Tech in the Trenches

Beyond the Reboot #6: Time Management

On October 3, 2013

Customer service is all about time management. There is a never-ending line of people who need help and only so many hours in the workday. Managing your time effectively has a lot to do with the amount of power you have to delight your customers and the team around you.

It’s easy to try to race through everything to get it done. But it’s often like treading water while fighting a hydra. You fix one problem and two more pop up. Take the time to plan your attack first and then try to work through the problems to help your customers.

Try to schedule appointments with them. Try to finish the more important things or easy things first to clear the way for the harder, more time-consuming tasks. There are nearly limitless ways to deal with a stack of problems ahead of you. Find a way that works for you and your customer.

Sometimes there simply aren’t enough hours in the day and not everything will get done. There are days when you have to stop and pick up where you left off the next day. There are far more customers and problems than people to fix them and there’s only so much you can do in a single day. Your customer doesn’t care that you have 30 other problems to fix. They only care, and know, about their own. That’s when your skills at communicating and empathizing come in to play.

Time management is important before the job even begins. For every IT support job I’ve ever had I’ve gotten a question that goes along the lines of, “You have a customer at your desk, the phone rings, a critical ticket comes in and you have an email demanding your immediate attention. What do you do?”

My answer is always, “It depends.”

Then I walk the interviewer through my thought process. Is one of the customer’s a VIP? Does the President, CEO, or VP of something need something from you? You go see them first. Take care of them because they’re the highest in the food chain. Then handle the issues based on severity and speed.

Is a computer not booting? That person takes priority after the CEO. But if the person at your desk or on the phone has a question that can be answered or resolved is under a minute, handle it.

These are not hard and fast rules. These are guidelines. There is no hard and fast rule in Customer Service. You do the best you can and apologize to those who have to wait.

Recently, I had a meeting setup for the Director of the organization where I work. He needed his conference room prepared for a meeting. At the same time, I had to staff a new employee orientation. On top of it, my team was short-staffed. In fact, I was the only person working out of our team of three.

Thankfully, my manager was able to provide coverage for the orientation while I helped get the Director’s meeting setup. I wonder if the new employees had any idea they were being treated to an orientation by someone higher than their own local IT guy.

I struggle to find another specific example since they’re nearly a daily occurrence. As I mentioned before, use your best judgment. You know your customers better than anyone. You’ll know who can wait and who cannot.

Look out for yourself

By Carl

On October 2, 2013

In Observations

No one is going to look out for you like you.

This is a lesson I learned too late in life. I stayed at jobs through ultimately misplaced loyalty and promises of better things.

This contract will go full-time. You will get to advance. There will be good raises. What it all added up to was being told there is reason to stay here.

Only there wasn’t.

I dutifully stayed and waited. I did great work. I asked about the promised things. Next year. Next quarter. The carrot always being pulled further away when it looked to be just in reach.

Eventually I learned. I learned to do what was in my best interest. Was there a better job? Go get it! Is there a shorter commute? Grab it! Is there more interesting work? Go do it!

When the challenge in my work disappeared, the only thing lest was money so I was an IT nomad. I went to work for the highest bidder.

I no longer listened to the Siren’s song of a future. I was there, for now.

8 months here. One year. Two and a half years. Until the fun left. Until the challenge was gone. Until there was nowhere to go. So I went.

I learned to value what I was worth. Not just what I thought someone would pay me. I learned to start interviewing the companies as much as they interviewed me.

They need me more than I need them.

There is a ton of work out there for IT people. I can afford to be selective. I can find the right situation for me.

And I have. I know what I want. I know what I’m worth. I know what is going to kill an opportunity for me. I know who I am and I am in control.

I turned down an offer that was nearly double what I was making four years ago because it wasn’t the right place for me. It felt insane.

The hubris of the situation is not lost on me…

But I knew I could do better. I didn’t have to take this job because there was a career out there for me. I just had to go out and find it.

And I think I have.

I’m just waiting for the call.

Nothing’s Wonderful and Nobody’s Happy

By Carl

On October 1, 2013

In Observations

News in America is like entertainment in America. Absolute garbage. We are shown tons of footage about a mother who possible killed her child. We hear about the sexual misdeeds of an IMF guy. We hear about these terrible things that in a week are not even newsworthy. ((It is highly suspect they ever were to begin with.))

The problems in Japan are still ongoing. South Sudan is now a country. I am sure there is tons more news out in the world going unreported or under-reported so we can hear more about what vapid celebrity has done who lately. It is ridiculous.

I can’t remember the last time I got any real news from a mainstream news source. I cannot recall the last item that I actually thought, “Oh this is important and this is interesting. This is something I really needed to be informed of.”

No, it just doesn’t happen.

Entertainment is heading down the same path. I miss the days of story telling in television programs. I miss the narrative and cast of characters built by writers who put time and effort into crafting a tale for us, the audience, to follow along and get something out of.

