The 5 Users You'd Meet in Hell 649
cweditor writes "The Know-It-All. The Finger-Pointer. The Whiz Kid. "Just as a zookeeper cares for his monkeys one way and his rhinos another (we kid — sort of), so too should IT tailor its responses to fit the individual styles of its end users," according to this Computerworld "rogue's gallery of users (and one angel)".
Includes advice on how to best deal with the most common types of users, without having to run screaming into the night. Expect sometime soon to also see reader feedback offering other ideas (and, oh, perhaps some disagreement with the article's)."
There are more.... (Score:3, Insightful)
2) all of the millions of people that don't RTFM or help screens before lifting the phone and calling tech support; yes, the manuals and help screens suck, so did your chemistry book.
3) people that experiment with key configuration settings. Go ahead, click that DHCP button.
4) the well-intentioned, yet clueless. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
5) fanboi bigots; these weak ego'd miscreants are so insecure that the mere mention of a competing technology will drive them into brutal defensive postures. Their reactions remind me of our current political upheaval
listen to the whiz kids (Score:3, Insightful)
whiz kid-esque (Score:1, Insightful)
7th graders (Score:2, Insightful)
Typical Asshat IT POV (Score:5, Insightful)
I resemble that remark! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I wonder what category I belong to... (Score:5, Insightful)
If I ask a user to reboot their computer (which, by the way, means I think it might help) and they say it's unrelated, their just prolonging the time it takes to get the problem solved, because I'm just gonna reboot it myself when I get to their desk. Why not save us both a little time and just do it now? Who knows, it might even work, and that'll save us both a lot of time.
Re:There are more.... (Score:5, Insightful)
But isn't it your job to be on the other end of the phone to answer a question in ten minutes that would take me an hour to figure out by reading the poorly-written book? If not then why am I paying for support?
Re:I wonder what category I belong to... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I wonder what category I belong to... (Score:0, Insightful)
If I ask a user to reboot their computer (which, by the way, means I think it might help) and they say it's unrelated, their just prolonging the time it takes to get the problem solved, because I'm just gonna reboot it myself when I get to their desk. Why not save us both a little time and just do it now? Who knows, it might even work, and that'll save us both a lot of time.
If you rely on rebooting to solve problems you will eventually spend all your time rebooting your computer because of multiple fixable problems.
If you really must restart something, please restart different services one at a time and keep your eye on the logs.
Find the cause and submit bug reports.
No useful info (Score:3, Insightful)
Another one - the "It's got a virus!" user (Score:4, Insightful)
The worst thing about these people is they all have a know-it-all friend/relation who'll came over at the weekend and install his pirate copy of Windows/Norton on the machine to "fix" it.
Now Windows won't validate and Norton, well, it's Norton...
Now the only way out is to reformat.
Re:Irony (Score:5, Insightful)
The unix administrators I've run across certainly have their tyrants but they eventually relent in order to let me get some work done. The windows side of IT seems perfectly willing to let work stop in order to conform to policy.
Re:I wonder what category I belong to... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:listen to the whiz kids (Score:5, Insightful)
1) The whiz kid is advocating a violation of protocol. Often, this is the whiz kid not understanding how things work for the average technology user. In this case, you probably should consider but ultimately reject the opinion of the whiz. In other cases, the opinion should be weighed carefully, keeping in mind that protocol should be adapted once in a while.
2) The whiz kid is telling you how the technology actually works (not how it looks from the perspective of the Windows Management Console). In this case, if you disagree (and/or accuse them of going to hell, as in this article), you have now become the know-it-all, and he is the expert. Show some humility, and try to learn. If he is eventually found to be wrong, your humility will only act as a slap in his face. If he is right, you have potentially avoided losing face.
Re:Irony (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I wonder what category I belong to... (Score:5, Insightful)
Back when I was a "Windows Guy(tm)", I visited the desk for almost every system crash that was encountered by the user community. I admit that I, too, chose the occasional reboot rebuff when I was swamped with server issues. But I made a concerted effort to visit the user, and I was usually able to isolate the problems - generally related to faulty hardware or driver configuration.
