What to do about "dead wood"?

[aixmurderer]

Personally I don't have a problem with someone who don't know something and asks you for help.

But what to do about the "dead wood" who just aren't interested in upskilling at all, unwilling to try and figure something out for themselves and rather come and bug you over and over with the same thing?

Typically we are a Unix server site with Windows PCs, so Unix access is no problem with FTP clients and Terminal emulators. Everybody at some or other stage needs to access the Unix servers and perform some basic stuff like browsing files etc. The problem is that certain staff after working here for over 2 years still can't help themselves at all, and seemingly are unwilling to even try despite us providing them with basic manuals and training. Even worse, after 2 years of using a simple Windows FTP GUI Client (FS-FTP) they simply cannot (or will not) master it, endless explanations of ASCII vs Binary transfers just don't sink in.

The annoying thing is that these persons has come to expect that you will do it for them, demand instant satisfaction, and have the cheek to get annoyed when you put them off until later. It's almost as if they feel we are there to serve them exclusively instead of what we were appointed for.

Talking to the manager doesn't help either, he falls typically in the same class, very much Windows GUI bound.


IBM Certified Confused - MQSeries
IBM Certified Flabbergasted - AIX 5 pSeries System Administration

 

[pmonett]

First of all, the only thing dead wood can become is petrified ;-)
But seriously, if you have your manager against you, you have little room to maneuver.
As has already been suggested here (in other threads), I would suggest installing a help desk protocol whereby all problems must have a ticket before being answered.
The point being that you can then compile a list of who is bothering you to do what and how often.
After a while, you will be bound to have your manager observe that you are falling behind on some important project.
That is when you whip out the log and shove it under his nose saying "yes, well I have to do THIS time and time again", then have him take his responsibilities.
Then again, dishonesty being a prime quality in managers, it will probably still end up your fault anyway.
Nonetheless, I think it is your only chance. Demonstrate that you are spending too much time doing helpdesk stuff and someone is bound to decide to delegate that task to someone else, or implement a set of rules that will change the user habits.
Hopefully.

 

[TomKane]

Are you referring to IT people or your users?

 

[sleipnir214]

I think TomKane has hit the nail on the head.

If you are talking about fellow IT support guys, then I can see where your observations have merit.

But users aren't supposed to have that much technical savvy. That's why they're users -- concepts like 7-bit or 8-bit transfers don't make any sense to them.

If you are running a unix variant on which you can run Samba, install it and make your unix boxes appear in the Network Neighborhood for these people.

If you can't run Samba, apply a little expectaion management. Don't drop everything to help them. Let them know that you will get to them when you have handled issues of higher priority -- and make sure that the higher-priority issues are going to take a while, so they might want to dust off that manual if they need to get it done immediately. Some of these people may not get it because they have never been forced to do it on their own. Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[KornGeek]

When you say that everybody "at some point or another" needs to use the Unix system, I get the feeling that this is relatively rare for each particular user. If users don't get frequent experience with something, they are likely to forget how to use it.

I am one of the most technical people in my office, but when it comes to using our accounting software, I need help almost every single time even to do "simple" tasks such as looking up a customer's last order. The problem is that I do this maybe once a month, if that. When it comes time to do it again, I've dealt with 800 emergencies, 300 technological breakthroughs, 25 meetings, 60 boring commutes, etc. And that's a slow month. With everything else going on, remembering how to use the accounting software is low on my list. I expect remembering Unix is roughly the same priority for these users.

I mostly agree with the advice given above. Don't drop everything for them everytime, but keep in mind that if you delay someone unnecessarily and it blows up, you will get caught in the fallout. Judge the urgency on each case, and deal with it appropriately. Also, don't do the work for them, but teach them. If you have to teach the same person 100 times, so be it. If they want to learn, you're doing them a favor. If they don't want to learn, it turns into a punishment. Either way, you win. ;-)

Above all else, remember that your company views this as part of your job. You can learn to live with this, change it, or leave. You can't, however, do anything to change what the other people will do.

