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?

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

 

[robbieguy2003]

I agree Onyxpurr,

One thing i do hate about user support (working in the ISP industry) is any form of script support.

People will call in with all sorts of scripts be it in any language and wonder why it will not work with your server.

What really gets me is the lazyness of these people. They will upload the script, call the script and if it doesnt work call support.

The users never read the manuals or try to configure the script to the server configuration and then without any prior thought come out with the following 'It must be the server, my stolen freeware script is absolutely fine as it worked on the demo server setup specifically for this script by real IT Professionals'.

Sorry if i seem bitter but day in day out i am seeing these cowboys ripping good customers off and its really starting to eat at me.



Rob

 

[sem]

We suffered from similar issues some time ago. Fortunately now Help Desk is the only IT division accessible by users. This "middle-tier" is quite efficient. Their knowledge of data domain (and organisation structure ) in most cases is sufficient enough to set priorities and pass the task to an appropriate IT person. Some issues are even resolved on that level and don't reach us at all. This was indeed a very complex task to make the whole bank to forget developers and sysadmins phone numbers, but thanks to our manager now we may breathe with relief. Sure, some of them are still allowed to ask their questions informally, but in this case you may expect reciprocal benevolence

Regards, Dima

http://seminihin.narod.ru

 

[rosieb]

Users are..., well they're users.

Frequently untrained, often under pressure and usually uninterested in the technology. They need IT to work.

Rather than rush in, fix a problem and rush off again, sometimes it's instructive to spend real time in a department, find out what their frustrations are, fix all the little things they haven't mentioned, scrounge a cup of coffee, have a chat, find out what they are doing and the pressures on them AND let them know you're sometimes under pressure. Especially if you can follow up with (for example) "You know that printer that you hate, I've found a better one going spare, I'll get it down next week."

Next time they call, or you visit them, you're a person, not some tekkie (or even tetchy) zombie. If they recognise you're under pressure, the're less likely to bother you with individual trivia - especially if they know they can ask next time you're "visiting".

Initially this approach takes time and effort, but it really pays off.

Rosie

 

[BJCooperIT]

Maybe it is time for a little introspection. Do we treat others this way? For example, I once had an outlet in a modular wall that was faulty (it actually shocked my office mate!). Sometimes my PC suffered from power flickers and rebooted while I was working. I lost hours of work and was very frustrated.

When maintenance took 3 work days to show up to fix it, was I cordial? Yes.

Was I even pleasant when they said it would take 2 weeks to get the part? Yes.

Did my disgust show when they hauled out an extension cord as a temporary fix? Yes.

I suppose 2 out of three is not too bad, but it is improvable.

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

 

[JillofAllTrades]

I used to be the sarcastic person who grudgingly helped and then muttered under my breath about the idiots. But then I realized that these idiots are trying to do their jobs and are being forced to use systems they may feel they can't rely on.

Also, they often feel free to barge in with their problems because they think we are all-knowing magical creatures who know everything off the tops of our heads. They don't realize that many questions require painstaking troubleshooting or tedious research.

What I like to do to set the tone off right is type up a little letter to all new hires. "Hello...here is your logon, password, etc...Here is your PC...it has this, that, and the other software...Here is what you can contact me for and when and how you can contact me for it - preferrably via email...Here is what you cannot contact me for (i.e., home networks)...Here is what we monitor and you can find our relevant policies at this location..." and my last line is something about me not being as mean as everyone says I am.

When someone contacts me, I make them feel heard and let them know that I understand WHY it is a problem (Oh, if your GoldMine isn't synching then you don't know about your new leads - that sucks!) and why if I can't fix it immediately (Well, ya see, no email is coming into the company right now, so I really need to fix that first. After all, if the new sales inquiries can't arrive by email then there won't be any in GoldMine for you anyway.)

And I love rosieb's comment about finding out what they are not complaining about. Sometimes you are able to easily fix several small nagging problems in a few minutes that they never wanted to bother you with, and boy does that buy you a lot of goodwill!

Believe me, I am not all nice! I get mad when people do what I ask them not to do or when they ask me the same question twice - especially when I tell them to "write this down, you will need this info again". I have made an employee cry and some people are convinced that I made two people quit. You can't win them all!

Christine

 

[rosieb]

I'm suddenly in between! Even worse, between various bits of IT (which is where consideration seems to reach a nadir.)

