Dealing with rude/inconsiderate people 2

[BJCooperIT]

I am working a new contract and the company has given me a desk next door to the system administrator. I have new-found admiration for those who perform this job. People think nothing of barging into his office, interrupting a conversation, and demanding his instant attention. This can be anything from a simle question to a demand.

Today they drove him crazy because a new employee just started and she was not setup as a network user. Now this was not his fault, no one thought to notify him in advance. It was an after-thought when she sat down at her desk and could not log in. He is in the middle of many other tasks, yet they expected him to drop everything. I understand both sides, but what do you think? Do all rules of being considerate fly out the window when users deal with IT techs?

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8i & 9i - Windows 2000

 

[sleipnir214]

In my experience, users will generally try to get away with murder. Until they are properly trained.

In my tenure as a SysAdmin, I've learned I can get away with saying, "I'm doing something else that's more important right now. I'll get to it when I can, but it will likely be [some reasonable length of time]. Tell me how to contact you when I get it done or when I need more information."

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[jtb]

1st rule of sales = even jerks have money...

one way is to build a trouble ticket system and ask users who want something what their ticket number is... and getting department leads/managers/executives to build an official priority system...

really works well for me!!

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[pmrankine]

There are two approaches that we've found need to be taken:
Departmental -
we created a support log, nothing fancy just a little web-based db that we could enter user requests and assign priority to.
Company -
a new personnel manager started and brought in a system for new starts and leavers. Basically just a checklist of who needs to do what. Her philosophy is that IT should know first whether it's a leaver or a new start.

These both meant that we could legitimately say to a user that their request was in a queue and would be dealt with - this satisfies most users as makes the decision non-personal.

The culture previous to these changes was those that shouted loudest were dealt with first just to get them "off our backs".

pmrankine

 

[pmonett]

I think it would be a serious case of hauling the HR people over a bed of hot coals.
There is something in the hiring process that needs amending.
As for the IT guy, since not taking care of anything is obviously out of the question, for a first-time offense I would do the job as soon as I could (is there any other time ?), then go have a word with HR, or at least my manager.
For a second-time offense, I would do as before, but write a memo to HR and hierarchy specifying that, due to operational constraints, I cannot take any user creation notices without 24 work hours prior notice (no posting on Friday 5PM for Monday morning !).
At the third offense, I would coldly point out the procedure and have them log a ticket for the next day.
Obviously, if the newcomer is head of IT, that might change the rules somewhat ;-).

In any case, a systems administrator is certainly a job position that requires nerves of steel and a 007-approach to human relations (and not the womanizing kind !).
I am not an admin, but in the course of my career I have worked closely with quite a few. I have always found that, unless it is in an enormous multinational with an IT staff of 20 or more, the IT admin is always the lone firefighter with blazes raging everywhere and dozens of angry users demanding his time simultaneously.
Of course, it is not always like that, just when the guy finally found an hour to get that important upgrade installed that has been waiting for six months or more and that his manager has been chewing his head off about for the past twenty departmental meetings. That is when such a thing will undoubtedly happen.

It is mandatory to have a proper communication protocol between HR (which are supposed to handle ALL hirings and incoming work notices) and IT. When that does happen, such situations are generally avoided.
In small companies, of course, such a situation is rarely attained, and its the usual suspect who has to handle all the issues when they crop up.

If a manager had a client call and bawl his ears off because something was not working, you can be sure that he would pass the buck on down with interest. But an IT admin is supposed to swallow it and deal with the issue right away because, as we all know, its his fault anyway (even if he hasn't been notified).

Nerves of steel, I say.

