Network World has an article up enititled What Users Hate About IT Pros. Often, we IT guys complain about the users we deal with but aren’t too willing to listen to the complaints about us. So here are some points mentioned in the article, and my personal experiences and thoughts:
[It irks me] when an IT manager ‘fixes’ something on my computer and then says ‘It should work now’ and walks away,”
I personally am guilty of this. Of course, when you know it’s going to work it’s an easy thing to say. When someone breaks something by deleting it, and you restore it, often you say the above and just leave knowing that everything is fixed. I can see how this could be frustrating and arrogant to an end user who perhaps doesn’t understand.
However, I do this only under certain circumstances. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll do it. If I’m doing it as an unscheduled favor for someone, I’ll do it. Usually though, it happens because I’m frustrated with the user and have to take my leave in order to calm myself down.
For example, recently I received a very angry phone call from an end user complaining that his mouse was broken. He was a new hire and we had just installed a brand new workstation and this was the first time he had tried to use it. He made some sarcastic remark along the lines of is this the kind of thing he was to expect here from our department. AfterI arrived at his desk, I noticed a unique PC/monitor configuration. I asked if it had been that way when he first arrived. He said that he didn’t like where the PC was, and so he moved it. I looked at the back of it and asked if he was sure that he plugged everything back in correctly. He said that he had, and then I showed him the unplugged mouse cord. I plugged it in, said “It should work now” and walked away. I figured that was better than staying and arguing since it was early on Monday morning and I hadn’t had any coffee yet.
“I don’t think [e-mail storage] should be unlimited, and I understand why the size needs to be monitored, but it doesn’t seem like the storage capacity has adjusted to the inflated use of e-mail,” he says.
I’ve gotten similar comments as well. Of course, it only comes from individuals that are reaching, or have reached their limits. I have no problems adjusting the limits for users who have a legitimate reason for needing that done. I’ve just yet to find someone who does. Most of the time it’s from people who never delete emails and whose inboxes are clogged with personal messages, pictures, etc.
Which brings up another common complaint: techno-jargon. The technical terms and shorthand that IT managers throw around create an air of mystery and superiority to those not in the know, some say. And that may be by design.
I usually try to follow up technical terms with an explanation of what I’m taking about, but let’s face it, some are just too stupid too understand or don’t want to. This is a frequently heard complaint about IT pros, but all departments I’ve ever worked with, when discussing their jobs use their own jargon as well.
“While they make you feel stupid on the one hand, they also shroud solutions in mystery, which I believe is a job protection/justification strategy,” says Lisa, a partner with a financial services firm in the Boston area.
I guarantee you that I, and those who work with me, would LOVE for our users to understand how to fix their problems or what they could do to limit/avoid them. In fact, we have training classes to try to accomplish just that. Most that I deal with just aren’t interested in learning. Trust me, I don’t like having to have someone yell at me because he didn’t plug his mouse in.
