Please, for the love of God...
 

...stop bombarding me with non-sequitur inquiries, shut the fuck up, just long enough to try that thing I told you in the first 15 seconds of the conversation. Whether you do it today, tomorrow, or a year from now; that thing I said right off the bat, and kept repeating, over and over, you know, that thing? Right, when you finally do that thing, and it fixes the problem, why can't you remember that the next time this happens? Why bother having an IT guy if you just don't listen?

It's like you don't want the problem fixed. I swear to God, I swear to you on a stack of fucking Bibles a mile high, IF YOU DO THAT THING I SAID IN THE FIRST 15 SECONDS OF THE CONVERSATION, YOUR PROBLEM WILL BE FIXED. Are you incapable of discerning this very consistent pattern?

Well that's not gonna happen...too easy.

because people want to be listened to. annoying, but there it is.

What did he say?

:p


Plus, they're really, really stupid.

Someone say something?

My mouse thing won't type.

and my cup holder thingee won't come out !!

Sorry, just tell me ONE MORE TIME and I will write it down on this sticky note with my passwords on it.

but...but...but...what if the first thingey doesn't work??? Then what do I do?

The type of user I support tends to be highly-educated. I talk to at least one a day who spends five minutes complaining to me that dealing with this problem is a waste of their valuable time. Invariably the fix is less than a minute in length.

I use to think it was funny until I realised that these guys KNOW their complaining is wasting more time, and they're just jerks who like to yell at people.

You're making an easy mistake, forgetting who you work for. You work for people, not machines. You're on board to solve the problems *people* have, not to restrict yourself to correcting machine faults.

These two categories of action do sometimes run in the same track. But not always. Sometimes you can fix/solve one set and not the other. Knowing which is which will save you a fortune in antacid medication. Knowing which ones to prioritize can accelerate your career.

I'm in healthcare IT. I serve the patient. Supporting medical care for the patient is my ultimate goal, and everything I do is in that effort.
I don't work for people, and I don't work for machines. I work for the patients who need those people/machines to perform a task. If the people who run those machines are an obstacle to them functioning properly, then the patient suffers, and that is not acceptable. I am here to make sure the people/machines do their job for sick patients who need medical care.

That being said, I understand what you're saying, and I agree. And I appreciate the sentiment.

Customer service is what makes me an asset. I'm a baby-sitter, a hand-holder, and a listener. But I need them to listen to me, too.

I read this as asshat at first.

Holy shit, glatt--I did too. Swear to God, I was about to write what you just posted, word for word. :eek3:

OK, I kept my mouth shut on this one :)
 

Hello,

I work on a regular basis with non-technical people, and one of my assignments is Healthcare IT, where I work as a technical architect/DBA/SysAdmin. I work with a small team of 5 people running a large portion of the application infrastructure for a local health system.

The ONLY reason we get anything done is by not complaining about our customers. We focus on our assignments, and making sure that our customers are satisfied. We provide a copious amount of documentation, and think like our customers do in terms of user experience and customer satisfaction.

Healthcare, for most companies that aren't Big Pharma, is a non-profit industry. The IT staff is usually treated like the cost center (read: drains on profit) that they are if they don't treat the customers right and help on finding ways to streamline the workflow and save money.

The only way to move up and get your department funded is to get your projects done on time, and be courteous/helpful to your customers, so that your group gets funded for the next group of projects. If you focus on ways to help them and the business, you will help the overall objective of better patient care.

If you complain about the customers and treat them in a condescending manner, instead of realizing that there are major skill differences between you and them (and that they are very good at things which you are not good at, like finance or patient care), you will get less done and they will dislike you greatly.

If you worked in the organization I work at, chances are your customers would have called our group already, and we would have been working with them to get the job done instead. Sorry, but business is business.

Flint, being in IT support myself, half of me agrees with what you just said, and the other half is in complete agreement with the first half.

But, Flint, what if I do this or this, or this? Would that work? Couldn't I just do something like this? If I do what you say, but right in the middle, a truck plows into the building, what should I do then? I'm a bat - are you a bat? My name is Sniffles....

http://home.wi.rr.com/tatay/cartoons/sniffles0052.jpg

Flint, do you ask inane questions about, say, finance or health care? What sorts of answers do you get? Just wonderin'.

I don't. That’s why I’m anonymously blowing off steam on an internet forum.

This has taken on a very blown-out-of-proportion aspect. I appreciate all the well-meaning advice; but I suppose none of this makes much sense without more detail as to what actually happened, how it was eventually resolved, and what were the intervening steps that took place. At the end of the day, Management glowingly congratulated me for being a great problem solver. Believe me, you wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry...

IT WASN'T PLUGGED IN.

Is it plugged in? Many times that is problem.

I get it, Flint. At my previous job, I was a lead for a support organization where the support team called me for help in solving software problems. I remember one problem taking 4 different explanations on 4 different occasions to the same person about the same problem before she got it. These were our support people. Arg.

One other thing...
 

Flint,

I do have to deal with the tough cases too. However, I will say this much.

Non-IT people are incredibly appreciative toward our work. The IT and somewhat technical people aren't.

I've had more problems in the past few years with IT staff than I have with the non-technical users. The non-technical users know how to read a manual and follow it exactly (and I write my documentation the Army way - aka assume any grunt will have to pick it up and read it, and use screenshots for every page).

Just tell them it's an "eye dee ten tee" error. That'll fix 'em.

I've done that, mb...all my processes are spelled out in a book I made, complete with screen shots. My theory is if I get hit by the proverbial bus someone should be able to work through it. I am the only one who has done that. I'm sure much of that persistence in documentation comes from my days in government contracts electronics (tech and QA.)

And you bring up an interesting point. I'm one of those who loves to solve my own problems. I hate asking for help to a fault (I am known for hating to delegate) but I love having a decent guide so I can work through as much as possible. At the other end of the spectrum are those who would rather stare at you blankly while you plug in the computer FOR them.

I wouldn't dare mess with anything really complicated that we need IT for, but I do know cursory troubleshooting so my loose cable doesn't call them away from keeping the college wide system running or the myriad of other duties they have. I've heard the stories; one guy wanted to know how to rewind the DVD (faculty.)

Finally, I think our IT dept does a wonderful job. They have been hit lately with the politicizing and micromanaging (my post about hiring someone who looks good on paper etc but is a real numnut fits here) and that has hampered, not helped, their performance. But they are still very knowledgeable and helpful people. I try very hard not to be one of "those" with the blank look and unplugged computer. It's a pride thing (and my "I can do it myself" attitude that I"ve had since birth.) The guy who used to service my Dept of Ed software and electronic mailboxes loved me after I took the previous person's position; she called him about every day. He rarely saw me except for upgrades and if we ran into each other in the bars. :)