Pascal.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Congradulations BJCooperIT on the new contract. Glad to hear you're back behind a desk.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[algraff]

I used to get this all the time at the school where I'm the only full-time tech support for 45 classrooms. Elementary kids can mess up computers faster than you would believe. I was always being interrupted to work on something else and never getting anything completely finished.
Adding a little "red tape" to getting tech support solved the problem for me. Our teachers now have to submit a "Tech Support Request" form to the building principal before I can work on anything. He reviews the requests and forwards them to me with a priority rating. Obviously the ones with higher priority get my attention first. If they come to me with questions or a problem, all I have to say is, "Did you fill out a tech support request?" This also provides a written trail of what I've been doing to prove I'm a valuable asset to the school.

algraff :

http://www.bv.k12.oh.us

http://www.stanleysauctions.com

http://www.srpdc.org

 

[BJCooperIT]

Thanks CajunCenturion! It is short (2 months), but a welcome contract. It adds Oracle 9i and Crystal Reports to the resume, so I am a happy camper.

jtb
Trouble ticket? Hmmm... how about hanging one of those ticket dispensers, like the kind they use at the deli to figure whose turn it is, outside his office?
"Number 27 you are next!"

sleipnir214 & pmonett
This admin is not a "people person". His method of responding to these events is with dripping sarcasm. This puts most people off and is not, in my opinion, an effective training method. He is a perfect candidate for a stress induced heart attack.

All
This problem doesn't just exist for network admins. I have had users rush into my office and interrupt a phone call, only to complain that the word "Average" should be abbreviated on their application's screen. My approach is to treat them gently but firmly, saying: "I am on the phone right now, but I will get back to you when I am free." Later, after discussing their issue, I respond that I understand that "__fill-in-the-blank__" is important to them. I tell them that I will let them know when/if it will be addressed based on my other priorities. In my circumstances, I am lucky that I can say that my manager will determine the priority level.

I have to wonder why it is that we are treated this way. Many of these same rude people would not dream of barging into, say, an accountant's office and behaving this way. Is it because we are thought of as a service group? Are we therefore subservient to them in their minds?

My philosophy is similar to the golden rule:
You get what you give!

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8i & 9i - Windows 2000

 

[sleipnir214]

BJCooperIT:
<facetious>
I wouldn't worry about your sysadmin. If the use of sarcasm hasn't killed me yet, it probably won't do him in any time soon.

And I've found that sarcasm, then applied correctly, to be a magnificent user-training tool.
</facetious>


The accountant has a specific r[&ocirc;]le -- he keeps the books. IT folk tend to be all over the place in terms of duties. If you walk past the corporate accountant's office and see him muttering arcane imprecations over a spreadsheet, you know he's busy doing his job and know to leave him alone. If you walk past a programmer's office and see him staring blindly off into space, it's difficult to know whether he's working out a programming problem in his head or just daydreaming.

The second is the the corporate accountant's job means something to people. They may not know much about accountancy, but they do have a general idea what it entails. To a vast majority of people, IT is just plain magic.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[MasterRacker]

I do agree with sleipnir but there can be other forces at work also. To many people, IT work is no different than plumbing. You plug the pieces together and that's it.

I actually had a purchasing manager blow his top during a plannig meeting for a MRP system setup: "Why are we wasitng time with all these details - that's what the program is supposed to do for us. This is commercial software. Don't we just put the disk in and it runs?"

This is one of the many things we have to try and deal with.


Jeff
The future is already here - it's just not widely distributed yet...

 

[jrbarnett]

BJCooperIT

I've been in that situation before (having users chase me for questions), sometimes interrupting me while I was dealing with somebody else, assuming their problem was the most important thing to fix at that moment in time.
It got so bad at times we had to stop using the canteen, because if in the queue for coffee, people would come up to us and ask a computer question.

For the team's own sanity's sake we did the following:
1. Made sure we had our breaks and took full lunch hour.
We also had a computer literate friend not in the IT department come and seek us about 10:30 and 3:30 to remind us to get our breaks in case we forgot to take them.

2. Make sure we didn't do overtime unless authorised by boss, even if the outstanding task list was absolutely enormous.
We arrived at the start time and were normally finished within about a minute of the official finish time.

