What Your IT Guy Isn't Telling You
This one’s for the IT guy (or gal) who’s been trapped in the server room for so long that his or her pupils struggle to adjust to natural light. This one’s for the help desk worker who’s received the fifth rude phone call from a frustrated computer user in the same day.
IT guy, I am here to help you.
I spent the last week conducting IT therapy. I spoke with IT directors at local companies and let them vent.
So often, all we hear are the complaints from the “end users,” regular office workers like you and me who get annoyed when their Excel spreadsheets don’t behave exactly like they should.
But the poor IT guy never has a venue to share his point of view, which is a shame, really. IT is an increasingly integral part of all businesses. And by listening to your IT staff, you’ll likely learn some valuable lessons about how to improve efficiency in your shop.
Below are the highlights from my IT guy sessions.
Get The Details
“I have a problem.”
Next time you send an e-mail to your IT guy, please be a little more specific. All the IT people I spoke with confirmed that they receive grossly general e-mails with complaints on a regular basis. If you want your problem fixed as soon as possible, try very hard to document as much as possible. That means writing down an error message (better yet, copy and paste it or take a screenshot).
Also, be aware that your IT guy is working with people of all different technical skill levels. In any given office there are people who can type 75 words a minute and people who can’t find the Enter key. So, forgive your IT staffer if he doesn’t immediately know what your skill level is.
Restart
An awful lot of IT problems can be solved with a simple reboot. So, before you call the help desk in a complete and total panic, try to restart your computer. It may fix the problem.
There is a caveat to this advice: If you’re having to reboot your computer three times a day, you have a serious problem. Don’t wait four weeks before you finally seek help.
The IT team isn’t going to yell at you. You may be inconvenienced as they try to diagnose the problem, but at least you’ll be freed from the hard reboot. And you might avoid completely frying your motherboard.
Be Realistic
Technology is no silver bullet. It’s not going solve all your problems. In fact, it may create a few new ones. So, managers, please be realistic with your IT staff. They can’t make costs magically disappear. And if you don’t invest in training your staff to use the new software tools, you’re going to end up spending more money in the long run.
No meaningful new program is just going to land in your office and immediately be adopted. If it’s a comprehensive system, you’ll likely have to change the way your business operates to match the software. If you try to put in workarounds to keep doing business the old way, you’ll just be throwing money down the IT black hole.
Also, keep in mind that every IT decision is more complicated than it seems. As one IT manager told me, managers love to say, “Can’t we just (add that extra field, change the homepage, ignore that problem)?” Unfortunately, the answer is usually no. Making technical processes look simple takes an investment (translation money). You get what you pay for. And if you’re not willing to invest, you’ll likely be disappointed by mediocre results.
Be Suspicious
If some random person approached you on a city street with an offer that sounded too good to be true, would you fall for it? Probably not. So, why would you believe such an offer just because it lands in your inbox or is displayed on your computer screen?
The IT guys I spoke with all said security is a big issue for companies today. And security starts with having smart computer users who are aware of the latest tricks and schemes.
Hackers who want to invade your computer are getting smarter every day, but if you approach electronic communication with the same sense of suspicion as you have when walking down a city street, you should be just fine.
Get The Numbers
Managers, ask for the risk-reward. If your IT team keeps harping on some new software solution, don’t take their word for it. Ask for real numbers. If they can’t tell you what your ROI is, then perhaps it’s time to get a new IT team or call in an outside consultant.
The key to a happy, healthy office is communication, particularly when it comes to IT. Talk to your IT guys. Don’t buy software without bringing them into the conversation. Collaboration, as one IT manager put it, is going to be increasingly important as technology plays a greater and greater role in how we all do business.
Keeping your IT team locked in the server room isn’t doing your bottom line any good.
Got news for our Digital Diva column? E-mail Christina H. Davis at cdavis@wbjournal.com.
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