Yesterday, I was away from my desk for 2 hours. In that time I got I got 1 Help Desk problem logged and 2 chasers ALL FROM THE SAME PERSON (amongst many others).

He's IT, he has also delayed on providing a specification for this, known for over a month, suddenly it's URGENT,URGENT, URGENT....

And when I point out that, whilst important to him, in the greater scheme of things, it's not even in my top 20. And, no, I'm not going to have my staff drop everything.

My point being that when it comes to snotty users, IT are often the worst. (Q: Spec, why should I produce a written spec when I can just chat to X)? Ans: You can't just talk to him; give me a written spec.)

Suddenly, I'm the mean one for not jumping. Bring on the bitumen!

 

[mugs82]

We mostly solved the interuption problem by moving all of our IT department into one office space and putting a big sign that said "Authorized Personnel Only". It actually works. Still, we get the occasional person who has the nerve to interupt staff meetings with non emergency issues. It's always amazing to me when it's someone in senior management...it's like would you react as nicely as me if I walked in and interupted one of your staff meetings. How do these folks make it?


I guess people forget their manners when requesting IT service because they are under pressure to get their job done. They also have no clue about the complexity of a computer. When I was working for a consulting company, I had clients that would buy a new Mercedes every two years, but would freak when they had to spend $200 bucks repairing their 2 year old computer that was their main tool for getting their job done.

I've found, that certain people are very insecure about their lack of understanding about how their computer works. But don't want to admit that they may be the primary problem. So you end up with a lot of blame going towards these "awful PC's" or "incompetent" IT people. There's not really a good way to deal with those type of folks...so your best bet is just to grin and bear it. If you have a decent boss, they are going to know that every company has it's problem users and he or she will understand that it's nearly impossible to keep them satisfied. If you are rude or impatient back to them, it only makes you look bad.

Also, when your working with problem users, be sure to document everything you do with them. That way, if you get put on the spot with your superiors because of that user, you'll have something of a trail to get you off the hook.

 

[rosieb]

mugs82

We've gone one better! For "security reasons" the support unit has a keypad lock on the door. If you aren't part of IT (even if you're the CEO), you have to knock for entry. Psychologically it works. You can't just walk in and yell, if you've been let in, it's hard to yell.

Rosie

 

[jrbarnett]

At one ex work we had people walking in with their problems.
The IT room was kept locked when unattended, because quite often it had computer equipment to be worked on, but only IT people and caretakers had keys, but when somebody was in there it was generally left unlocked, so people could barge in.
To stop people having wasted journeys though, we had two envelopes taped to the door, one with blank forms asking for details about them and their problem (name, network login ID, computer name, tel extension, details of problem etc) and a second one, normally empty, to put the completed forms for us to look at. These blank forms were on purple paper, so they stood out quite clearly to us from across the room.

We made a point if we had to unlock the door of looking in the "Completed forms" envelope to see if any new forms had been put in it and add them to the To Do pile.

This way, if anybody took the effort to walk to the IT room to speak to somebody in person, it wasn't a wasted journey if nobody was in, or if somebody did barge in with an "urgent" problem while we were dealing with other things, we could ask them to take a form and complete it so we would have details, and could get back to them when time permitted.

John

 

[Darrylles]

Hi,

The IT Admin person has not set his stall out properly - yet.

This is what happens with ALL IT Support personnel - if PROCEDURES are not set in stone and ADHERED TO.

First distribute a well composed and clear 'I.T. Support Policy'. Make it available in a central location on the network.
This includes a 'Method of Reporting I.T. Problems'.

Once distributed, ANY interruptions from labourer up to director can and SHOULD ALWAYS be met with: "Please follow the procedure in the I.T. Support Policy document".

If they don't know the procedure then the response is:
"Read your email" or "look in the cental location".
Any argument, refer them to the document - you have a schedule to follow that is based on that procedure - end of story.

This can only be effective if top-management agree to it, if they don't, then they must supply extra I.T. personnel.

This is the ONLY effective means of supporting I.T., any other - then just fire-fight.

