Dealing with People

     

The vast majority of technical people in the IT industry prefer working with machines over working with people. This statement is based largely on many discussions we have had with administrators, engineers , and consultants working in this industry.

Computers are easy to work with. They do what they are told ”even if that does not equate to what you want them to do. They wait for you while you have lunch , and they never have a bad attitude or demand that you do something right now .

Conversely, people can be difficult to work with. They do not necessarily do what they are told, interrupt your lunch to have you work on a project they forgot needed to be done right now , and when things are not going their way, they can have a very bad attitude.

People skills are a very important part of a system administrator's job. You have to be a salesperson, a diplomat, a teacher, a student of technology, and a technical guru all at the same time. It is very difficult to do any of these things well if you have a hard time dealing with people and communicating effectively with them.

Take some time to learn how to interact with the people you work with. Learning how to communicate with them outside a crisis will help you know how to communicate with them effectively during a crisis situation. Learn the best way to tell people that they are in your way and continually interrupting your thought processes by asking when the system is going to be operational again. Let them know that this is not going to help you get things running again any time soon. Different people react differently to being told this, so it is important that you know how best to communicate this information to the people who will invariably seek you out to find out what is going on.

One invaluable skill that people working in IT should master is active listening. The ability to not only listen to what you want to hear but to reflectively respond to co-workers and management lets you get more from the person you are speaking to, making problem analysis more effective and efficient. Many system engineers consider end users and management as deterrents or problems. However, when you look at them as assets, reflectively listening to them in a crisis situation, you gain allies as opposed to combatants, thus making your job a lot easier.

Another tactic that most SEs do not call upon in a crisis ”one that helps prevent a panic situation from becoming inflamed ”is the knowledge that experience has provided. In a panic situation, if you can simply stop and ask "What did I do, or what did so-and-so do, when faced with a similar situation?" many insurmountable problems have a way of being addressed calmly.

NOTE

It is important to correctly manage the expectation levels of your users, especially those in upper management. Provide them with a time frame that gives you some breathing room (so you are not rushed into doing something rash), but at the same time, do not overexaggerate it in order to try to look like a miracle worker (as depicted in some TV shows) because the ploy almost always backfires. For instance, if you feel the problem can be resolved in 30 minutes, tell your co-workers that the system "should be back up in about an hour ." This gives you some flexibility. However, do not go so far as to tell them it will "take the rest of the morning" because that could place upper management in a crisis mode and force undue stress on you and your co-workers.


TIP

If you are indeed dealing with a major problem, it would be wise to provide frequent updates to your users and management. It is not necessary to provide hourly updates, but several updates (especially when breakthroughs are made) throughout the day can prove useful.


In addition to learning to deal with people effectively, it is important to manage your own stress level in a crisis situation.



Novell's Guide to Troubleshooting eDirectory
Novells Guide to Troubleshooting eDirectory
ISBN: 0789731460
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 173

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