We have an e-mail form we can use to request a website be unblocked when needed, although we don’t always get a positive response. And we try to keep our whining about the filtering to ourselves as much as possible.

I always figure that I have no right to complain. I certainly couldn’t do the job that IT does even if I tried to get the training and education.

So, to all the IT folks out there–Luv ya! And thanks for being there!

And most importantly, being nice will definitely get everyone far.

And when describing your problem, please be as specific as possible. Include what operating system you’re using, and what version of which software package you’re having a problem with. Like the article said, you don’t want to be the person who posts “My computer doesn’t work.”

Nice article btw.

Thanks a lot!

I never had read a post that asks us to have this kind of attitude towards a problem. I worked both IT and the Creative departments and I know how frustrating it is to have this situation going on.

I hope that people will read this and incorporate this behavior now on.

Thanks again.

“Sometimes you’re not going to have to have time for all this. Then it’s time to recruit a squeakier wheel – your boss. You’re going to have to let him or know why you can’t do your job. The best way to do this is to send e-mails to IT with copies going to your boss. That lets them know that they aren’t just delaying you, but a manager.”

This should not be done just if you do not have time, and it should be done as a last resort, and very sparingly. It may get this one issue taken care of faster, but it will push you lower on that list in the future. These type of people tend to copy their boss on everything because they think it gets them preferential treatment, but in all actuality it makes them undesirable to work with. This brings the crying wolf story to mind.

And everyone should remember. Using the correct channels to get support will only help you in the long run. If you go directly to the tech for everything instead of calling the help desk to log it, you are taking more time from that tech. That tech now has to log your call before they can continue with what they were working on. This most likely will not get your issue resolved any faster, and will just over time irritate the tech because you always interrupt them. They have a work log like everyone else and you are not the only person they deal with. Not to mention, there may be another very capable tech that is less busy at the time who can get to your issue quicker.

I will stop, so as not to ramble…… us geeks can get that way

Hey guys, yeah, i know you’re having problems, and that sometimes you like to blame us because your stuff doesn’t work.

I have never understood this attitude. We want your stuff to work. We go to great lengths to make sure your stuff works. The reason we have policies in place that sometimes seem restrictive, such as not allowing you to install comet cursor, or that screen saver with pictures of cats, is because we want your stuff, and everyone elses stuff to continue to work.

We seem beligerant sometimes, because since our job is poorly understood by people who are not as technically inclined, we often have to actively fight against our own superiors in order to be allowed to do the right thing, to keep everything running, to protect assets, and to do the job for which we were hired.

Why not write an article about how non-technical managers of IT staff should stop trying to push through policies and “fixes” because “I really want iTunes installed on my work computer.” Let us do the job you hired us for, and stop sabotaging us!