Over the years, I’ve asked a lot of questions, listened to a lot of stories, had a few things thrown at me, and done my best to help every single person I’ve encountered. Especially the ones who threw things at me. As the years have marched by, I’ve tried to make a point of learning from every conversation. As my father was fond of saying, “A good pilot is compelled to evaluate his performance, and apply what he’s learned.” Rather if you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’ll keep making them. That being said, I have no problem making mistakes. the goal is to not make the same ones over and over. In this process of personal improvement, as well as customer support, one must listen.
Lets think about that for a minute. Listening. Not thinking, not evaluating, not processing, just listening, and absorbing. Letting time slow down, taking the necessary moments to let the other person give you information. The goal is to concentrate, remember, and understand that which is being put forth. The concept is referred to as active listening. It works part and parcel with reflective listening, which is the confirmation of information, by repeating it back to the speaker, in order to make sure both are on the same page. How one implements this is very dependent on the other person. Some people are very capable of organizing their thoughts and giving you information in a concise manner. This means that having absorbed what they’ve given, you can move forward. Some people are not so concise. They’re flustered, confused, upset, angry, frantic, an so on. Their delivery of information is not concise, and may be well, a bit jumbled up. Actively listening is still key, but you may need to reflect back, to make sure that you’re both on the same page. The latter also definitely may require a bit more empathy than not, depending on the other person.
My point is this though, in order to effectively help and to get to the root of other person’s issue, one has to listen. In many instances, a lack of time may lead one to start working, taking notes, etc, while the other person is talking. This divides focus. Active listening is the art of stopping what you’re doing, and giving that person your full attention. In the process, while listening to whats being said, you may find clues, both verbal and non-verbal. In a hardware/software troubleshooting scenario, what the other person says is just as important as what they don’t say, as well as how they say it. All of these things can help you to isolate what the issue is, and help get the problem solved, quickly and accurately.
For IT support issues, I follow a pretty methodical flowchart in my head (See flowchart above). I’ve been doing it this way for ages, because by following my mental map, I stay cognizant of all of the little clues a person can provide, without breaking my focus. In some cases, the flowchart fills itself out very quickly. Sometimes, it takes a while. Regardless of whether or not I’ve already solved a person’s problem in my head, they get to finish speaking. The goal is for them to not only be heard, but to feel like they’ve been heard. The goal is very much not for it to become my turn to speak. I’m not waiting for that. I really want the other person to give me any and every detail they have. While they’re speaking, I’m nodding and reaffirming that I’m listening with quantifiers like, “okay,” “gotcha,” “uh-huh,” “and then what happened?” The goal is that the other person is actively aware that I’m paying attention to them. This helps us to make progress in that they know I’m listening, and that they’ve been heard.
The end goal is that when someone is explaining their problem, you’re not jumping to conclusions. Every situation is unique. Just because the person you helped an hour ago had a similar issue, it doesn’t mean its the same issue. Now granted, if you’ve had to reset the email server this morning, everyone may be having password issues. You know it, and it’ll take you ten seconds to fix it. But if you let them vent their frustration, show a little empathy, and then resolve the issue expediently, you’ve done exactly that which was needed not only for the user’s issue, but also for their mental and emotional state. You’ve fixed “The Problem,” and you’ve fixed “Their problem.” You see, resolving the issue is just as important is fixing the users situation. Both are imminently important. The best part is that by taking your time, you will tend to not come off as elitist or condescending, which can ruin a conversation. Remember, your users may not be huge nerds.
So yes, to wrap this one up, listen. Take a minute. Really listen to what your user has to say, and provide them with a better level of support. You’ll become more approachable. You’ll earn their trust. You wont be the annoying IT guy. You’ll be “that awesome guy in support who totally has everyone’s back.”