Advice For IT Professionals - Keep Your Users In the Loop!
The Simple IT Success
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It's amazing how far a little communication can go...
I used to work in computer support, and to be honest, I hated it. Whether I hated it because I was bad at it, or I was bad at it because I hated it, I don't know. But I do know that I would deal with my displeasure by minimizing my contact with my users. Turns out, this is not a strong strategy.
I had a list of problems to solve and equipment to order. My policy - internal to me, not posted - was to only communicate with people once the equipment was in or the problem was solved. At the time, this minimized my need to interact with people and tell them that things weren't going well. Now, looking back, I realize that this just made the situation worse and my life harder.
In situations where I could quickly solve the problem or get the equipment, there was no problem. However, not surprisingly, many times things would take a wee bit longer. While I knew exactly what was going on, the user was left sitting there wondering whether I was still working on their problem. This led to more than one frustrated conversation where the user was wondering what the heck was going on. One time I even had someone yell at me about a problem I had already fixed - I just never told them it was solved!
It's easy to hold off contacting the user. You start to think that if you wait "just one more day," that maybe you'll have it fixed.
There is a strong fear effect here. You don't want to talk to the user just to say that the problem is still not solved, as we all know that an upset user likes to lash out at the nearest target - you! Also, you get this weird sense of, "what's the point of contacting them if I have nothing new to report?"
This attitude is 100% logical and correct, and totally the wrong approach for long term success. At the end of the day, all businesses are relationship businesses. By simply keeping the user in the loop, you will be building the key relationship for your success. He or she may be upset, but they will be less upset than if you just ignored them (from their perspective).
People know that things can go wrong. They may not like it, but they can accept it. What they can not accept is being disrespected, and not involving them in the process of solving their problem is a form of disrespect.
The long term benefit of this is that over time, as people understand that you are keeping them in the loop, your rapport with the users will increase. This will make all future interactions more positive and effective.
This approach works outside the realm of support as well. Whether you are in sales, development, or management, regular communication with the people you are working with and who are relying on you is the key to building strong long-term relationships.
Here are some simple guidelines to follow. Are these too obvious to state? Maybe, but that doesn't mean I won't. Besides, it's the easy and obvious stuff that most of us miss.
1 - Contact people when you say you will
This one is my personal pet peeve. If you say you will check in and let the user know what is going on by Friday at noon, then by gum you must contact them Friday at noon! Nothing is more frustrating to a user than when you don't contact them by when you say you will. Also, nothing hurts your credibility more than not being true to your word.
2 - Contact people even if you have nothing to update
It may seem useless, but you should send the user periodic updates, even if you have nothing new to add. Even a simple email that says, "Hi, just wanted to check in and let you know that I am still waiting for that part that's on back order, but it should hopefully be in next week. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you."
Rule of thumb: If the user or client has to call you to follow up on their request, you let too much time pass between communications.
3 - Offer alternatives
Here's where your creativity comes into play. If things are not going well, communicate with the client to come up with short and long term alternatives. Can you give them a new machine to work on for a while? Can you recommend a workaround to their problem they can use until you fix the issue with their software? Can you help them come up with a new way of doing their job better? If you can, than you mitigate their problem and move yourself from "support person" to "resource."
As an IT professional, your goal is to make the users' lives easier. If you expand that beyond just writing software and fixing computer problems, then you can see that reducing their stress and keeping them happy is just another part of it. Follow the communication tips above, and you will really make your users' lives easier.