Uniforms For the Help Desk?

An anonymous reader writes "I am an IT worker in a mid sized company with approximately 500 employees. There are 30 people on the IT staff, 6 of whom are on the help desk. Our help desk does have significant visibility in the company, and most people know us by face (some by name). Recently the idea has been floated up the management chain to have these help desk workers wear IT department branded shirts. The idea is to promote visibility and unity. Wearing of these shirts would be mandatory Monday through Thursday. The shirts would not be identical (there would be several styles offered). We would be the only department with specific garments outside of the normal business casual dress code. Is management out of line with the industry in promoting this sort of policy change? Is the singling out of 6 employees as 'the IT guys' a step in the right direction, or does it detract from the professionalism that we are trying to display as a department?"

Comments

I know style they Should be

[Herkum01]

Call them red shirts, and remind them what happens to red shirts in Star Trek, because as the saying goes, image is everything!

Well...

[Guil Rarey]

is the color blaze orange with concentric circles on the back?

Other Roles Would Be Good Too

[psbrogna]

While we're on the subject, I'd like sales people to be readily recognizable as well. Perhaps a red S emblazoned on their forehead with a red-hot branding iron.

Re:Other Roles Would Be Good Too

[rainmaestro]

For the accountants, a nice big "A" emblazoned on the breast. Perhaps in a lovely scarlet color.

Superhero costumes to hide true identities

[Rene S. Hollan]

Given how IT staff get harassed to fix everything, and blamed for everything broken, I would suggest an idea floated during my days as a university student.

See, we had these "Programmers On Duty", or PODs, many of whom were volunteers, who would look at your program, and attempt to help you find what was wrong. This was pretty much a thankless job, and anything you broke, and they couldn't fix, was considered their fault. (This was the late 70s era of punched cards, and computer printouts, with actual terminals a rare and coveted tool -- the POD had an office with, you guessed it, a terminal -- a CRT to boot, so one would not have to keep trying to use the back of discarded printouts in the DECwriters. The attraction of POD duty was access to that terminal, in hopes it would be a slow day.)

A bunch of us thought that PODs should be issued distinctive uniforms as well: superhero-style costumes actually. Ostensibly this was to distinguish them as members of a rare breed: people who could debug programs quickly. In fact, the intent was to shield their identity lest the be pestered to provide help while off duty.

Re:Superhero costumes to hide true identities

[tempest69]

Yea, and when /insert supervillan here/ attacks. The extra time spent killing the POD's would provide time for the others to escape.
brilliant

Storm

Oblig.

[Weaselmancer]

"You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear."

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[larry bagina]

The assless chaps and leather vest are nice but I think the ball gag would interfere with conversations.

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[UnxMully]

yeah, maybe someone should ask why management isn't wearing department specific garments that say "management" on them.

What do you think a tie actually is?

A garrotte in training?

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[sjames]

It's to keep you from abusing a lamp cord when you decide the time has come.

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[Red Flayer]

Good point. I would have to see the uniforms before passing judgment. Without further information, I would say that in general, uniforms marginalize individuals and make them feel like a smaller cog in the machine.

I've seen the uniforms. I have no problem with wearing one of them, as long as it isn't the red one.

BOSS: Ensign Flayer, you and Scotty head over to the VP of Marketing's office to troubleshoot his docking station.
ME: FUCK

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[adamstew]

or "Beardo the Bearded"

Re:Professionalism

[ion]

Maybe a uniform design like a red jacket with a shining insignia on the left chest and a black top that covers the shoulders and a little down. + black pants. Naturally all made in spandex.

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[Tracy Reed]

I thought it was to hold the foreskin back.

armbands?

[Aurisor]

You might want to float the idea of having armbands. They're unobtrusive, sharp, and have been shown in the past to foster a sense of shared identity.

Might want to give a little thought to putting a logo of some sort on it too...maybe one of those Indian good luck symbols...you know, something simple that looks good in black and white.

Re:Tell it to the plastic clown

[FiloEleven]

Ooh! What they need is a variety of uniforms depending on the task currently at hand! Working on a server outage? Put on the fireman outfit. Users not obeying your policies? Policeman. Laying cable or moving computers around? Cleaner. Spyware removal? Nurse. Coding? Scientist.

The Judge uniform should of course be used in all meetings, because any psychological trick to get management to actually listen to the IT department should be exploited to the fullest.

The IT Dept should be able to choose its uniforms

[ExRex]

Original Series, NextGen, DSN or Voyager. Seems reasonable to me.