Is there anything worse than when your technology, that was supposed to make your life easier, causes nothing but stress and you need help instantly? When it’s over you realise that there are worse things, but at that moment it is pretty consuming. So here are a few tips to make it easier for you to get the technical support you need, as quickly and easily and possible.
Tip 1: Make note of what has happened.
I realise this seems like a no-brainer, but it is really helpful for your technical support person if you can provide specific details of the error message that appeared, or what you were doing before the whole thing failed to proceed. Remember that your techie can only help you if you give them enough information to do it. Although you want things fixed (now, actually yesterday would be better) taking the time to provide details of things that might not seem important, might give them exactly what they need to know to fix your system quickly. If you’re 100% sure that you know what the problem is, by all means let your support person know, but offering detail to support your conclusion can still be very helpful.
Tip 2: Don’t always assume that it’s your technical support person’s fault.
It can be difficult when there are a number of people working on the same system, and you’re sure that you or your team on the ground haven’t done anything wrong, but pointing the finger before knowing exactly what has happened is not likely to speed up the process. While technical gurus are human and can make mistakes like anyone else, to instantly start accusing them of an error is less likely to allow their diagnosing-the-problem skills to flourish. Sometimes a person may have accessed the system that you were unaware of, and sometimes hardware faults occur, so keeping an open mind until you know what has actually happened is a good thing.
Tip 3: Don’t throw your computer out of the window - even if it does feel like the best option!
Remember that your techie is (hopefully) going to do everything they can to help you, but supergluing screens and motherboards back together may not be their strongest skill, and won't help get you back to what you need to be doing, or help you meet your deadlines.
- Deb Robertson, Strategic Director at Sustainable Software Pty Ltd
