Quality technical support personnel are in critical demand. Compounding this demand are the expanding expectations of customers and employers for people in this role. Customers and employers always expect people in technical support to know their own products and services. But now, support personnel are often expected to help customers with all customer technical requirements, not just those associated with a specific product or service offering. This new, consulting relationship with customers requires a wide range of skills beyond traditional technical knowledge—especially skills such as interpersonal communications, problem analysis, problem solving, and negotiation.

These added expectations raise two key problems for management. First, can we (and should we) expect all technical support personnel to be motivated to excel in this re-defined job role? Second, how do we help people develop these new skills?

The motivation issue must be addressed up front. Some technical personnel will not be interested in performing this re-defined role. They are content being the expert on their own products and services. And, this is not necessarily bad; usually there continues to be a requirement for people in the traditional role. But, for technical support personnel seeking improved career opportunities and increased job satisfaction, the re-defined, consultative role can offer significant advantages. We constantly hear statements like these from individuals that have gone through the transition:

To develop these new skills we must re-think our approach to technical education— traditional lecture/discussion sessions supported with overheads and labs are no longer sufficient. More interpersonal interaction will be required to introduce and permit the practice of skills required to fulfill the consultative role. In the At Issue section, Van Wright reviews a few ideas you might want to consider if you are facing this challenge in your own organization.

As John Wills suggests in the Focus section, the education and training tactics we employ must change as job competencies change. Since training organizations have traditionally focused on knowledge learning, most already have a rich repertoire of techniques and delivery methods To teach product/service knowledge, they have drawn from a wide menu of traditional training solutions, including print self-study, classroom lecture/demos, multimedia presentations, distance learning and the like.

But, development of consulting-related skills requires a different set of approaches. The rest of this issue describes some of those approaches.

To develop consulting skills, we must be concerned with:

• Problem analysis and problem-solving skills
• Interpersonal interaction in various forms
• Transfer of new skills to the job

Let's look briefly at each.

• Multilevel management communications
• Business analysis
• Total solution justification (as opposed to competitive product/service justification)
• Conflict resolution

The question often arises, "Did the training we offered really accomplish anything?" There is increasing pressure on staff development organizations to demonstrate that actual improvement in staff performance results from the training investment. Many organizations and industries are beginning to require formal certification procedures to verify staff competency. As with training, performance/competency testing methods are influenced by the types of knowledge and skills we are trying to develop. The table [below] shows a few ideas for measuring the knowledge and skills competencies of technical specialists.

We are using the term "presenter" here rather than instructor or trainer for a reason. Trainers instruct—the trainer's role is typically to deliver content, demonstrate acceptable performance, and evaluate student performance. But, in consultative skills development the presenter wears a different hat—that of facilitator and mentor. Instead of delivering information, presenters guide activities intended to elicit ideas, judgments, and decisions from participants. They answer procedural questions and provide overall pacing. Presenters may also play the role of customer or client during role plays.

What they do not do is intercede in discussions, give immediate, authoritative answers to questions, express what they would do in a situation, or specify a "school solution" as the only acceptable alternative during simulations and case studies. Instead, they encourage participants to evaluate the pros and cons of alternatives that other participants raise. Performing this new role is often as challenging for traditional classroom trainers as the consulting role is for technical specialists.

Often, too, the presenter's responsibilities do not end at the conclusion of a "training session." Presenters may be as involved as managers in providing performance feedback during portfolio reviews and mentoring situations.

If you reflect on the training, transfer, testing, and competency measurement issues discussed earlier, it should be clear that immediate managers must also be actively involved if technical specialists on their staff are to succeed in their new role as technical consultant. Here are some things the manager may be called upon to do:

• Encourage talented technical specialists to accept a new, consulting role.
• Offer support and encouragement as technical specialists develop their consulting skills.
• Support (rather than disparage) those who choose not to move into the new role.
• Monitor and encourage portfolio development by guiding the employee into increasingly challenging consultative situations.
• Make joint calls; observe on-the-job performance, and offer constructive performance feedback.

The traditional methods we have used to develop technical competence are still required, but they are not enough. The development of consultative skills requires interpersonal, interactive practice and on-the-job follow-up. Trainers have to become facilitators and mentors. Managers have to become motivators and coaches.