Will and Grace is an extremely witty, well-written show. It does it’s fair share of dealing with issues of homosexuality, relationships and dynamics of differing social groups. But it also makes me laugh. I laugh a lot watching the show because the characters have witty things to say because it was written for them.

Television shows today are dominated by Reality TV. ((Which is a total misnomer as nothing that goes on can in any way be misconstrued as real.)) There are shows exploiting the struggles of 16-year-old girls who get pregnant. There are shows highlighting the poor parenting by certain sets of parents who cannot be adult enough to work out their own problems. There is even a show about toddlers being forced to enter beauty pageants and the insane lengths their parents will try to win. ((Isn’t this a mark of the End Times?)) There is no end of the celebrity worship of rich people doing… very little besides screaming at each other. ((Any “real” housewives spinoff.)) It’s all garbage.

There is so little good in television today. Movies are the last holdout for storytelling and intelligent conversation it seems. Though if you’ve seen what passes for a Comedy, I question even the importance of the movie genre for anything but sucking money out of our pockets. ((See: Remakes and sequels dominating theaters.))

I miss the 90s when there were stories to be told and people to follow in those stories. Sure, they are not gone today. However, flipping through our 80 or so channels in our apartment results in very little tolerable television. I struggle to find anything I would even consider having on in the background while I do something else.

We even have a completely dysfunctional political system and government. We already have the least productive congress since 1948 not working for us. The biggest problem is they can’t agree on things and compromise.

“And so the legislative trickle has slowed to a drip. From January until the end of May, the last date for which comparable statistics are available, 16 bills had become law” compared with 50 during that period last year, or 28 in 2007, also a time of divided government.

We have the most divided, fervently stubborn government in years. It’s no wonder they can’t agree on anything or get anything done. No one wants to give a single inch and when one side tries to compromise with the first, the first side changes the rules and decides they don’t really want to do the thing they just agreed to. It is maddening to watch. I am pretty sure if you gathered 535 kindergarteners together we’d see more cooperation.

We have a government, news media and television entertainment that are all broken systems.

To fix the news, focus on the news again. Stop the celebrity worship and the pundits offering their opinion on everything. Report on real stories that affect the life of the people in your community.

To fix TV, spend money on more pilots. Try out new ideas. Stop stealing each other’s original content and shows. We don’t need another show about Rich Women Screaming, Pawn Shops or People Searching For Junk To Sell.

To fix the government is the most simple of them all. Work together. Agree with each other. Try to stand in the shoes of your opponent. ((And remember they are not supposed to be your opponent at all!)) Work together. Get things done and for once, convince us, the US citizens you’re supposedly serving that you’re actually serving us!

Adults can’t use computers… and this is why you should worry

By Carl

On September 25, 2013

In Observations

This evening I stumbled across an excellent article: Kids Can’t Use Computers… And This Is Why It Should Worry You

It states:

Adults have worn their computer illiteracy as a badge of pride for many years now so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that their children share their digital inadequacies. Moreover, neither group is even willing to try to solve a problem when they encounter it.

In order to help those of you out there who are confounded by computers on a daily basis, let me provide three simple steps for success.

How to be a “Computer Guy/Gal”

Step 1. Read the screen.
What is going on? What is the message instructing you to do? What action do you need to take? Is it offering you steps to resolve the issue you’re facing? Read. The. Screen. And all will become clear.
Step 2. Check cables.
Is the cable plugged in? Is the other end of the cable also plugged in? Is the thing the cable plugged into on? Having your computer plugged into your power strip and the power strip being off isn’t going to work. This should go without saying, but since I’ve gotten this call…
Do you have power in your location?
If you’re in the middle of a power outage, your computer that requires power will not work. If you’re in the middle of a storm and cell phones are out, your cellular network connection will also not work.
Step 3. Search.
Seriously. Got an error message? Type in the error message to Google and read the first page of results. Don’t know how to do something in Word, Powerpoint, Excel or any other program? Look up “How Do I do the thing I want to do?” and click search. You will find the answers you seek.

If you have gotten through all three of these steps and still need assistance, then reach out to your support technicians. This will save you time, and the inevitable embarrassment when a technician shows up and plugs your mouse back into your computer, flips on your power strip or reads the error message and follows the directions provided.

Most of the people I work with and support have no idea how to use a computer. Reading through the examples in the post I was nodding my head as I’ve seen these same situations or ones nearly identical to them in the course of my work.

‘What anti-virus are you using?’ I ask, only to be told that he didn’t like using anti-virus because he’d heard it slowed his computer down. I hand back the laptop and tell him that it’s infected. He asks what he needs to do, and I suggest he reinstalls Windows. He looks at me blankly. He can’t use a computer.

