiting parts and should be ready in a day or two.” Th en, sign the note. When working as a member of a team, you should be willing to share your knowl- edge with other team members. Knowledge is not just limited to technical issues. It also covers company procedures or any other bit of knowledge that might help another team member perform his or her duties. Job Protection A common, yet unattractive, trait in the business world occurs when a person will not share his or her knowledge with another team member. Th e concept is referred to as “job protection.” Th is situation happens, for example, if one person is the only person that knows how to perform specifi c tasks and is not willing to share this in- formation or train another person. Th e person thinks that he is secure in his position with the company if he is the only person who knows how to perform that task. In reality, this type of person is jeopardizing his or her position with the company. Th e company management or owner will not like the fact that an employee is not willing to share knowledge for the good of the company. If the person is unwilling to share knowledge or to help other team members, he or she will most likely fi nd himself or herself looking for other employment. Remember that working as a team requires supporting other team members, especially by sharing knowledge and rein- forcing good work. If you are not willing to function as a team member, then you will likely not be a member of the team for very long. Helping Team Members You must be willing to do more than only what you have been assigned. For example, a collection of repair tickets might be divided between team members. Each member is assigned four tickets each. If you fi nish your repairs before anyone else, you should not assume that you are done for that day. You should see if you could help someone else with his or her assigned work. Employers do not like to see employees that are doing just enough to get by or wasting company time. Employers love to see employees going above and beyond their assigned duties. When you fi nish your assigned tasks, you should immediately inform your supervisor and volunteer to help other team members with their as- signed duties. Th is will impress your employer and also be appreciated by fellow team A+ NOTE There will often be one or two questions related to profes- sionalism on the CompTIA A+ Exams. While one would think that the subject of professional dress would be obvious, some students always seem to try to justify their inappropriate dress as suitable for working on computers. Remember that you are not simply working on a computer but are representing your employer.