Rebooting the computer will, in fact, resolve many things. For a while. Ultimately, most problems will recur. If it is software related, it will continue until the software problem is addressed. This could be the OS, and application, a utility, a driver, etc. If the problem is hardware related, it will also continue until the problem is addressed. And, it may end up costing you more money to replace any components that the faulty unit may be attached to.
Re:IT problem (Score:2, Insightful)
However, a locked Active directory, and you have access to the password as a Tech support operator at your "low level" position, shows either this company was a complete failure with it's IT department, or again, bogus story. Props to my parent for calling out the good points. Wish I still had mod-points today.
Re:And then there are the real know it alls (Score:3, Insightful)
I did support for a while, and periodically got users who didn't want to go through the first 10 basic steps of diagnosing the problem. They would assure me that they already tried that, and that's not the problem. 9 times out of 10, they are wrong, and some stupid thing they would swear they on their mothers grave they already tried fixed the problem.
Maybe you're that 10th guy, every single time you call. But it's unreasonable to expect the support guy to believe that, and frankly, you're probably not. Note that the other 9 guys are all just as sure they actually know what they are talking about too.
Re:Or any combination (Score:1, Insightful)
It's just not worth it. You're only visible to the people at the top when there's a problem; no one ever congratulates you for keeping things running smoothly, but you're the first one they point the finger at when there's any sign of trouble.
The worst is when you tell them "we shouldn't use software package X, it's clearly a piece of junk", or "we need to upgrade our network infrastructure or there will be problems", and are summarily ignored. Then when you turn out to be right, all you hear is "why couldn't you stop this".
Now I do independent contracting. The paydays are a little irregular, but I'm much happier.
Re:The Whiz Kid (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:There are more.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Military Alphabet (Score:5, Insightful)
I learned the hard way that using military alphabet abbreviations [wikipedia.org] over the phone just confuses most folks who aren't current/ex military or pilots. You end up having to say "A as in Alpha" instead otherwise they can't cope. It's even worse if they are a foreign national whose English language skills aren't so strong.
Of course most folks here can't deal with metric either so I shouldn't be surprised. (yes I'm an American slamming other Americans on this topic) There are a lot of things people could do to make their lives easier that they don't bother to learn. Sad but true.
Re:I wonder what category I belong to... (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the problem is with different definitions of "fixed" which Windows and Unix/Linux/Mainframe/etc admins have. In the Windows world "fixed" frequently means clearing up an inherent, recurring, deep-seated internal design problems of either Windows or some business app which are fundamentally unsolvable given the lack of access to the source code and even sufficient diagnostics tools to track the cause down. So rebooting "fixes" the problem in the sense that people get back to work and the thing limps along for some unpredictable amount of time again, until one of the many fundamentally unsolveable issues crops up again. Then reboot. Lather, rinse, repeat.
In the other environments "fixing" means employing a set of different diagnostic procedures, from analysing logs (which are actually useful, unlike the Windows ones), turning debugging info on, running strace etc, all the way to parsing source code, all of which procedures are very quickly focused on a specific running process or kernel module, which in turn can, in a vast majority of cases, be stopped/started/loaded/unloaded at runtime. Following which "fixing" means alteration to either the system configuration or applying appropriate patches. In some cases even writing your own.
This is because of this fundamental difference you have such a chorus of disagreement between those who come from Microsoft-only shops and those who have a much broader experience.
Depends (Score:3, Insightful)
Usually IT positions seem to be more responsible for the larger picture, making sure the systems and network operate correctly. Past that, a lot starts to go to the users. This is how it is going to be if you want to have a few of people who are responsible for 20 servers and 500 desktops. If they have to spend all their time acting as trainers, they won't be able to do their real jobs. If you want them to just be systems support, you are going to have to make it the responsibility of the users to learn the software they use.
Also, depending on the environment, it may not even be realistic. I work for an engineering department at a university and as such we have a lot of specialized engineering apps. The extent that we support those apps is to make sure they are installed correctly, that they run and that in the cases where such a thing exists, we can run an example project. That's it. We aren't experts in the software and indeed there's nobody in the department who's an expert with all of it. You'd need several master's degrees and probably a few PhDs as well to have the requisite knowledge for that. So we can make sure that the installation is right, we can make sure it is getting a license, we can make sure there's nothing on the system interfering with it, but we can't help you fix your broken project.
