10 Things your IT guy/gal wants you to know

[fenderhutz]

I am in the IT field, if you are not and do some of these things, this is almost EXACTLY what happens behind the scenes

1. If you ask me technical questions please don’t argue with me because you don’t like my answer. If you think you know more about the topic, why ask? And if I’m arguing with you…it’s because I am positive that I am correct, otherwise I’d just say “I don’t know” or give you some tips on where to look it up, I don’t have the time to just argue for the sake of it.

2. Starting a conversation by insulting yourself (i.e. “I’m such an idiot”) will not make me laugh, or feel sorry for you; all it will do is remind me that yes, you are an idiot and that I am going to hate having to talk to you. Trust me; you don’t want to start a call that way.

3. I am ok with you making mistakes, fixing them is my job. I am not ok with you lying to me about a mistake you made. It makes it much harder to resolve and thus makes my job more difficult. Be honest and we can get the problem resolved and continue on with our business.

4. There is no magic “Fix it” button. Everything takes some amount of work to fix, and not everything is worth fixing or even possible to fix. If I say that you just need to re-do a document that you accidentally deleted 2 months ago, please don’t get mad at me. I’m not ignoring your problem, and it’s not that I don’t like you, I just cant always fix everything.

5. Not everything you ask me to do is “urgent”. In fact, by marking things as “urgent” every time, you almost ensure that I treat none of it as a priority.

6. You are not the only one who needs help, and you usually don’t have the most urgent issue. Give me some time to get to your problem, it will get fixed.

7. Emailing me several times about the same issue in the same day is not only unnecessary, it’s highly annoying. Emails will stay until I delete them, I won’t delete them until I’m done with them. I will typically respond as soon as I have a useful update. If it is an urgent issue, let me know (see number 5).

8. Yes, I prefer email over telephone calls. It has nothing to do with being friendly, it’s about efficiency. It is much faster and easier for me to list out a set of questions that I need you to answer than it is for me to call and ask you them one by one. You can find the answers at your leisure and while I’m waiting I can work on other problems.

9. Yes, I seem blunt and rude. It’s not that I mean to, I just don’t have the time to sugar coat things for you. I assume we are both adults and can handle the reality of a problem. If you did something wrong, I will tell you. I don’t care that it was a mistake, because it really makes no difference to me. Don’t take it personal, I just don’t want it to happen again.

10. And finally, yes, I can read your email, I can see what web pages you look at while you are at work, yes, I can access every file on your work computer, and I can tell if you are chatting with people on an instant messenger or chat room (and can also read what you are typing). But no, I don’t do it. It’s unethical, I’m busy, and in all reality you aren’t all that interesting. So unless I am instructed to specifically monitor or investigate your actions, I don’t. There really are much more interesting things on the internet than you.

[Johnny Mack]

are you a sound "engineer", too? you sound like you would do good pulling double duty.

[fenderhutz]

?

[Jared Lash]

I think he's implying that the attitudes are often the same. Whether or not it was your intent, your post gave off the same sort of vibe of "I don't care about you, I'm the expert and I just need to do my job."

[A9X]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

9. Yes, I seem blunt and rude. It’s not that I mean to, I just don’t have the time to sugar coat things for you. I assume we are both adults and can handle the reality of a problem. If you did something wrong, I will tell you. I don’t care that it was a mistake, because it really makes no difference to me. Don’t take it personal, I just don’t want it to happen again.

I like that. You sound a lot like me when I was doing repairs as a part of my job in broadcast.

[fenderhutz]

I got this from an email forward, I didn't write it

It's a FUNNY people, geesh.

[wilser]

"knowledge and experience are not downloadable"

[A9X]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

I got this from an email forward, I didn't write it

It's a FUNNY people, geesh.

It's amusing and ironic because it contains a LOT of truth in it.

[syciprider]

2 things IT guys need to know:

1. You are providing a service. Serve.

2. While your job is important, your schedule does not take priority over those whose jobs actually generate income for the firm to pay everyone's salaries (including yours). If the production folks can't work, you don't get paid.

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by syciprider

2 things IT guys need to know:

1. You are providing a service. Serve.

2. While your job is important, your schedule does not take priority over those whose jobs actually generate income for the firm to pay everyone's salaries (including yours). If the production folks can't work, you don't get paid.

