To be successful in a tech support role, you have to become a skilled communicator. See if you recognise any of these 10 common missteps, which are guaranteed to impede your ability to work effectively with your users.
You think you're a good communicator: You keep your users informed and you listen to their problems. So why is it that no one appears to read your e-mails or seems capable of following your instructions? Are you surprised to learn that the users have been living with computer issues rather than ask you for help? These are all signs of a breakdown in communication -- which we, as support techs, frequently misinterpret as user indifference or even stupidity. Before long, we find ourselves on a downward spiral toward complete communications failure. Even with the best intentions, it's possible to sabotage our own attempts to communicate with the users by inadvertently committing one or more of the following deadly sins of miscommunication.
#1: Inappropriate nonverbal communication
Our words may say "Absolutely, yes, of course I don't mind
helping you change the toner cartridge," while our facial expressions, tone,
and body language simultaneously scream, "You complete and utter gimboid, do you honesty think that I spent four years in school, have an IQ of 167, and earned 53 technical certifications just so I
could change your toner cartridge? Would you like me to breathe for you too?"
It's not necessary to be a behavioural psychologist to know that tutting under your breath, rolling your eyes, and suppressing little smirks combined with your apparently kind words, sends a patronising, insulting message to the user. Instead, if you are frequently asked to perform such seemingly menial tasks as changing toner cartridges, turn it into an opportunity to educate and empower the user.
#2: Showing off
Just because we happen to know all the correct technical
terms and concepts does not mean we should use them when communicating with
users. Providing instructions that are overly technical and contain far more
information than users need is not the most effective means of conveying our
message. Instead of impressing a user with our superior knowledge, it alienates
and belittles them and makes us seem supercilious and pompous. For example, telling
users to clear their cache and delete their objects to solve a browser issue
may be technically correct. But the chances are, if a user knows how to carry
out these instructions, he or she has already done it. Try giving the user
click-by-click instructions on how to
perform these tasks, perhaps accompanied by a single line of explanation in
terms the user can relate to. Aim to impress with your attitude instead of your
knowledge.
#3: Losing patience
If William Langland had not coined
the expression "Patience is a virtue" in 1377, I am firmly convinced that it
would have been invented by an enlightened support tech sometime during the latter
half of the twentieth century, just as humans were being introduced to
computers in the workplace. Even though the computer literacy of the general
working population has steadily improved over the intervening years, there
always seems to be at least one user who simply doesn't get it, and whose
persistence in demanding help for the same problem stretches our patience to its
breaking point. Calling the user a brainless twit and bashing him or her over
the head with a gel wrist relief may provide a moment of immense satisfaction,
but it's likely to result in a miffed user and an unemployed support tech and
should, therefore, be avoided at all costs. A better alternative is to develop
techniques for (a) preventing such situations and (b) handling them appropriately
when they do occur.
#4: Being dismissive
Imagine going to see your doctor because you have a mysterious
green knobbly growth in your arm pit and all he does is pat you reassuringly on
the back and tells you not to worry but do come back in a month or two if it
hasn't gone away. How would this make you feel? What if the doctor didn't even
look at the growth? This is precisely how we make the users feel when we fail
to engage with their problems, dismissing them with platitudes and vacuous
reassurances. Even though we may be 100 percent certain that Bob's computer
isn't really taking twice as long to boot up and that Marcie must be imagining
that high-pitched whine, telling them not to worry about it and to let you know
if the problem doesn't go away achieves absolutely nothing except to make them
feel stupid and insignificant.
Whether a computer problem is real or perceived makes little difference to users. All they know is that they have a problem that needs to be resolved. Even merely perceived problems can be fixed with some sensitivity and a little creativity. However insignificant the issue, by engaging in the problem and treating users with respect we increase their confidence in us and open the lines of communication.
