Technically Speaking

Working primarily in a support role for the past few years has taught me a thing or two.  One of the things I learned was about helping others and this is the focus for this post.

When providing support it is essential that you deal with other people, it is also essential that you try to avoid the blame game as much as possible, however it is unreasonable to think that one will never fall into the “he said she said” blaming of others.

Another think I have noticed, perhaps recently (and maybe far too late), is that matching the level of politeness and patience can go along way, but being polite regardless of the other end of the conversation is a home run.  Working on this takes time, frustration, and possibly some conversations with yourself during the ride home from work.

Being helpful and able beats being right

There are times when it is fun to be right.  For example, when the colts beat the saints on Sunday it will be fun to have been right (although this isn’t guaranteed) and maybe even bring in a few bucks for me.

When doing technical support, being helpful is more important than being right, no matter the situation or the reason.  Imagine if you will a relative who asks you to look at their computer because the Internet doesn’t work.  Sometimes it is an inconvenience, sometimes it is happening again, but think about how much better it feels to help than to complain or refuse. 

I will admit that I have to eat my own dog food here and can surely improve this, but I am confident that I can.

Helping with purchasing decisions

There are many organizations where a purchasing department places the orders for the needs of the company and handles all of that, but from time to time they will ask another department for help.  Sure they could get help from the vendor, and maybe they’ll need to anyway, but when asked providing the information you can might save extra work for these individuals.

For other systems, like when Aunt Mary asks what computer to buy, probe a bit and discover the ultimate use of the system and provide your opinion.  Be honest when asked “what would you do?” but make sure you let them know that you are providing an opinion about a system.  This way if they shop around or ask others as well, they wont feel like they are stepping on your feet.

Remember it is OK to ask for help

Along these lines, when you are asked to help someone solve a problem, you may need to ask for help from a colleague or co-worker or even an outside party.  If this is the case, make sure you let the person who asked you for help know you need to get assistance so they do not feel you are blowing them off.

Thinking about these few items in relation to the support calls and requests you receive might make your day a bit less stressful because helping someone just for the sake of helping them, can be rewarding sometimes.