Secrets of User Support
I’ve moved up in my career from the early days when I was focused on supporting users through a help desk. But it seems that no matter what my role in an organization, I end up helping users who are ‘technology challenged.’ Today I spent more than a half hour on the phone with a remote user who was struggling with composing an email blast. Finally I tried to get her setup for remote access so I could see her screen, but alas she had trouble getting the remote access software to install. Finally, I suggested she just send me the content and I placed it into the email myself.
Later, she emailed me to ask what she had done wrong. I explained to her that the software was a bit ‘quirky,’ and that she shouldn’t take it to heart. The software really is a bit tricky to use, especially for those that don’t use it frequently. Perhaps this is why I always end up doing user support as some part of my job; users seem to like my patience (although I almost lost it today). But it’s especially challenging when you work for an organization with a high turnover rate, and you have to keep teaching staff the same things over and over…
Interestingly, my organization has been interviewing for a help desk person for months and hasn’t yet been able to find the right fit. Guess it’s not so easy after all.
Tags: help desk, user support