John

 

[BJCooperIT]

I must admit that on more than one occasion I have ducked into a rest room to avoid a specific type of user. You probably work with at least one of this type of person yourself. The one who thinks that whatever their problem, the earth will come to a shuddering stop if it is not dealt with at that precise moment in time. Production problems are one thing, but often these are issues that are not a top priority.

Unfortunately, I have even been followed into the bathroom by someone who just couldn't wait to speak to me. I am a friendly sort of person, but I draw the line at discussing business while uh, um, er... well, you know!

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8i & 9i - Windows 2000

 

[ecobb]

On a lighter note, BJCooperIT - I draw the line at discussing business while uh, um, er... well, you know! I worked with a V.P. of Sales that would take his cell phone with him into the bathroom and conduct business while he was...well...doing his business! I think it's almost as funny as it is gross!

Hope This Helps!

Ecobb

&quot;My work is a game, a very serious game.&quot; - M.C. Escher

 

[DrJavaJoe]

Ecobb, What's that noise, hey it sounds like...

&quot;Two strings walk into a bar. The first string says to the bartender: 'Bartender, I'll have a beer. u.5n$x5t?*&4ru!2[sACC~ErJ'. The second string says: 'Pardon my friend, he isn't NULL terminated'.&quot;

 

[flapeyre]

BJCooperIT:

Perhaps you could (tounge in cheek) suggest to the aforementioned VP that he should move his office to Flushing (NY).


&quot;When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for here you have been, and there you will always long to return.&quot;

--Leonardo da Vinci

 

[BJCooperIT]

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8i & 9i - Windows 2000

 

[katz76]

I find that if I give respect to my users they give me respect back. In my 7 years in IT I have never once told someone that their problem or request is not important. In my opinion that's one of the worst things an IT person can do and it really screws up relations between IT and the rest of the company.

 

[Chopstik]

katz76,

I agree with you. In order to obtain respect you have to give respect. I recognise that many of the users I work with/for do not possess the knowledge that I may have regarding how applications work and try to accommodate their questions as best I can without rolling my eyes or belittling them (which I have witnessed some of my IT co-workers do). If they interrupt me, I let them know it in a joking, or at least a non-threatening manner, and let them know I will be with them as soon as I can - and then I do. In return, most of those I support are cognizant of those efforts and do not impose themselves needlessly. When I explain to them how things work, they are grateful. And when I need assistance on the business side, they are usually more than willing to assist.

Essentially, the respect is typically mutual on both sides and rudeness, whether deliberate or inadvertant, is cut to a minimum. Only once have I dealt with a truly rude individual, and that individual was in IT!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
&quot;If you can't explain something to a six-year-old, you really don't understand it yourself.&quot;
-- Albert Einstein

 

[Stevehewitt]

I prefer the B*stard operator from hell aproach myself! ;-)


Steve.

 

[Onyxpurr]

Yes, I have to admit this is one of my irritants as well.

I agree with jrbarnett in that I take my breaks and lunches seriously. I used to be a serious workaholic, but know I've realized the enourmous benefit from taking time away from my desk to relax. If I didn't I would have to be taken out on a gurney each day.

As far as interruptions are concerned, I think I've taught my customers pretty well. If they catch me while out, I may talk to them about work, but always end up saying, "Okay, now if you could follow this conversation up with an e-mail that would be great. I'll look at my priorities/task list and let you know when I can get to it."

Most of my customers, now mostly e-mail me. Also, I think my customers have learned that if they e-mail me, I get back to them IMMEDIATELY. If I can't solve their problem or work on their task within 15 minutes of getting the e-mail, I e-mail them with an ETA of when I can get it done. This documents everything nicely.

In my experience, it's how I consistently handle these interruptions that changes things. If I don't have a process, and let my customers know the process, they'll never change (why would they? they'll never know anything is wrong or inconsiderate unless you tell them)