Christopher Weeks joined Stefanini as a Support Engineer in 2006, relishing the opportunity to work for a blue chip client and get to grips with his first official corporate IT role. He’s since been promoted to Team Leader and management roles and come to appreciate the value of a supportive environment, where every employee understands their role within a wider team effort.
We caught up with Christopher to discuss his experience at Stefanini, including learning how to keep multiple parties happy, the importance of trusting colleagues and being prepared to get clear on personal strengths and areas for development.
This is the eighth interview in our series involving our Digital Workplace Services (DWS) colleagues. DWS spans multiple roles and skillsets, with team members able to meet customers’ changing needs. These range from traditional Service Desk and Field Service to modern infrastructure capabilities, including cloud, virtualization, platforms and applications. This series explores the career journeys, best practices and learnings of DWS colleagues across EMEA and showcases what life at Stefanini involves.
Why did you choose to join Stefanini?
Originally, I wanted to join Stefanini because there was an opportunity to work with a ‘blue chip’ client. However, since I’ve joined, I’ve come to see all the opportunities working here offers, including new work challenges, and a really supportive environment. While my Stefanini experience has involved a series of different client contracts with different staffing, I’ve found that there is a concerted effort to show each employee that they are part of a far wider team. If I was joining Stefanini today, this is what I would be most attracted to.
How have you evolved professionally within the company so far?
I joined Stefanini in 2006 as a Support Engineer. This was my first official IT support job within a corporate environment and the first opportunity I had to work at different support levels, which meant dealing with increasingly complex challenges.
Since then, I have progressed to my position as a Team Leader and have recently been promoted to a management role which involves supervising quality control and making sure we deliver excellent service across our clients within EMEA.
Nevertheless, the biggest evolution for me has been changing the way I work to remember that our role often involves keeping multiple people happy – and that these people will sometimes have conflicting priorities. Being aware of this, while still finding ways to keep all parties happy has been a big part of my professional evolution.
What are the most important things that you have learned here?
Teamwork is hugely important – you need to rely on and trust your colleagues, especially while delivering a service as a group where you are all responsible. Equally, communication is something that I’ve learned to be hugely important, you have to say what you mean and really mean what you say. Being honest in all of your interactions normally means that good things will follow.
What are some best practices learned and applied in your current role that you could share with us?
My core belief is that you must be open and honest with people at all times. Never promise to deliver, or even allow an expectation of delivery, unless you are certain you can make something happen. Any other approach means that the customer or the people around you will soon discover that your words – however well intentioned – aren’t to be trusted.
I’d also say trusting in other people is really important. Our service is really all about people, so the quality of our people directly lines up with the quality of our service. As individuals, we all like to feel empowered and I try to help each team member feel able to deliver in the best way they can.
What do you like most about working at Stefanini?
Stefanini allows me to thrive, ensuring I can take the initiative in order to reach my targets – within reason of course. I know that I have the support from management above if I need this, but for the most part I am allowed to work freely. I feel like I have the closest possible experience to being my own boss while still working within a major company.
What advice would you give to a new Stefanini employee?
It’s important to remember that a Managed Service Provider (MSP) isn’t just brought in because a company wants to lower its expenditures. Instead, an MSP can be brought in because the company wants IT support and needs outside expertise. Once you realise this, you’ll soon discover just how empowering being part of Stefanini can be. Either individually or as part of a team, you can play your part in creating a success story. To this end, communicate with your line manager and colleagues, always think about how best you can contribute, and the rewards will come!
What advice would you give to other Stefanini colleagues when it comes to building a success story here?
It’s important to get clear on the role that we have to play in supporting our customers. Focus on delivering what is crucial and be prepared to work closely with your team and line management to achieve this. If you are part of a team, don’t try and outperform everyone else, which won’t balance the team well. Instead, work with your colleagues and line manager to see if there’s anything extra you can do as a collective.
Another way of putting it would be: “be the best version of you”. Recognise where you excel and what you need to work on; once you’ve done that, your performance will improve and your self-confidence will grow. Chasing success is often counter-productive. Instead, simply focus on doing what is right at all times and success will follow.
Want to be our next success story? At Stefanini, we’re always interested in hearing from talented candidates across all levels of experience. You can browse our current EMEA vacancies, here.
