Comment This is where support staff earn a living.. (Score 1) 360
People seem to forget that extracting meaningfull information from end users is a highly specialist skill. Developers are from my experience clever folks, however frequently they lack the ability to learn the most important language in IT, EUS - End User Speak. To my mind the most undervalued skill in the industry.
In my last job I was the first ever IT person to be based in the branch office. The users perception of the software and systems was very negative. The main IT function was based 300 miles away and only did a token visit to the site once a month. Being based on site and actually sitting with the users I could see just what impact the systems were having; when you end up staying past midnight, helping a user in tears becuase they could loose their job if the client didn't get the expected reports. You then start to appreciate the issues a hell of a lot more and why they have issues in sending developers good information to work from.
You have three options:
1. Go sit with the users or pay somebody else to do it for you and act as an interpreter
2. Automate error reporting. This should involve no more user intervention than clicking on a confirmation and should send them back a case reference number. This must then feedback to the user to make them feel involved in the process.
3. Educate some users and appoint bug monkeys on teams having repeated issues. There is usually one person on a team that thinks they know IT and likes to have a badge. Play on it, give them an hour or so of your time and get them to report the bugs for users on the team.
Support staff don't tend to be that well paid, we don't tend to get much love from users or developers. What you're seing now is what we can do for you and what we protect you from.
In my last job I was the first ever IT person to be based in the branch office. The users perception of the software and systems was very negative. The main IT function was based 300 miles away and only did a token visit to the site once a month. Being based on site and actually sitting with the users I could see just what impact the systems were having; when you end up staying past midnight, helping a user in tears becuase they could loose their job if the client didn't get the expected reports. You then start to appreciate the issues a hell of a lot more and why they have issues in sending developers good information to work from.
You have three options:
1. Go sit with the users or pay somebody else to do it for you and act as an interpreter
2. Automate error reporting. This should involve no more user intervention than clicking on a confirmation and should send them back a case reference number. This must then feedback to the user to make them feel involved in the process.
3. Educate some users and appoint bug monkeys on teams having repeated issues. There is usually one person on a team that thinks they know IT and likes to have a badge. Play on it, give them an hour or so of your time and get them to report the bugs for users on the team.
Support staff don't tend to be that well paid, we don't tend to get much love from users or developers. What you're seing now is what we can do for you and what we protect you from.