Anti-virus is vital. If you’re running Windows, you need to be running an anti-virus. It doesn’t even matter which one. Just choose a free one and run it and keep it updated. Microsoft even bundles one with Windows 7 and 8. You are 5.5 times more likely to be infected without anti-virus according to a Microsoft study.

A kid puts her hand up in my lesson. ‘My computer won’t switch on,’ she says, with the air of desperation that implies she’s tried every conceivable way of making the thing work. I reach forward and switch on the monitor, and the screen flickers to life, displaying the Windows login screen. She can’t use a computer.

I have had calls because monitors, power strips and wireless mice and keyboards weren’t turned on. Also, if you use a mouse or keyboard with batteries, check them.

‘Bloody thing won’t connect to the internet.’ she says angrily, as if it were my fault. ‘I had tonnes of work to do last night, but I couldn’t get on-line at all. My husband even tried and he couldn’t figure it out and he’s excellent with computers.’ I take the offending laptop from out of her hands, toggle the wireless switch that resides on the side, and hand it back to her. Neither her nor her husband can use computers.

In her defense, the hardware wireless switch is the single worst idea in all of computer design. I have never come across a legitimate use for it. But I have taken dozens of calls from people in meetings or on travel or both because they had hit the switch and didn’t even know it was there. I’ve frantically searched for diagrams of customer’s computers to find out exactly where their particular switch was located.

I bet you don’t even know your laptop has such a switch. Dell loved to either put them on the front or the right side towards the front. My Lenovo puts it in the front right corner. If you see a weird switch you’ve never noticed before with a tiny antenna icon near it, that’s the wireless switch. It’s what stands between your internet access and nothing at all.

A kid knocks on my office door, complaining that he can’t login. ‘Have you forgotten your password?’ I ask, but he insists he hasn’t. ‘What was the error message?’ I ask, and he shrugs his shoulders. I follow him to the IT suite. I watch him type in his user-name and password. A message box opens up, but the kid clicks OK so quickly that I don’t have time to read the message. He repeats this process three times, as if the computer will suddenly change its mind and allow him access to the network. On his third attempt I manage to get a glimpse of the message. I reach behind his computer and plug-in the Ethernet cable. He can’t use a computer.

Remember the tips for success? Read the screen and check the cable. If you had read the screen you may have been led to the cable. If not, reading the screen to the help desk would have resulted in a fix over the phone.

A teacher brings me her brand new iPhone, the previous one having been destroyed. She’s lost all her contacts and is very upset. I ask if she’d plugged her old iPhone into her computer at any time, but she can’t remember. I ask her to bring in her laptop and iPhone. When she brings them in the next day I restore her phone from the backup that resides on her laptop. She has her contacts back, and her photos as well. She’s happy. She can’t use a computer.

Having setup a dozen new iPhones and Blackberries this week, I can attest that no one has any idea how they work. Where are those priceless photos of your child’s birthday party? On your phone somewhere?

I had a customer call me frantically because she had lost all the pictures of her daughter’s 3rd birthday and she was distraught. She had taken all of them on her Blackberry and now they weren’t showing up.

The problem was her micro SD card had come loose and the phone couldn’t read it. I popped the back of the phone off, inserted the card, and her pictures were returned to her. Then, I immediately showed her how to back up her photos to her computer which she did.

A teacher phones my office, complaining that his laptop has “no internet”. I take a walk down to his classroom. He tells me that the internet was there yesterday, but today it’s gone. His desktop is a solid wall of randomly placed Microsoft office icons. I quickly try to explain that the desktop is not a good place to store files as they’re not backed up on the server, but he doesn’t care; he just wants the internet back. I open the start menu and click on Internet Explorer, and it flashes to life with his homepage displayed. He explains that the Internet used to be on his desktop, but isn’t any more. I close I.E. and scour the desktop, eventually finding the little blue ‘e’ buried among some PowerPoint and Excel icons. I point to it. He points to a different location on the screen, informing me of where it used to be. I drag the icon back to it’s original location. He’s happy. He can’t use a computer.

Shortcuts are not programs. Just because your little blue E is gone from your desktop doesn’t mean your Internet is gone. If an icon is missing from the Dock of your Mac, it doesn’t mean the program is gone.

Programs are stored on a Mac in the Applications folder (or should be). Programs on Windows are stored in the C:\Program Files folder. Or even better, under the Start menu.

I have had calls for applications not being installed when they were, but there was not a desktop shortcut. Or there was not an icon in the Dock. These are both extremely basic concepts of computers that have not changed in a decade.

Whenever I see someone struggle with navigating Windows XP, I just want to say, “It’s been the same since 2001! Nothing has changed!” But I don’t. I calmly and patiently create desktop shortcuts and wish them a good day.

