In a perfect world, nothing would ever go wrong. We would buy new computers or equipment and they would work perfectly forever no matter what kind of stress we put them through. We all know that this is far from reality, unfortunately. That’s why we hire IT professionals to assist us.

While working here at iPoint, I find myself in a unique position where I regularly interact with IT professionals. I get to hear all of the stories about the things they do, the problems they face, and sometimes the crazy interactions with customers. While I usually know enough about computers and IT that I can get by without consulting anyone, I am not an IT professional and sometimes resort to asking for help from someone who knows more than me. That is what an IT team is for after all. Seeing both sides of the situation has given me valuable insight on how to deal and talk with the IT department. The following is my advice on what you can do to improve the quality of both their lives

Take steps to prevent a problem before it becomes an issue.

You would rarely have to talk to the IT department if nothing is going wrong. A little preventative maintenance goes a long way. You wouldn’t drive your car without changing the oil every so often, so why would you use a computer without ever making sure it is updated? Spend a little time to make sure that your anti-virus software, malware protection software, and operating system are all updated.

Communicate and educate

Many people think of tech support as these wizards who sit atop their ivory tower looking down at the rest of the company waiting for something to stop working so they can swoop down and perform some magic and make it work again. Take some time to learn what it is that the IT department does. Nothing that they do is magic, and often times, it is very simple procedures they are performing. Try searching for your problem online and see if there are any solutions before consulting IT.

If you have a problem, make sure to detail exactly what happened.

It is inevitable that something will go wrong eventually. When it does, make sure that you detail exactly what happened. It is hard to diagnose a problem when all that the IT professional has to go off of is: “Well it gave an error but I don’t remember exactly what it said. Something about Windows.” If you receive an error, write it down. Often times, there will be an error code associated with it. This information can be very valuable to the person fixing the problem and can help get you back up and running faster.

This is probably the most important thing to take away from this whole blog. If you are going to remember anything from this, let it be this part:

Remember that they are people too.

It’s easy to get frustrated when something isn’t working the way you think it should. Perhaps your problem has been persisting for a while now. No matter how frustrating it gets, remember that they are people too. They have feelings too and just want to help you. You would not believe some of the stories that you hear from IT people about customers yelling at them. Many people will even blame IT saying that it is their fault that something broke or is missing. No matter how frustrating it is dealing with IT, getting impatient or angry will not make them work faster or harder. They want to resolve the issue just as much as you do.