Kind regards,

Darrylle








Never argue with an idiot, he'll bring you down to his level - then beat you with experience. darrylles@yahoo.co.uk

 

[shortone]

[purple]Ah, now HERE'S the thread I've been seeking! As the lone IT person (well, we have a manager who's good with hardware issues, but he tends to yammer incessantly, making a 10 minute job go on for 45 minutes. Not to mention his b.o.....I digress) in my department, most of my users will intercom me with their problems, and I will deal with them accordingly, letting them know when I can take a look. Normally, they are just minor tweaks I need to make to the database, permissions, etc., and can be taken care of within the same day. Sometimes, it takes a little more time, but most of the users are patient. Added bonus, those folks are located on the floor beneath me, so I don't have to go down there unless it's an emergency. If I do, I make it quick, avoid eye contact, and stealthily vanish up the back stairs, or I'll never get back to my desk. I do get comments, 'You don't come visit us", blah, blah, blah. It's because I get bombarded (I hear you, BJCooperIT!). I also expressly advise those who see me first NOT to say my name out loud, so I can travel in relative anonymity. That problem is not so bad, since I normally stay upstairs, chained to my desk/computer, coding, developing, etc. (I think I need to set up a reminder for myself to take a break, because the only other person I could ask to remind me rarely takes breaks herself).

My problem is actually up on my own floor. I'm flanked by three clueless users, two of whom don't listen/read/heed what is told to them to help them solve their problems (normally due to user error), and think nothing of rushing over to my cube, calling my name loudly as they come down the hall. I could be in the middle of a code I'm trying to debug, on the phone, emailing a district user, helping someone who has come to me from downstairs or doing other work. The fact that they don't listen and want to prate on and on about how the system doesn't work, yada, yada, yada, adds to my frustration. Unfortunately for me, my supervisor has taken a 4 week family leave to be with his new babies, so is only accesible by phone (sometimes), so I have nothing to shield me from them (being in a cube does NOT help). I've seen some ideas that might help in dealing with the two "I need help NOW" users, who, by the way, want me to explain to them what happened to their computer, when I didn't see what they did to cause the error in the first place (a lot of times they're just not reading what their little "doggie" or paperclip is telling them, like "The file is already opened, you cannot open it again," etc.). They just click and click and click, or reboot their computer. They're both older ladies, and I have nothing against them, but they both talk about the way things were and how "we used to do things around here" all the time. It's becoming increasingly more difficult to keep my hands from around their necks (although one is taller than me), especially when it's the SAME error over and over. The one user gets in about 1/2 hour before I do, and, as our sign-in sheet is right next to her desk, if she's there, she'll IMMEDIATELY bombard me with her problems (no coffee in my system, my coat's not even off). I try to let her know that I'll get to her, but then she leaves for her smoke break, then goes complaining to other people how the computer doesn't work, blah, blah, blah (actually, both of them do that). Maybe they'd listen better if I were tall, had a deep voice and were male.....[/purple]


JayeD
"I'm sure of two things: there IS a God, and I'm NOT Him!" - R. Williams

 

[MColeman]

Hang in there JayeD!

At my job, there is a cubicle across from me that seems to have somehow become a 'revolving new hire cubicle'.

When they hire someone new, that's where they sit. I get bombarded with everything they can think of.

This week, this person was moved to an empty cubicle in accounting.

Today, the PC tech is putting in new equipment for the next new person who will be starting on Monday. <groan>

Sometimes it's difficult to keep cheerful and patient, usually when I have too many fires and projects at once.

But, on the bright side, these rotating cubicle occupants have come up with some interesting challenges that I've learned something new from.

 

[shortone]

[purple]Thanks, MColeman!
Just needed to finish my coffee. What I don't understand, if there is such a glut of IT porfessionals, why am I alone? I'm not only a developer/programmer, but I have to use my own programs, because management doesn't trust anyone else to do it (not that we have anyone else - almost everyone is overworked here! The ones who aren't get free paychecks playing solitare all day....okay, I'm fine, I'm NOT going to start again!).

I, too, have learned a lot of things while here, and I definitely am looking forward to learning new things. I also have had a couple of upgrades in my position (finally), so I really can't complain about that. I'm really blessed (good benefits, too!) with this position - I have a lot of leeway, as no one else can do what I do (I asked for VB help - no one in the Department's IT Office could help - found the answers here in Tek-Tips <thanks guys!>). It is amazing, though, how users think what we do is so "magical." And trying to explain it to them only causes a glazing over the eyes ... Thanks for the encouragement, you helped me get my mind on the positives, which outweigh the negatives (even if there tend to be a lot more negatives!). Guess I'd better get back to developing. New form for Directors to be added to our already overworked DB (can't wait for those Oracle DBA classes to start!!!).

