People never stop amazing me when it comes to technology. Many let it intimidate them to the point where they feel unable to walk through a simple troubleshooting process. What also gets me is that these people have been working with computers for years! Why am I worked up today? I have to show someone how to change a default printer.
For all the flak that Microsoft gets they really do try to make simple tasks, simple. They even have a "Printers" button in the start menu for crying out loud! As an IT guy, who was in the middle of troubleshooting backup issues, it frustrates me when I have to stop what I'm doing to tell someone how to use this "Printers" section of Windows.
However, since I am Tall, Dark and IT, I put on a different set of lenses. I would much rather be bothered about a simple issue, than someone who tried to troubleshoot the problem themselves and REALLY hosed something up. I encourage people to not be intimidated and to try things themselves… but it really is a fine line between when to troubleshoot and when to ask the IT guy for help. I know that this lady didn't want to bother me with what she knew was a trivial problem but in reality, that's what I'm paid for.
I must appreciate that these people don't want to take up my time but they also don't want to make the problem worse. I am a big believer in teaching people how to fish, so I try not to be frustrated when they ask what hook they should be using.
I both understand your frustration and appreciate your conclusion. It's not always fun, but it's part of the job.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who abuse IT though. They'd rather ask "the tech guy" a question than research it themselves. Not everybody is like that, but there are some.
For all types of users, it can be helpful to provide a basic troubleshooting workflow (it really must be basic; nobody is going to look up a document on your Intranet about it). Something like: Check help, check Google, then check with me. OR just: Try it yourself for 2 minutes, then ask. Something like that can dramatically reduce the load on IT. But more importantly, it can make people more efficient and confident.
That's one area in which I struggle... I'm not sure how to empower people to be confident with technology. I try, but I really never know if I'm successful with that or not.
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit this but sometimes I'm a little passive-aggressive with the idea of helping someone with a simple task. I will often ignore an email or phone call pertaining to something simple for a few minutes or until I finish a task. By the time I return the message (usually around 10-15 minutes), about 65% of the time they have figured the problem out.
In my experience, calling the IT guy is usually a knee-jerk reaction when someone hits a road block. I totally agree with you in the fact that not everyone is like this... but there definitely are some :)