IT Support
November 6th, 2008
I find doing IT support itself fairly easy. After so many years fixing problems with a few computers, managing the number at TEAR is not much more difficult.
What is difficult though is doing it well. There are really horrible power dynamics in play when people need to ask for help with something. These may include:
- A sense of failure in that they should have been able to solve it themselves, even if there was no way they would be able to
- Interrupting a “busy” person
- That the problem is causing their own work to fall behind
- If it is a quick problem to solve – “Why couldn’t I do it myself???”
- If it is a hard problem to solve – “How did that problem happen. Is it my fault?”
Problems I face when responding:
- Do I have time? Am I delaying simply because I know the problem will be frustrating because it is person X or Y? How do I know how serious it is?
- When I look at the problem, can I fix it now? Can it wait?
- How can I explain in English what I am doing or what the problem is? Is it worth explaining?
- What do I say if someone keeps referring to themselves as stupid, an idiot or saying sorry?
Still trying to work out some of these answers for different situations, but these questions seem to help.