Replies:

1. Providing a service doesn't mean I have to be like customer service and be at anyones whim and be jovial about it.

2. I am getting paid by the same company, the company has an agenda, you may not be #1 on that list. If the SERVERS don't work, the PHONE SYSTEM doesn't work, it's a bigger issue than Joe EndUser that can't get to his email. That can wait. Even though Joe EndUser makes it a HUGE problem and complains, the squeaky wheel doesn't always get the oil.

[rllefebv]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

2. I am getting paid by the same company, the company has an agenda, you may not be #1 on that list. If the SERVERS don't work, the PHONE SYSTEM doesn't work, it's a bigger issue than Joe EndUser that can't get to his email. That can wait. Even though Joe EndUser makes it a HUGE problem and complains, the squeaky wheel doesn't always get the oil.

Word... I'm a DBA. Most EndUsers at my company haven't a clue what it is that I do... That is, until there is a catastrophic loss of data that needs to be recovered! There's nothing very sexy about the day-to-day tasks of 'keeping the lights on', until they go out that is

I generally like it that way, but it does get annoying when someone gets pushy with a request that may be a priority to them, but isn't always my number one concern... Fortunately, most folks at my company are very understanding when I 're-prioritize' their requests... Not all, but most...

-robert

[Baryonyx]

Plus, IT guys are probably too busy playing World of Warcraft to help you anway.

[Jeremy Crockett]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

Replies:

1. Providing a service doesn't mean I have to be like customer service and be at anyones whim and be jovial about it.

2. I am getting paid by the same company, the company has an agenda, you may not be #1 on that list. If the SERVERS don't work, the PHONE SYSTEM doesn't work, it's a bigger issue than Joe EndUser that can't get to his email. That can wait. Even though Joe EndUser makes it a HUGE problem and complains, the squeaky wheel doesn't always get the oil.

Thank you for the OP and for the above-mentioned follow-up.

At our last meeting the new head of the department (don't even get me started on that one) informed us that the instructors and administrators thought we were the "a-holes of the District". I wanted to tell her that that meant we were doing our jobs correctly.

[Munjibunga]

Our IT guy is nice. Or else.

[FL Knifemaker]

Geez! I used to like you FH!!

J/K, good read. My IT guy just mumbles, growls and hands me the bill.

[Depth_Charge]

I worked in IT front line support for over 10 years. Now I am in Service Delivery as an interface between IT and Customers. Here's my take on things

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

1. If you ask me technical questions please don’t argue with me because you don’t like my answer. If you think you know more about the topic, why ask? And if I’m arguing with you…it’s because I am positive that I am correct, otherwise I’d just say “I don’t know” or give you some tips on where to look it up, I don’t have the time to just argue for the sake of it.

Some users are actually interested in the IT field and like to discuss it much like I enjoy discussing bass with known muso's at work. Many people knows there are ways to achieve things that are far better than the company's current strategy. Sometimes these people enjoy engaging in healty debate over these issues. Some people just like a chat and some people sure do love an argument about any topic you let them argue about. And some people are looking to write examples down for their own attempts at entering the IT field.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

2. Starting a conversation by insulting yourself (i.e. “I’m such an idiot”) will not make me laugh, or feel sorry for you; all it will do is remind me that yes, you are an idiot and that I am going to hate having to talk to you. Trust me; you don’t want to start a call that way.

People used to confess to me that computers make them feel dumb. They are relieved when I tell them a computer is actually dumber than a conventional over, and can't do anything at all on it's own.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

3. I am ok with you making mistakes, fixing them is my job. I am not ok with you lying to me about a mistake you made. It makes it much harder to resolve and thus makes my job more difficult. Be honest and we can get the problem resolved and continue on with our business.

This one is so true. Most of the time, we know what you did before we get there

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

4. There is no magic “Fix it” button. Everything takes some amount of work to fix, and not everything is worth fixing or even possible to fix. If I say that you just need to re-do a document that you accidentally deleted 2 months ago, please don’t get mad at me. I’m not ignoring your problem, and it’s not that I don’t like you, I just cant always fix everything.

There are magic fix buttons. They are called backups and restore points. But they add such an administrative overhead to both the employees and the infrastructure, it's often not worth doing to the nth degree for the poor user who in a quarter of the time can recreate the work they couldn't look after the first time around.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

5. Not everything you ask me to do is “urgent”. In fact, by marking things as “urgent” every time, you almost ensure that I treat none of it as a priority.

