Leveraging Good User Mojo
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This document discusses best practices for providing good customer service as an IT professional. It recommends establishing positive relationships with users by treating them well, keeping open communication through status updates and feedback, and getting to know what they need to do their jobs. The document also stresses automating processes, establishing self-service portals, and addressing issues proactively rather than reactively to anticipate user needs. Documentation is presented as key to ensure consistency and learn from past issues.
Leveraging Good User Mojo
- 1. Leveraging Good User Mojo…
- 2. About Me: • Matt Simmons • Northeastern University in Boston • @standaloneSA • Standalone SysAdmin Blog
- 4. Identifying Customers • Lines on an Org Chart • Service consumers • People who ask you for things
- 5. Users == Customers All of the things I said about customers apply to users, too
- 6. Customer Service Isn’t (just) a Job Title • Having customers isn’t an insult • Treating them well isn’t demeaning • Establishing positive relationships with them will pay off for years • You can be the difference between a great experience and misery
- 7. The Basics
- 8. Use a Ticketing System • Spiceworks Help Desk is Good • Anything is better than nothing • Just make sure you use it • Even if your customers won’t
- 9. Keep Communicating • Maintain a status page • Make it automatic if possible • Make service window updates part of your process • Send Update and Completion Emails • Request Feedback
- 10. Establish Relationships • Get to know your users • At the very least, get to know what they do • Encourage them to let you know when things are broken • Reward them when they do.
- 11. Computers are Easy People are Hard
- 12. Have a Self-Service Portal • Make it helpful & informative • Automate IT processes if possible • Use off-the-shell software if you can • Pre-link to it on users’ desktop shortcuts
- 13. Be Active • Doctors make rounds. Why shouldn’t you? • Take an interest in what your users are doing with your machines • Anticipate their needs • It doesn’t hurt to be sociable. Not much, anyway.
- 14. Build Two-Way Trust • Don’t dictate policy from on high. • Explain reasoning, even if you don’t think they’ll understand it. • When someone exhibits responsibility, give them more. • Work to earn your users’ trust by being honest. • Even if it makes you look bad. • If you let them down, make sure they know you know
- 15. Building Trust: Find Your Canary • Contrast with: the squeaky wheel • The importance of people who work by rote
- 17. Ignorance • Is NOT stupidity • IS a temporary state of being • Should not be punished or mocked • You were (and are) ignorant, too. So am I.
- 18. Stupidity • Should be criminalized • Until that happens: • Route around it • Avoid it • Don’t get it on you
- 19. Egos They’re GREAT! Get one today!
- 20. Egos • They’re great! Have one! • Sorry, I meant Eggos. • Eggos are great. Have one of those instead.
- 21. Egos • WILL get you into trouble • Impede progress • Lead to the Dark Side
- 22. But…can’t I take pride in my work? • Absolutely • People are irrational meatbags • Disassociate your sense of worth from your work
- 23. Dealing with complaints • Don’t read the comments • Differentiate between constructive and deconstructive criticism • They are criticizing your work, not you • Unless they are
- 24. Treat Problems Once • Learn from Aviation and Medicine • Documentation Shall Set You Free • Automate, Automate, Automate
- 25. Engineer for (Human) Failure • People (and the machines they make) are imperfect • People (and the machines they make) fail • Assuming things have worked right is wrong • Failure is inevitable, so don’t treat it as exceptional
- 26. Documentation • Common Questions: • Who am I documenting for? • One set of docs, or two? • How to maintain up-to-date documentation • More importantly: Just do it.
- 27. Never do today… …what you could have a machine do tomorrow • Users love automation • Admins love automation • You don’t have to be an amazing programmer
- 28. Avoid unnecessary technical debt • Technical debt pays compound interest • The longer it sits, the more there is (obviously?), but the increase is exponential, rather than linear
- 29. Technical Debt Suggestions Identify the priorities of your boss and users • See if that can mesh with your priorities • If not, convince your boss that you’re right • Establish a timeline for your users • Stick to it
- 30. Use Technical Debt as a Tool -Borrow against it- • Don’t leave your users without a solution • Establish a timeline • Build in parallel • Test with one, some, many • Provide rollback for user data, but roll-forward with the migration • Shoot the engineer and ship • The borrowed debt is your new highest priority
- 31. Technical Debt Suggestions The easiest work is the work you don’t have to do