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Know Thyself: Tips for Help Desk Agents (Help Desk, Part 2)
Paul Chin
www.paulchinonline.com
10/17/2006
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The resolution of any technical problem begins with communication between the help desk agent (HDA) and the user with the problem. They're equally responsible in seeing a problem through until a positive outcome is achieved. Users, like patients going to a doctor, must be able to describe their aliments and symptoms so that the doctor can know what tests to run, make a diagnosis, and prescribe a treatment.
In part 1 of this series, It's Not About the Byte: Creating a Human Help Desk, I highlighted the importance of creating a human help desk, and the soft-skills required to guide users through technical problems in a human fashion. But before HDAs can help others, they must be able to manage their own thoughts and actions -- sometimes under intense stress. If HDAs are unable to handle nerve-wracking situations, how are they supposed to help those in technical distress? In fact, the HDA might even add to the problem.
We can't control the behavior of others, but we can control our own responses to their behavior. To best serve the user community, HDAs should heed an ancient Greek aphorism: gnothi seauton, know thyself.
Taking Control of the Situation
Although both parties need to cooperate and communicate with the other during technical problem resolution, the circumstances surrounding these situations is decidedly lopsided. HDAs handle all manner of technical problems on a daily basis, but users don't -- and for users, the problem hits a lot closer to home. They're the ones who aren't able to access an application with a crucial deadline looming; they're the ones whose computer went up in a plume of smoke on the eve of a big presentation; they're the ones who had a virus cripple their laptop on the way to a business trip.
Experienced HDAs are in a controlled environment and have most likely seen it all. Technical problems, regardless of size and complexity, are just part of a normal day for them. Users, on the other hand, are in exceptional circumstances. For them, the sky is falling. As a result of this, it's the HDAs responsibility to take control of these situations -- and they must do it within the first few minutes of initial contact with the user. When users are too rattled or stressed out to adequately describe their problem, the HDA must lead the conversation and ask the right questions to get the information they need out of them.
Tips for Help Desk Agents
Learning a new technology is much easier than learning a new behavior; but it doesn't take a complete personal transformation to become a decent HDA:
Deal with users as equals -- Never be condescending to users. The relationship between HDA (as the person in "authority") and user (as the person of "vulnerability") can lead to abuse. Unprofessional HDAs might be under the false impression that users are at their mercy. If HDAs talk down to users, it will simply polarize the help desk and its users.
Learn to gauge a user's technical experience -- A good HDA should be able to quickly assess users' technical proficiency by the way they describe their problem and how they answer questions. HDAs should then tailor their support to the user's level of knowledge. This way they don't end up giving lengthy instructions to advanced users, or overly technical explanations to novices.
Teach users to be self-reliant -- HDAs shouldn't allow themselves to become a crutch. If a user has a simple problem that they can rectify themselves, teach them how to do it so that, should it occur again in the future, they can fix it themselves rather than call the help desk repeatedly with the same problem. If HDAs come running each time the user calls, they will be less inclined to be independent.
Learn to say no -- There's such a thing as being pathologically helpful. On many occasions, when a helpful HDA solves a user's problem, the user will be tempted to ask completely unrelated questions. If HDAs allow themselves to be taken advantage of, their work may suffer since other users will have to wait longer for them to make their rounds.
Break the monotony -- It can be very tiresome to have to deal with the same problems day in and day out. Some HDAs like routine and hate surprises, others will get sluggish and apathetic without new challenges. To those in the latter group, working in a help desk and dealing with the same problems every day can be like working as a switchboard operator. Repetitive mental stress syndrome can set in so find something to break the monotony and stay sharp. A former colleague swears on Sudoku!
Learn to steer tough situations -- If HDAs sense that a user is going to that "bad place," they should try to lead the conversation and even change the subject to try to take the user out of the state.
Lighten the mood -- Making lighthearted (but still professional) conversation with users can help ease their stress, but HDAs shouldn't do it in a manner that makes it seem as though they're not taking the situation seriously.
Don't take things too personally -- Every HDA, at one time or another, will have to deal with angry or abusive users. It's important for HDAs not to allow these interactions to get them down or to take them as a personal attack. This topic will be covered in much greater detail in the next part of this series.
To be continued...
Technical problem resolution between HDA and user requires cooperation. If HDAs can't take control of the situation quickly it can snowball and affect overall productivity: A stressed out user calls a HDA; the user, in a panic, is racing and unable to adequately describe the problem; they become angry with the HDA and use them as an outlet for their frustration; the HDA then becomes agitated with the user and is unable to perform to maximum capacity. In the end, no one wins. To get the best response out of users, HDAs must be prepared to offer the best they have as well.
In part 3 of this series, I'll be discussing one of the least appealing aspects of working in a help desk department: dealing with angry and abusive users.
Paul Chin is an IT
consultant and a freelance writer. Previously, Paul worked as an
intranet and content management specialist in the aerospace and
competitive intelligence industries.
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