Likewise, it is not unreasonable to ask people to read basic messages on the screen. If the computer comes up with an error like "Error, there was an error," yes it is time to call the computer people. However if it says "Printer is out of paper," you should be able to read that one and figure it out yourself. Computers often try to be helpful, and it isn't unreasonable to ask someone to know a bit about the device they are operating. Much like I am not going to chide you for not knowing how to replace a broken alternator in your car, but I do expect that you should understand that when the fuel gauge goes to E you need to put more gas in, without asking a mechanic.
Bribe them. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The know-nothing. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:voodoo users (Score:3, Insightful)
Except they'll hold the button down too long and end up dragging and fail to click. They won't retry or even realise it didn't work, but simply get confused by the next instruction.
Re:IT problem (Score:1, Insightful)
Happens all the time to the help desk people at my company, especially those who are new.
Re:Irony (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:voodoo users (Score:1, Insightful)
That skipping ahead bullshit was very annoying. In first grade I remember being reprimanded for knowing how to count beyond 100 (Should that be such a feat in 1st grade?). In high school I got called in because my essay was written "too well". Hopefully, some of the smarter kids stuck in public education hell have some sort of parental intervention. I feel sorry for those who done and will never reach half their potential.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:voodoo users (Score:4, Insightful)
The term you're looking for is "learned helplessness." They have either been told so many times, or have told themselves so many times, that they CAN'T do something that these "false facts" become their reality. Since trying to go beyond your limits requires an emotional risk (i.e. "What if I fail? I'll look foolish....") people who learn to be helpless tend to stay that way unless they get help breaking out of it or they accidentally do the thing the "know" they can't and get the idea that they actually can. (Wow, that was one tortured sentence...)
Re:Surprisingly common (Score:5, Insightful)
You joke, but pretty much anyone who has ever done usability testing on modern computer systems has run into difficulty with right and left mouse buttons. It is the single, number one, most common usability problem. The worst are users (about 5%) who always click both buttons at the same time, usually resulting in a left click, but occasionally (and apparently randomly to them) their other finger wins the race and they right click. The problem is not even solely that of novice users. When you use software to record the screen as people work, you see the problem for advanced users, most of whom do not even notice. I saw this once for one of the top security architects for one of the biggest tier 1 ISPs in the US, and he was a really bright guy.
Apple has largely solved this problem with two major things. First, all systems ship in single button configuration, so developers almost never require right-clicking for any action. (aside from one pro graphics company and a few bad ports of Windows/Linux apps). This means everything accessed by right-clicking is a secondary way to get to that function and can be used for quick shortcuts. The second thing they did was the invention of the mighty mouse. It isn't perfect and I don't use one myself, but they change a mouse from single button to multi-button in software, so different users of the same hardware can have either a simple mouse or an advanced mouse. This is the best thing ever for public machines, family computers, and other shared systems.
I suppose having actual experience with formal, scientific testing in this area is why all the idiotic comments about 1 button mice and ridicule of people who have problems is so annoying to me.
Re:voodoo users (Score:4, Insightful)
However, often they don't even want to hear what I've done. They are reading off of scripts and have no idea how to actually fix the problem. They are in the same voodoo category, and very rarely end up actually helping. A shame, actually, because they either seem unable or (worse) unwilling to learn what they're trying to support. It wastes everyones time.
Re:voodoo users (Score:3, Insightful)
It was easy for me to pick things up the way he taught. The teacher made all the relevant points by Tuesday and spent the rest of the week making sure the students understood. Unfortunately this means the rest of us were held to a class "average" of sorts.
As I understand things have gotten worse under the No Child Left Behind act(my mother's a teacher.) She refers to it as "No child gets ahead." Almost everything is taught by being focused on test results. The attitude from administrators is now, "Who cares if they'll learn anything, just make sure they pass the tests." Funding is everything for the schools, so that's what matters the most now, tests.
Re:voodoo users (Score:3, Insightful)
Finger Pointer (Score:1, Insightful)
I used to do phone support at Sykes Enterprises Inc. at their Klamath Falls location and worked on the Packard Bell Premier Support account. You know, crappy computer with an 8 hour wait on their free but toll call to Utah line, or my $35 per call / per issue 800 number?
