Be careful of jumping to conclusions
Doing support may or may not fall within your scope of duties day to day as an IT Manager, however you are likely responsible for the help desk and its proper opperation and assistance to users. Making sure the help desk is doing its best to get the users what they need is something that is worth monitoring very closely.
Many times the help needed by the users isnt something that an automated alert can tell you, only when the ticket, or email, or phone call comes in are you alerted to the need for help. It is these cases in particular that I am focussing on here.
How are your staff members handling help desk cases?
In the very least an expected response time with notes or contact with the user should be a habit to make sure the user has not been forgotten. Being in a single person shop, I have forgotten to follow up with someone about an issue they were seeing, and it isnt a good feeling when the need to be constantly reminded (in person or by automated email) continues to occur.
Being responsive to the needs of your team and the users they support will end up in your realm of responsibility at some point and some of the things you are presented with will need to be farmed out to others, but some will be yours and yours alone. User support is definately one of these things and being as proactive and helpful to all who approach you will do wonders for both yourself and your department in the eyes of the organization and most importantly, its users.
When asked for help about…
It is likely that help requests at some point will be insane. Every five minutes there will be something coming to the help desk. When this happens, ensure that your help desk staff has the tools they need to understand the problem: Listening skills and the ability to take notes.
Usually when someone asks for help, they do it as quickly as they can. Not sure why this seems to be a habit, but it sure seems that way to me. When the question is being asked, is most certainly not the time to fill in the blanks as to what the problem might be.
Remember in the movie office space when Tom Smykowski is rambling on about the perfect idea for a jump to conclusions mat:
“It was a “Jump to Conclusions” mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor… and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.”
While very funny in the movie, this should be the last thing that happens when someone asks the help desk for assistance. Doing this will likely become very off putting to the people in your organization.
Be careful to remind your staff, and sometimes even yourself, that the need to listen is high and the only way the user will get the best support around is if they are heard and understood before troubleshooting begins.
But sometimes it just happens
Filling in the blanks when being asked a question happens. I have done it and once I realized I had done it I felt rather bad. It is important to listen actively to what you are being asked and to take notes as needed. Taking notes will help get all the details fleshed out up front and allow you to get to the bottom of the issue rather than constantly asking questions about the details of the user.
A good way to instill this habit, or at least get started, is to take notes and actively listen every chance you get. This is especially true when talking to your staff. Leading by example here can be a great help and motivator for those working with you.
