Onboarding Staff for a Data Help Desk

To onboard staff for a help desk effectively, you’ll need to provide them with various types of information and training.

By investing in comprehensive training and development programs, data help desks can ensure that their staff and volunteers are knowledgeable, confident, and well-equipped to provide valuable support to the research community in managing their data effectively and adopting FAIR principles.

Dedicated training programs for volunteers are essential to develop their skills and confidence in providing support to users. This training ensures volunteers are well-prepared to answer questions and guide researchers effectively.

Talk about opportunities for new staff to work with experienced colleagues and receive guidance.

Overview of Participating

  1. Job description
    • A detailed explanation of the role, responsibilities, and expectations.
  2. Help desk policies
    • An overview of the help desk’s policies, procedures, and guidelines for providing support.
  3. Highlight how Volunteers Can Participate
    • Highlighting the various ways volunteers can participate, such as answering questions, sharing demos, or creating one-pagers, can help them choose roles that align with their expertise and comfort levels.
  4. Communicate Support for Volunteers
    • Emphasize the support available to volunteers, assuring them it’s okay not to know every answer and that they will have the support of experienced professionals.
  5. Volunteer Guidelines
    • Providing guidelines and tips to help volunteers prepare and contribute is crucial. These guidelines can offer advice on how to answer questions and what types of information to include in resources like one-pagers or brief recordings.
  6. Orientation Webinars
    • Orientation webinars held ahead of time can ensure all volunteers are on the same page regarding the help desk’s goals, procedures, and expected interactions.

Topics To Train On

  1. Common User Questions
    • Training sessions should address common researcher questions such as data management best practices, where to find or deposit data, creating data management plans, FAIR principles, and data citation. They should also cover the community’s areas of need, including acquiring, cleaning, archiving, and citing data, as well as reproducible workflows.
  2. Data Management
    • Training should cover basic data management concepts, especially since many researchers have little to no formal training in this area. Providing basic handouts on data management is also recommended.

Provide Resources to Answer User Questions

  1. Where to Find Answers
    • Volunteers should receive information on available resources for answering questions, potentially including links to relevant documentation and lists of data experts.
  2. Starter Questions
    • Providing a postcard with a list of resources and potential questions could also be helpful.
    • Consider creating a starter set of question topics, specific questions, and answers to inform help desk volunteers.
    • Provide insights and findings from past Data Help Desks, including the types of questions asked and the level of satisfaction.

Communicating with Users

  1. How to Help Users
    • Training should emphasize the importance of sharing not just informatics but also science expertise to build trust with researchers. Volunteers should be encouraged to explain their understanding of good data management practices in a way that resonates with researchers.
    • Training can also highlight effective ways to present content at a data help desk, such as demos, workshops, and handouts.
  2. Communication Skills
    • Training on effective communication, active listening, and conflict resolution.
    • Emphasis on building rapport with users, understanding their needs, and providing empathetic support.
    • Knowledge of how to provide constructive feedback and receive feedback from users and colleagues.
    • Volunteers should be approachable, show interest, listen carefully, and clarify the question to understand the user’s true need.

Resources for Volunteers

  1. Help desk handbook: A comprehensive guide to the help desk’s policies, procedures, and best practices.
  2. Contact information: Contact details for key stakeholders, including management, IT support, and external partners.
  3. Help desk community: Access to an online community or forum where staff can connect with each other, share experiences, and seek support.

Technical Information

  1. Software and systems: Familiarization with the help desk software, ticketing system, and other technical tools used by the team.

Volunteer Surveys

  1. After Event Volunteer Surveys
    • Post-event surveys can gather feedback from volunteers on what worked well and what could be improved in future training and events.