A kid puts his hand up. He tells me he’s got a virus on his computer. I look at his screen. Displayed in his web-browser is what appears to be an XP dialog box warning that his computer is infected and offering free malware scanning and removal tools. He’s on a Windows 7 machine. I close the offending tab. He can’t use a computer.

If you’re on a Mac and you see a Windows error, it’s not real. Close it. If you see an error message that looks absolutely nothing like the rest of your windows, close it.

The same goes for phishing emails. I’ve covered them before.

Not really knowing how to use a computer is deemed acceptable if you’re twenty-five or over. It’s something that some people are even perversely proud of, but the prevailing wisdom is that all under eighteens are technical wizards, and this is simply not true. They can use some software, particularly web-apps. They know how to use Facebook and Twitter. They can use YouTube and Pinterest. They even know how to use Word and PowerPoint and Excel. Ask them to reinstall an operating system and they’re lost. Ask them to upgrade their hard-drive or their RAM and they break out in a cold sweat. Ask them what https means and why it is important and they’ll look at you as if you’re speaking Klingon.

I’ve worked with people ages 20-80 and it’s the same across the board. I’ve had 22 year-old interns in our just our of college that were completely clueless how to use a computer. It wasn’t that they knew how Macs worked and were in front of Windows or vice versa. They had no idea how to maneuver around a computer.

The future is here and it’s computerized. Computers are not going away. They are going to be a bigger and bigger part of life and work. If you’re unable to use a computer, you’re going to be left behind.

I don’t expect everyone to be able to explain to me how the internet works or what the circuits on their motherboard does. However, knowing what a motherboard is, or at least where to find it would be a good start.

Computers have come a long way since the early days. Installing an operating system today is a series of clicks and answering complex questions like what timezone are you in and what language you speak.

I urge you to read Kids Can’t Use Computers… And This Is Why It Should Worry You as the author, who is an educator in England offers solutions to the problems.

Replace “kids” with “adults” and every example is and statement is just as relevant. I’ve seen that someone holding a higher level degree doesn’t mean they have any better idea how to use a computer than my 5 year-old niece.

Beyond the Reboot #5: Basic Acting Skills

By Carl

On September 23, 2013

In Observations

Everyone has bad days. Everyone enjoys the weekend a little too much or stays up all night sometimes. We all have bad days where the last thing we want to do is to go to work and help people with their problems. Providing great service means a little acting.

It doesn’t take much to put on a face of friendliness and concern when going to help your customers. If you’re in a bad mood, it can quickly rub off on the customer and they can feel like they’re inconveniencing you and they may become irritated or hostile. Remember, it is your job to help them and if you project negativity, they may respond in kind.

Stay positive and fake it if you don’t feel it. Just as you’re reading your customer’s emotions, they’ll be reading yours and if you’re upset or grumpy, it will not lead to a good experience.

If you don’t feel it, fake it. If you wear a smile on your face long enough, you’ll start to feel happier. Then your great service skills will shine through and you’ll start to feel better once you’ve helped your customer.

Recently, I went to go help an executive who was having a problem with Powerpoint. He had a new version of the application installed and was having some trouble finding a specific setting he needed.

When I arrived, he was already throwing F-bombs and very irritated. This particular person has no patience for computers and if they didn’t work as expected, it was nuclear war.

I knew this would take the best acting performance of my career to get out of this unscathed. I walked in with a huge smile on my face and summoned all my patience on this early, Monday morning and endured. I asked, “I hear you are having problems with Powerpoint, how can I help?” I endured the screaming and the yelling and the assault to my profession and myself.

I tried my best to help the customer with his problem but in the end, he was too angry to explain what he needed.. I could not get enough information out of him to understand what he was looking for. So he dismissed me and I left his office and returned to my own.

My first call was to my manager to explain what had just taken place. My second call was to my team lead to warn her of what had just happened. She was next in line to deal with him. My third call was to the wild. I took a walk around the campus to cool down so I would not bring the negativity of that exchange my other customer interactions.

Another important acting lesson is never making the customer feel stupid. In the past few weeks I have removed an SD Card from a slot-loading CD-ROM drive, plugged in a network cable to restore internet access, turned on a power strip to restore a non-working computer to life and plugged a USB cable in to repair a broken printer.

In each instance, the customers all apologized for having me come to see them for a very simple fix. In each case, I told them not to be sorry. I am here to fix problems big and small. They have jobs to do that don’t involve crawling around on the floor and checking cables. The customer doesn’t need to know how everything connects and works.

In talking with one of the scientists I support, she said to me. “I’m so glad you understand computers. Because I don’t at all.” To which I replied, “I’m so glad you’re trying to cure cancer. Because I have no clue how to do that.”

We all have our roles to play and it’s through support and help that we’re all able to get through our days a little better off than when we started. I take great pleasure in putting on a show for my customer so they don’t feel silly or stupid. I will act whatever part is required to calm or reassure my customers because when they’re happy, I’m happy.