Hi team, I'm working on an exciting new post for next week. We'll learn from one of the best CEOs on how to run ops (he IPO'ed 3x đ€Ż). As a breather, today is a quick one about two how-tos that cover the very basics of being in ops.
đ Forward it to your colleagues just starting out!
How to admin
If you work in ops, you will be an admin. It feels powerful and exciting the first time, but you will also realize that being an admin means you are responsible for the performance of the tool. If something breaks, your colleagues will come to you. Here are a few tips to ensure that it doesn't happen often.
Every SaaS tool has some or all of the following features which youâll manage:
access control
automations
customizable fields
notifications
Access control
There is only one framework here: Need To Know. Every team member should only have access to the information they need to know. Not more, not less.
In small teams that feels weird, as if colleagues don't trust each other. It is not about trust but security. It is so easy to accidentally delete or overwrite data, or forward it to third parties. But if your colleagues don't have that option in the first place, you limit the number of possible failures from the start. Always use access control.
Automations
They are great for customizing any tool for the teams that use it. Make your life easier by
Planning: Figure out what the automation needs to do before starting to build. Do you need a new automation or can you extend an existing one?
Testing: Always test any new automation. Try to think of as many edge cases that it needs to cover. If you have access to a sandbox environment (e.g. in Salesforce), use it.
Auditing: Every 6 months or so, check whether any automation can be deleted or merged with another one. The fewer automations you have, the better.
Customizable fields
This applies especially to CRM tools like Salesforce or Hubspot. They are strong out of the box, but you will add custom fields to capture or display data.
Naming conventions: Be descriptive and make sure the name of the field reflects the data. Don't call it "Source 2".
Documentation: Use the description or write down separately what the field is used for. You will thank yourself later.
Notifications
They are very tricky. Too few and people will complain that they were not informed. Too many and they will be ignored. If it is the right number, people will use the notification stream as their personal todo list and don't check the tool themselves. That is dangerous too: As the admin, you become implicitly responsible for their daily tasks.
There is no easy answer here, just advice: Think carefully why you want to send a notification.
How to work with customer support
All tools will eventually break. That's why customer support exists. Just donât write them saying âSomething just broke, where is my data?â. They wonât know what to do and will have to ask a ton of questions.
Instead, here's how you can help them resolve your issues quickly:
I did X via these steps:
A
B
C
I expected Y to happen.
Instead, Z happened. I think it might be because of [hypothesis].
Can you help me figure out why?
Include screenshots or videos where necessary.
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