Well thats just poor Customer Service. Just because something isn't urgent to you, the helpdesk, or the organisation might not make it any less urgent for the person with a problem they need resolved ASAP to continue working. In some cases I accomplished more by just fixing these "urgent" issues than I did wasting my time, theirs and any managers in the chain arguing over what takes priority.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

6. You are not the only one who needs help, and you usually don’t have the most urgent issue. Give me some time to get to your problem, it will get fixed.

See above

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

7. Emailing me several times about the same issue in the same day is not only unnecessary, it’s highly annoying. Emails will stay until I delete them, I won’t delete them until I’m done with them. I will typically respond as soon as I have a useful update. If it is an urgent issue, let me know (see number 5).

It might annoy the support tech but at least you know you are asking for help and trying to resolve an issue that is important to you. Keep emailing support, they might not change their habits but they can

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

8. Yes, I prefer email over telephone call. It has nothing to do with being friendly, it’s about efficiency. It is much faster and easier for me to list out a set of questions that I need you to answer than it is for me to call and ask you them one by one. You can find the answers at your leisure and while I’m waiting I can work on other problems.

A good customer service person can achieve all this and more with a quick phone call...and make a human connection with the PEBKAC calling you

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

9. Yes, I seem blunt and rude. It’s not that I mean to, I just don’t have the time to sugar coat things for you. I assume we are both adults and can handle the reality of a problem. If you did something wrong, I will tell you. I don’t care that it was a mistake, because it really makes no difference to me. Don’t take it personal, I just don’t want it to happen again.

This just wouldn't fly in our support areas. No people skills = get off the front line support and play with servers in the back room.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

10. And finally, yes, I can read your email, I can see what web pages you look at while you are at work, yes, I can access every file on your work computer, and I can tell if you are chatting with people on an instant messenger or chat room (and can also read what you are typing). But no, I don’t do it. It’s unethical, I’m busy, and in all reality you aren’t all that interesting. So unless I am instructed to specifically monitor or investigate your actions, I don’t. There really are much more interesting things on the internet than you.

Plus, we have systems that do that for us, and just print the report. Don't abuse your priveleges and you'll never hit those lists

My $0.02. Abuse away

[Pilgrim]

There needs to be a balance. I see both sides, and I understand that priorities are relative and can shift. But if you don't have good customer service manners, you're not going to be the best IT person. We ALL need people skills. Most of the IT folks I have met are patient and thoughtful, and I appreciate working with them.

[Josh Ryan]

Originally Posted by syciprider

2 things IT guys need to know:

1. You are providing a service. Serve.


2. While your job is important, your schedule does not take priority over those whose jobs actually generate income for the firm to pay everyone's salaries (including yours). If the production folks can't work, you don't get paid.

re: #1 - This is the attitude that probably generated the OP.

Our website generates 70% of our income BTW, just so you know. It's pure retail, no one in company makes a damn thing. I mention this for illustrative purposes, as #2 was a particularly inane POV from a business standpoint in many situations, as both IT and production are increasing symbiotic. No offense.


-- that said, I took the OP as a humor piece, some of it was funny, other parts sounded whiny.

full disclaimer, I do work in IT.

edit: the rude and blunt thing is not OK for anyone, IT, whatever.

[bassman314]

2 websites...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/odds/bofh

- and -

http://bofh.ntk.net/Bastard.html

Read everything... and understand..

*hides the cattle prod*

[mlowe]

I'm just sick of hearing the tools say "i'm not IT savvy" as if it's an excuse that they don't need to have the basic fundamental skills of using a pc, Such as powering it up and down or what login name do i have one?

Most of us drive cars and while i understand not everyone is a race driver or mechanic they still have to learn what the pedals are for. With pc's there's many that think it should be automatic to the point they don't need to learn anything. Like not having pc skills exempts them from having common sense

As for the others, mostly some people amaze me at how switched on they are and that they at least try to find there way through things but still use the caution of asking before doing something they see may be bad.

I once had a stupid stupid woman tell me keyboard just stopped working. Once I picked it up and the half litre of coke spilled out changing it was fine. We all like working with these kind.

I'm glad that kind of it work was over fast and into backend gear only. And yet I've worked with some IT support people who totally suck too.