Training someone to troubleshoot
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Ok, so as a few of you probably know, I'm not actually an IT Pro, I'm a marketer with an interest in IT and I look after IT here in our small business. (hence I basically don't post here aside from the Water Closet)
The situation is that in a few months, I am hoping to move on from here and so will be most likely handing the IT role over to one of my coworkers who seems fairly keen to take it on. Her IT knowledge is quite minimal though and her approach is kind of to- hear of issue
- call our tech company which we pay (a fair bit) per hour.
Not that much different, except I would trouble shoot and knock out 75% of the issues a lot faster and without additional charges to the company.
Now my theory is that if I could give her a couple guides on trouble shooting simple problems, I could walk her through those, and try to show her how to google the rest, and then contact the tech company if she doesn't get anywhere. Any ideas on what sort of things I should put down in a troubleshooting guide? Or am I coming at it completely wrong?
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@lillucia introduce them to the OSI model. Its the basis of all tech troubleshooting.
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@Bill-Kindle , thanks, that's interesting - although I don't need her to get right into networking or anything - I'm more meaning the lower end of tech help from "I don't know how to install this new signature" to "my accounting software won't find the company file (that's because you're looking on the desktop)" to "can you help me find this email from 2012" to "my internet won't work" etc.
And I guess a basic knowledge of how our Exchange/VM/Server interact.
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@lillucia introduce them to the OSI model. Its the basis of all tech troubleshooting.
It's really true. Few things have helped me more.
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Does she have a curios mind? You can divide the world into people who do and people who don't. People who don't will never be able to troubleshoot.
For example, if my lawnmower is broken and I take it to be fixed, when I pick it up I will want to know what was wrong with it and what they did to fix it. I just need to know. Other people will think "it's fixed, what do I care what was wrong with it". I don't need to know what was wrong with my lawnmower, but I have this natural desire to know.
Another example: here at work we have people who have spent 20 years working as a purchase ledger clerk yet have absolutely no idea how a purchase ledger works. They say "I don't need to know, I just follow the instruction manual to press this button or that button. I don't need to know, or care, what each button does". I could never be like this. I could never press a button without trying to understand what the button did. I probably annoy the hell out of people for this. When I pick my car up after being serviced I demand a 15 minute lecture from the mechanic on car maintenance.
Similarly, I can divide the world into two types of users. Those that think "my computer isn't working, I'll phone IT and then go and have a cup of coffee while they fix it" and those that think "my computer isn't working. I'll spend 15 minutes trying to fix it myself and if that doesn't work I'll phone IT and then watch them fix it so that I know what to do if it happens again".
tl;dr....she may just not be made of the right stuff. Alternatively, she may just need more confidence. She may be more confident when you're not around as she might be scared of looking stupid in front of you. Regardless, I don't think a guide will help much.
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I've never studied the OSI model though, so maybe that would help
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I agree. Troubleshooting tends to be something you do or don't do. No idea how to train someone to do that.
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A check list for them to go over for certain issues might help.
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@Minion-Queen said:
A check list for them to go over for certain issues might help.
Scripts help for routine tasks. But for actual troubleshooting do little.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
I've never studied the OSI model though, so maybe that would help
You may find that your troubleshooting method is following the OSI model already.
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To me you're really teaching the person how to think. I do think it is a skill that can be learned contrary to what others may say.
Take a problem you need to fix, and take the person through your thought process. Ask them what they would do, show them what they should be looking for, tell them how it should work, etc. You have to sit with them and make them do the troubleshooting and start coaching them through situations. Teach them questions to ask that can rule out various solutions. Have them suggest a next step to solve the problem based on experience, and talk them through whether it is a good idea or bad idea.
Some simple guides will help, but putting them in the situation and making them follow the mental steps will help cement some basic troubleshooting methodologies.
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@Carnival Boy and all, Sorry to take so long to reply (forgot I posted this and didn't check in!)
I think you've hit the nail on the head though. And yeah, she is more the call IT and hit the coffee machine type
Thanks all for your input, helped me to clear my head on this one. -
Teaching someone to think differently can be done but is a tall order. If she has the aptitude she will likely take to it quickly on her own. If not, training her is probably not realistic.
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@Minion-Queen said:
A check list for them to go over for certain issues might help.
+1 for this idea. Here we have check list and we required to login ( HANDOVER CHECKLIST) all the issues and how they resolved the problem.