Make it great day![/purple]

JayeD
&quot;I'm sure of two things: there IS a God, and I'm NOT Him!&quot; - R. Williams

 

[shannanl]

I work in a two person I.T. department and had to go through some of what you describe. Users messing things up and then blaming the computers and I.T. when in fact it was their own ignorance that did it. I would start by making sure that the problem or parts of the problem is not you. Have your ducks in order at all times. Try to respond to their problems quickly. Let them and everyone else know that YOU know what you are talking about. Try to train them. Can you have classes to train the employees? I have had several classes and it seems to have helped. If they still continue to screw up after you have taught them the correct way, go to their supervisor and explain the circumstances. Obviously this will make them mad but unless they sign your paycheck they can get over it. You are there to do a job, not be mr/miss popular. Don't hesitate to tell them that they are messing up and they need to stop. You should not have to take the fall or even get fussed at because someone else is messing up. My 8 years in the Army taught me one thing. Train the people and if they can't hack it, get rid of them. Maybe you can't get rid of them but you can let their supervisors know about the problems.

Shannan

 

[Dollie]

To a vast majority of people, IT is just plain magic.

Blessed are those for whom computers are wondrous and magical things, for then we shall always have jobs.

I saw this quote once, and it has been hanging over my desk ever since. I have no idea who said it first. It's a great thing to remember on the days when everything seems to be blowing up.

/and I've found that 90% of user problems resolve themselves if you just say "Hang on, I'll be there in a few" when your name is screeched at top volume across the office

 

[shortone]

Blessed are those for whom computers are wondrous and magical things, for then we shall always have jobs.

That's AWESOME!! Going in my cube! Since my post, things have gotten a bit better (lots of changes in the office and more to come - yippee!). Hope things are going better for
you, BJCooperIT!

JayeD
"I'm sure of two things: there IS a God, and I'm NOT Him!" - R. Williams

 

[BJCooperIT]

JayeD,
Glad to hear that after a year and a half things are improving for you. This thread has a timeless quality to it. I suppose we will never get them all trained properly...sigh.

Different contract - different problem set. Most of my users are great, cannot say the same for all coworkers. I do have a user who knows I am involved with her project. She snags me in the hall and will go on for 5 minutes about the problems she is having. Despite the fact that I have explained I am only working on reports, she will go on and on about the web interface or the database problems. I listen politely, commiserate with her, and, once again, remind her that I am not in a position to help. I suppose she likes the opportunity to vent and as long as she is not yelling "at" me, I will endure.

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant Developer/Analyst Oracle, Forms, Reports & PL/SQL (Windows)
Author and Sole Proprietor of: Emu Products Plus

 

[Thadeus]

Blessed are those for whom computers are wondrous and magical things, for then we shall always have jobs.

Sounds great when you're the magician...

Blessed are those for whom automobiles are wondrous and magical things, for then we shall always have jobs.

pretty analogous....

~Thadeus

 

[shortone]

We have a new web-based system for our State that just went into implementation (partially, LONG story!), and I am the "Administrator" for our Department, which means, if there is a problem ("lost" password, new users, etc.), I get contacted. I also get contacted for every other thing having to do with the system (policy, procedure, e.g. "Do we need to submit EVERYTHING together, or can we send it in bit by bit?", etc.). Thankfully, the way things are set up, questions I cannot (and should not) answer can be deferred to either the particular area's manager or director, without recourse and system problems out of my control (we host neither the website or the servers - yet), can be deferred to the system's helpdesk personnel (who are very good). So far, though it was a bit maddening at first, due to this being a "brandy new" system for all of us, things have calmed down and I can actually get some other work done. It's actually a lovely thing. Unfortunately, that's only for the 1st half of this system. Once the other half is implemented, I have a feeling that things will get hairy again (but by then, I should have a nice position & salary upgrade , so I won't care as much!

JayeD
"I'm sure of two things: there IS a God, and I'm NOT Him!" - R. Williams

 

[Toshilap]

My reply to OP poster is that company obviously saving money having just ONE person for the position. He should have assistants. Let's face it - if you can't login - you have to get help NOW!!! so everyone else.