My Philosophy on Helpdesk Support

Wes Kroesbergen — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:04:16 +0000

Relationship Between Support and User

I was asked last week what my ‘style’ of interfacing with clients is. At the time I replied with a rough, uncut answer, as I hadn’t really thought about what my ‘style’ is. A lot of it is instinctual to me. However, since the question was asked, I have been pondering what my views are on help-desk support, and what my general practices are. I think I have a better, clearer response for the next time I am asked.

I feel very strongly about building relationships with my end users. Supporting users is not as simple as just fixing their problems with a smile. The reason many people fail on help-desk is because they view support as strictly support. They may fix the problem cheerfully, but once the problem is fixed, that is where they stop. I disagree. The support staff that I have seen truly excel are the ones who build relationships with the end users. There is a relationship between support staff and users. How they go about that relationship affects the satisfaction with the service.

The benefits of having a healthy relationship with the end user are numerous. Once there is a healthy relationship established, there comes a two-way trust. They trust you are looking out for their personal benefit, and you (support) trust them to be patient and let you fix it the way you know best. A healthy relationship between users and support staff also makes for a lot less stress in the workplace. Users have a tendency to be more tolerant for the times you err if they know you personally. (Rare, I know, but admit it, you still make mistakes from time to time.)

One of the most important benefits of a healthy relationship between support and users is that it helps put a face to the support department. YOU become what people think of when they need help. It is no longer some distant, impersonal department that tries to keep their computer running. It now is ‘Joe is coming to fix my computer’, or some other such mental ditty. This fosters a happy user base, and as any IT person knows, happy staff keep IT much happier. Create a face for your department!

How do you create and maintain a healthy relationship like this? Start with lots of face-time. And I mean lots. Every break you get, take the time to wander the floor, saying hello to staff (without distracting them from their work, etc). Ask about their personal lives, and share a bit of your own. When taking care of a user, focus on their problem. Build up a trust that you are dependable, and that you focus 100% on their issues when you get to them. This gives them a lot better confidence and leniency to waiting for you to finish up another user’s problem, knowing you will be taking care of them next. If they ask you questions about their personal computers at home, answer them. Even go as far as doing research on a particular technology for them if you have to. Be helpful! (Aside: This is a good sign if they ask you questions like these. It means they trust that you know what you’re doing, and value your input.) Lastly, always always always respond to support requests promptly. You become dependable and appreciated when this happens.

Priority Levels

I was also asked recently what my ‘priority levels’ are when it comes to help-desk. This is an interesting question, full of ramifications. What do you do when a backup server is malfunctioning, and at the same time the CEO calls and asks you why his computer is not turning on? Or when your email server is down, and someone calls you and tearfully explains they just lost a document they’ve been working on for the last day? Hard decisions… but again, these are decisions we have to make daily.

Here are my priority levels. Please feel free to leave comments on them if you wish.

1st Priority: Anything critical to business operations comes first. If your DC is down, that would take precedence over anything else.
Aside: You have to know how to respond to other requests that come in during that period. I.e., send another staff member to take care of the individual, or explain in simple language what is happening (works best if you have that healthy relationship I talked about, they are more likely to appreciate and hold off).

2nd Priority: The problem you are working on immediately. I.e., if you are working on something, and someone else asks for you to change a setting on their computer, stick with what you are working on. Send another staff member to take care of the other person, or, if just wrapping up, ask them to wait a moment while you finish what you are working on. You can also ask them to put in a ticket. This goes for if the second person is management as well. People need to realize that you follow protocol and play fairly with everyone.
Aside: Again, a healthy relationship is crucial to the success of this method. This method also enhances the relationship, as people now realize they can count on you to focus 100% on their problem, and not be distracted when you are taking care of them.

3rd Priority: Anything critical to someone’s ability to work immediately. I.e., if a computer crashes and won’t turn on again, this person takes precedence over someone who wants to know whether the email they received is junk or not.

4th Priority: Management. It sounds terrible to say this, but management ARE what keep you employed. Let’s keep them happy.
Aside: It’s a delicate balance. Be very careful when it gets to this level that you don’t appear to be playing favorites.

That’s it for now. I may add more thoughts later, but thought I should probably post these views, as it helps people understand the way I operate better.

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My Philosophy on Helpdesk Support