Most people were pissy when they called and because of the way support was setup, they were finger pointers.
The solution: Ask them if they really wanted to complain or if they wanted to get their problem fixed. Deep down they might be really pissed but this redirected them to becoming part of the solution and disarmed them.
Yes, there were some who were still upset but if they wanted to yell I wouldn't tolerate it and would redirect them to the proper channel. That is the second tool, if they don't want to work within the system, send them to the boss. Most of the IT people I know still have people further up the food chain to pass to when it comes to dealing with someone who really likes being the victim, but when you say either you can complain about it or fix it, if they choose to still complain you won't fix much anyway.
Re:voodoo users (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:There are more.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Boy can I relate to that. I can't count the number of times I've gotten this blind, dogmatic reaction from Vi users when I explain to them, in the simplest possible terms, why Emacs is The One True Editor.
Re:Surprisingly common (Score:3, Insightful)
Again, your points would be valid if you didn't invent them. You really should hop on a Mac before you start criticizing them - it will make you seem like you know what you are talking about.
Re:How I deal with finger pointers (Score:1, Insightful)
As someone who has been overseeing systems administration and support for a 750+ node network for years, I can not see how there can be this many avenues of conflict with the end users. Try a little humility, and maybe patience - coupled with a genuine desire to help the user - and I think your outlook will change.
Re:Typical Asshat IT POV (Score:1, Insightful)
Sure, they exist. For every one of them, there are a hundred users that think they know more than their IT staff but really, really don't. When it comes to computers, most of my users, even the utterly clue free ones, know things that I don't know. Some of them know a lot of things I don't. Some of them use complex applications that I know virtually nothing about. In a situation like this, it's easy to look like an idiot.
The reality is that most users that think they know more than IT staff don't know enough to know what they don't know. They know how to do something on one desktop or how to hack a work around that works for them. They don't know how to manage a hundred workstations, a heterogeneous mix of servers, how a change is going to impact users, how much work will need to go into properly evaluating and implementing a solution. They almost never understand policy or the reasons behind it and interpret won't as don't-know-how.
there are those of us who actually are engineers who are hobbled by Mr. Know-Nothing IT guys
Yes, they exist. As someone that supports several PhD engineers, I can safely say that being an engineer does not magically make a person technology literate. Many of my worst users in both know-it-all and helpless categories are engineers. I have few if any good engineer users over 30.
I always laugh at the IT guy who does superstitious things like closing the Explorer window and re-opening a new one so he can navigate somewhere!
If you're talking about IE, sometimes you might need to close a browser to terminate a session. Other times, the first step in diagnosing a problem is to close open applications and then focus on just the problem at hand which might entail opening an app you just closed.
Or tries the exact same operation four times, thinking it will work the fourth time!
Maybe he's tried it a thousand times in the past and it always worked before. Therefore, in a moment of humility, the IT person assumes it is not the process he is following that is flawed, but rather his own implementation of that process. Maybe each time he goes through the process he is reevaluating every step looking for hints about what is going on. Maybe he thinks the problem could be intermittent. Maybe he's stalling, repeating the procedure while he tries to think of alternatives, because that's both more useful and accepted than staring blankly at the computer screen.
I needed a new computer because he couldn't figure out how get an encryption certificate working in Outlook.
Where I work, some people are slow to upgrade. No really, some of those people with PhDs are still clinging to their 800MHz pentium 3s and it is becoming a political battle to wrest control of computer hardware purchasing away from end user groups and into the hands of IT. Anyways, if someone is having a lot of computer problems, has an even slightly older pc (3 years), we don't take long to suggest a hardware upgrade, particularly if they are a trouble user. This lets us get better hardware into the hands of our users. It also allows us to undo user inflicted damage with a fresh install and it provides us an opportunity to bring another user to our new standard software/policy configuration. In the event that a problem is non critical and would persist to a new computer, it gives us an opportunity to resolve the issue in peace at our convenience before deploying the new machine without the user hovering and second guessing everything we do.
I kid you not, I got a new computer out of it.
As a plus, many trouble users are placated at the notion of getting a new pc.
Re:voodoo users (Score:2, Insightful)