Delighting Your User, Part Four: Showing and Maintaining Competence

In this article, writer, speaker, trainer, and veteran IT guyways of doing things, you find things you didn't even
Don R. Crawley makes the case for bothknow existed, and you maintain a childlike sense of
demonstrating competence and maintainingwonder and awe.
competence as a technical support provider. HeRead...a lot. The fact that you're reading this article
provides practical, real-world techniques for thespeaks highly of you. It's not that you're reading this
support desk engineer to use to demonstrate andparticular article (as much as your author wants to
maintain competence.believe that!), but that you're reading any article about
Copyright (c) 2007 Don R. Crawleyhow to do your job better that speaks so highly of
Competence means providing correct, knowledgeableyou. There are thousands, perhaps millions, of blogs
service, performed with accuracy and confidence.and forums on the Web dealing with the same
Competence is a two-part process. You musttechnologies you support. Microsoft and most other
demonstrate competence in the way you do your job,vendors provide extensive support documentation at
but you must also find ways to maintain your technicaltheir sites. Microsoft even has free hands-on labs and
competence.how-to guides. Get one of the O'Reilly Cookbooks for
Demonstrating Competencethe technology you support and work through recipes
Here are a couple of good techniques to use tothat are most interesting to you.
demonstrate your competence.Build a sandbox. I first heard of an IT "sandbox" when I
Tell the user what you are going to do before you dowas working with some individuals from Kimberly-Clark
it. This technique is called headlining, in the sense that aCorporation in a PKI training session. The IT "sandbox"
newspaper article's headline tells you what you areis another name for a testing lab where you can
going to read before you read it. As a user, it is veryexperiment without worrying about system failure.
frustrating to be dealing with a technical supportToday, it's often not necessary to set up a physical lab
provider who does not tell you what he or she is doing.with multiple physical computers. Instead, you can use
When there is silence on the phone, the user may betools like VMWare, Virtual PC, or Xen to create a
confused, and this does not assure the user of yourvirtualized lab environment in which you can test and
competence. You know you have not done a goodexperiment to your heart's content without worrying
job of headlining if, after a period of silence, your userabout affecting end-users. Some virtualization products
says, "Are you still there?" The user does not feelare available for free; others at very low cost. (I use
cared for if she has to guess if you are still on the line.VMWare Workstation.) Use Google to learn more
Headlining is the mark of a professional Help Deskabout virtualization and the vendors who create
provider. It is easy and quick to do, and creates a highvirtualization products.
degree of end-user satisfaction. Use headlining whenGet trained! As a training provider to the IT world, you'd
you need to take a moment to look up somecertainly expect me to make this recommendation, but
information in the database. You can say, "It will takeit's important. Training, whether in a college classroom,
me just a minute to look that up in the database." Thisa seminar environment, in a workshop, or at a
gives the user the assurance that you are working onconference exposes you to new ways of doing things
their behalf.and thinking about things. Electronic delivery of training
Another way of providing assurance to users is tocan be an excellent solution, but participating in
build their confidence in your ability to help them. Thisin-person classes allows you to interact with the
can be done with a solution statement delivered onceinstructor and the other students. It's through such
you understand and have confirmed the user'sinteraction that you discover new concepts and new
problem. A solution statement simply tells the user thatsolutions to old problems. I discovered when I returned
you can help them solve the problem. You can say,to college that just being in an educational environment
"From what you have told me, I know how to solvegot me thinking in new and positive ways. Additionally,
the problem."great teachers and trainers challenge you and help you
Maintaining Technical Competencestep outside your comfort zone which is how you
Our world in Information Systems and Technologyaffect positive change in your career and in your life.
evolves so quickly that maintaining technicalBeing great at your job isn't necessarily easy, but it's
competence can seem overwhelming at times. Hereimmensely rewarding in terms of personal satisfaction,
are four keys to maintaining your technicalcareer options, and financial rewards.
competence:Next week, we'll talk about empathy and its
Be curious. Curious people are always exploring. Whenimportance as part of the tech support process.
you're curious, life is more interesting and you find new