 

[palbano]

In the forest dead trees eventually fall over and return to the ground over a long period of time. If the forestry service deems the area needs to be managed to reduce the fire threat they go in and give the dead trees the “AXE”. ;-)

-pete

 

[aixmurderer]

If it was non-IT users I would understand that they do not use the system much and would need help from time to time, but the problem is that these people are supposed to be IT staff and do Unix related stuff on a day by day basis as main part of their job roles. We are a pure IT company, specialising in EDI messaging and specialised message delivery.

I would be really ashamed to call myself an "IT Professional" like they do, they go by the titles of "Senior EDI Consultant", "Business Analyst", "Service Delivery Manager", "Senior IT Project Manager", etc.

pmonett - You have a very good idea there, I have started to keep a detailed timesheet of what I am doing a while ago, initially my suggestion was rejected by the COO, but after 6 months he revisited it and we now log everything we do. Didn't help much to this point, but hopefully the COO will learn something from it as we go along.

My main problem is fighting ignorance, management still think at a Word document and Excel spreadsheet level where we should be looking at Database recordkeeping level. How do you drag these dinosaurs into the real IT world without getting cheesed off at them?

IBM Certified Confused - MQSeries
IBM Certified Flabbergasted - AIX 5 pSeries System Administration

 

[pmonett]

That is sick. There is nothing that enrages me more than a so-called "professional" who hasn't got a clue about his own job.
Unfortunately, this kind is like lice, not everywhere, but sometimes firmly entrenched.
These people are the ones responsible for the generally bad reputation of consultants, and also for billions of local currency wasted on dismal choices and poor procedures.
Fortunately for them, shame does not kill.
Unfortunately for us, shame does not kill.

 

[Craig0201]

From the above post, definitions of the some job roles quoted

Business Analyst - Someone who designs logical structure for systems
IT Project Manager - Someone who oversees a project to see that it meets defined objectives, on time and on budget
Service Delivery Manager - Someone who oversees the IT resources to ensure that users demands are met within a budget.

I can't see what part of these requires UNIX abilities, FTP skills, etc. I write code, I can't do network administration, I can't do database administration, I can't do UNIX. Does that make me any less of an IT professional? No. It makes me specialised in what I do. Same for the people above.

I would need all the help you described above and I don't see that it is unreasonable for me to request it. Can you project manage or do business analysis using UML and/or SSADM? Does that make you any less of a professional?

Think about what other do in specific terms, not in general. Working in IT doesn't mean they can do everything. That's why you are employed in your specialism.

Craig

 

[KornGeek]

Craig,
You have some great points. I worked at a company that was highly technical. Some of the best programmers and network guys I've ever met were working there. However, they were still using Excel in a database capacity, and nothing I could say would convince them to move to Access.

Just because a person is skilled and trained in one area, doesn't mean they are even reasonably knowledgable in another.

 

[aixmurderer]

Craig, in our case:

Business Analyst - Someone who specs EDI message formats and test message format mappings.
Requirements to do the job: Unix command line stuff, email, Windows FTP client usage.

Service Delivery Manager - Customer help desk function: reprocess messages destined for customers.
Requirements to do the job: Unix command line stuff, email, Windows FTP client usage.

IT Project Manager - Someone employed with no IT knowledge whatsoever, who tries to spec a project without consulting with technical people to their idea of what the defined objectives should be, managing to muck up projects to a point where it has no hope in hell to be on time and on budget.

In each of the cases above the title isn't relevant at all to the job in question, neither are the persons in the positions capable to do the jobs in question due to their lack of ability to use the tools required to do their job.

The problem is that before they arrived on the scene I had to fulfill all the above roles as well under the guise of Unix Systems Administrator, and guess what, I still have to sort out the stuff-ups due to their inability/unwillingness to learn.

So my viewpoint is, why bother having these people around if they are incapable of doing the job they were hired for in the first place? Why should I end up doing their work for them?

I could also say the same, it's not what I was employed for, it's not the role of a Unix Sysadmin to teach people how to use Unix and Windows based Clients. Does that make me any less of the IT professional I am?

IBM Certified Confused - MQSeries
IBM Certified Flabbergasted - AIX 5 pSeries System Administration

 

[BJCooperIT]

aixmurderer:
You really should visit the IT Ethics forum. There is a thread regarding pet peeves that you might find interesting. Would love to see you add your 2 cents worth there!

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