How To Be a Better IT Guy

We often become frustrated with our users.  We argue with them.  We make fun of them.

But let's be honest - that's only one side of the story.

We can be just as bone-headed as any user.  I've had second helpings of humble pie while restoring a database some idiot, named me, deleted.

We can be less than helpful.  My mom's IT guy made her use an odd-ball workaround for years simply because he was too lazy to walk over to her printer and check it out himself.

We can suggest mindlessly stupid fixes for simple issues.  One of my users explained to our corporate helpdesk that clients had informed her she was not receiving their emails.  The suggested fix?  "If you are missing emails, have the client resend them."

We can be cranky.  The IT lady I replaced was scary.  She stomped out on me during my interview.  She would yell at superiors and peers alike.  She wouldn't come help you unless you promised something in return, like Starbucks...and she wasn't kidding.

We can be quirky.  IT folks aren't known for their people skills.  If you're reading this from your IT Commando Operations Headquarters, strategically located in your department's leaky basement, then you need to come up for air a bit more frequently.  Your users are nice and don't bite much, but you wouldn't really know, would you?  You should also go to the office Christmas party.  You may have been here for ten years, but to most folks you're still new since they've never met you.

What other things have you noticed IT folks failing at?

What will you do to be a better IT guy?

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