tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8966928343955870830.post4017783591670471672..comments2023-03-19T00:50:27.878-07:00Comments on Tales of the IT Helpdesk: Suffering Support!Tony Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10593246665388578814noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8966928343955870830.post-10717907307515081542009-05-20T09:50:00.728-07:002009-05-20T09:50:00.728-07:00I arrived here via the TechNet newsletter route to...I arrived here via the TechNet newsletter route too and share the thoughts expressed so far!<br /><br />It was also good to see a firm with a West Country presence appearing in the online UK TechNet newsletter too!<br /><br />We're a management and technology consulting practice, offering (amongst other things) IT support to clients.<br /><br />We're forever making the comment to clients that our charges could be reduced by better training (something we also do) to empower staff to overcome similar issues to those mentioned above. Certainly, many firms could do a lot to reduce their overall IT costs through better training.<br /><br />However, a mixture of management and staff reluctance often leads to no action.<br /><br /><br /><A HREF="http://blogs.rrs.co.uk/revella" REL="nofollow">Alastair Revell</A>Chartered IT Professional<br />Managing Consultant<br /><A HREF="http://www.rrs.co.uk" REL="nofollow">Revell Research Systems</A>Alastair Revellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315861086814779285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8966928343955870830.post-21469818548281823252009-05-04T01:18:00.000-07:002009-05-04T01:18:00.000-07:00Guys,
Many thanks for your comments; I must admit...Guys,<br /><br />Many thanks for your comments; I must admit, I wasn't sure that anyone would actually read this!<br /><br />There are a number of key issues with training; getting management buy in is the primary concern, however you also have to get the staff themselves to accept that they need the training. The training itself has to be correctly targeted - I've seen some training that was actually not even what was needed, some where it just went over the heads of the trainees.<br /><br />I like the structure of the ECDL for basic staff training; however, I am a bit concerned that the actual delivery of it is a bit patchy. Some staff have found it useful, but for many it was waste of time.<br /><br />I really do believe that there are simply too many companies where they just don't understand how much more efficient they could be. I think that this is going to be a major issue now that the industry is getting more mature.<br /><br />TonyTony Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10593246665388578814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8966928343955870830.post-73380599714760857392009-05-01T12:36:00.000-07:002009-05-01T12:36:00.000-07:00Just picked up the above on TechNet newsletter and...Just picked up the above on TechNet newsletter and can well understand both your points - have seen it many times. Some people though are just not Techie minded and that will be hard to change. Schools at all levels trying to teach ‘science’ does not seem to avoid the problem – I think it is just not some people’s thing.<br />I am a freelance professional roving Office IT trainer and come across a similar frustrating issue. Companies spend a fortune on kit, even more on software and next to nothing on training. So things are done by fighting with the PC rather than using it properly and efficiently – a few still try to make it emulate a typewriter! Some of the common tools like the format painter and keyboard shortcuts are just never used. Further, the companies use little of the packages they have bought and do things in slow and manual ways. Although I get to a few people, there is a serious reluctance to upskill staff, so they just waste time all and every day to achieve far less that they have paid for. It is like buying a flash car and driving it in first gear with the brakes on all the time!<br />When things aren't going so well, they then ask their IT support, who tell them they need to buy the latest wizz-bang kit, which looks pretty, but does just the same thing a few milliseconds faster.<br />Any suggestions how to market the idea of better training? I am incidentally in South Yorkshire but do travel around.<br />DavidAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00785474665602928430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8966928343955870830.post-43504067303134497792009-05-01T08:25:00.000-07:002009-05-01T08:25:00.000-07:00Ive just stumbled upon your blog after my microsof...Ive just stumbled upon your blog after my microsoft technet newsletter dropped in my inbox.<br /><br />I too share your frustration with end users, and just how blinkered they become when IT matters arise. My most recent example was asking an end user to trace her printer lead. Trying to explain to her, that this lead had to go somewhere, and she needed to follow it and find out where it was plugged into, was just met with lots of "but i dont understand these things".<br /><br />There is no IT knowledge required to be able to follow a cable. If her kettle were to become unplugged, it would be easy for her to follow the plug, and make sure it was switched on. But because this is now attached to a printer, all rhyme and reason is lost and all that comes out is "but i dont know about these things". Finding words to describe what happens is difficult, its almost some kind of mental block, that prevents them from using common sense when IT things go wrong. <br /><br />And as you say, so much of this is created by users being taught to follow a process, with little understanding of what they are actually doing. And when a different screen appears, or something changes, instead of using sense and reading what it says, the end user goes into a blind panick and phones the helpdesk complaining its broken !<br /><br />I too can also relate to the fact higher management never understand, and just it as us doing our jobs properly. Unsung heroes of the IT world we are !Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16944322650869752561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8966928343955870830.post-24386816388079957702009-05-01T08:18:00.000-07:002009-05-01T08:18:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16944322650869752561noreply@blogger.com