ASKing for support
This is a concept that I learned at Pivotal and which I intend to take to every single place where I get a chance to do tech support or at least infect the resident support team with fun ideas. In Farewill right now this is one of our internal IT docs and was one of the first ones I wrote up after joining.
Whenever you need something from IT you can always ASK. đ
ASK is, of course, a backronym because we love those - it stands for:
Actionable
Specific
Kind
But what does it mean? Let's break it down.
Actionable - you should come to tech support with an outcome in mind.
"I don't like my computer" isn't something I can figure out a way to help with. âšī¸
"My computer is really slow" means you want it to be running faster than it is right now - that means I have an end result to aim for with you! đ
Specific - think about the details you might need to provide, and if you're not sure what's needed then being open about that and asking is perfect too!
"I need help with my meeting" doesn't give me the starting info I need. Where is the meeting? When is it? What help do you need? âšī¸
"I need help with my Zoom meeting for next Monday, I'm not sure how to record it" is something I can work with straight away! đ
Kind - we're all people and people work better together when we're respectful and not needlessly aggressive or accusatory. Non-violent communication and focusing on working together mean we'll get better results.
"You gave me a terrible computer and now I can't work" is an accusation rather than a request for help, it doesn't get us toward a good end result and also is just plain mean even if I really did give you an unsuitable machine. âšī¸
"I'm finding my machine too low spec and it's seriously blocking me" is asking for help with something, focused on the problem rather than the people involved, and is something we can work with together! đ
Whether you're seeking help or providing it - ASKing is the best way to make good things happen. Beyond the obvious communications benefits there's definitely something powerful about having a set of guidelines for users to follow so that IT can be effective. It says to your organisation that IT are here to work with you as fellow humans and that when you need us there's a known good way to get what you need!