Throughout my career it has never ceased to amaze me how many people lack basic social skills. In no space is this more prevalent than the technology sector. What most people would refer to as common sense, tech workers seem oblivious to. I can only hazard a guess that they are either never made aware of social graces, or have no intention of implementing them. Regardless, I thought I would give a rundown of what is expected of you in a corporate environment. This article is by no means meant to be a judgement of those who are in violation of common etiquette, but instead a tool to help you be successful.
Your Appearance
Shower daily and wear deodorant. You will frequently be in close contact with coworkers and clients. You may not feel that it is necessary, and you may not be able to smell yourself, but others will. No one wants to be around a smelly coworker, and it reflects poorly on your employer if clients have to hold their nose when they are within five feet of you. This goes for your breath as well. Brush your teeth and use mouthwash. If your breath is bad during the day, use mints or breath spray, do not chew gum. On the flip side, do not wear overbearing cologne or perfume. A small amount is fine, but the rule of thumb when it comes to fragrances is that they are an enhancement, not a distraction.
Brush or comb your hair so that it is neat and is not a puffball or bird’s nest on top of your head. Shave daily and if you have facial hair that you wish to keep, make sure that it is groomed and trimmed.
Wear clothing that looks nice and is appropriate for your working environment. If you are unsure as to what your company’s dress code is, either look in the handbook or ask your supervisor. Clothing that looks professional does not have to be expensive. A collared shirt and slacks are easily and cheaply acquired. Muted tones are best. Invest in an iron and learn to use it so that your clothes are not wrinkled. Do not wear dirty clothing or the same outfit multiple days in a row. If you have pets, use a lint roller before leaving the house to remove pet hair. As for your shoes, wear ones that are comfortable yet look professional. Black rubber soles absorb shock without standing out. Inserts can help if you have issues with aching feet. Avoid tennis shoes and white socks. Brown or black loafers are versatile, comfortable, and standard.
Your Attitude
When you first wake in the morning you may be tired or ill-tempered. There may be issues happening within your life that you are dealing with and affect your outlook throughout the day. There could be coworkers or clients that you are hesitant to face and put you in a sour mood when thinking about them. Regardless of what the situation is, know that when you enter work, these matters must be left at the door to the best of your ability. A positive, determined attitude should be your focus.
A key tool you can use to accomplish this is a concept known as the Dichotomy of Control. As you move through life, it is important to realize there are things within your control and things outside of your control. Control in this sense is a very black and white term, there are no gray areas. Influence is not control, suggestion is not control. When a hard separation is made, then it becomes obvious that very few things are within our control, and these things are internal. Your attitude, your opinions, your judgement values, your reactions…these are what you can control. Everything else is outside of your control. You must not only understand this but accept it as true if you wish to obtain the calmness, patience, and positive attitude that is necessary to perform your job in a professional manner.
Let us take an example and use two different methods to deal with it. A user has placed a frantic phone call to the help desk saying her internet doesn’t work and she has a video conference scheduled to occur in the next five minutes. How would you approach this?
In the first scenario you make your way to the user’s office to provide deskside support. She is highly agitated and yells at you to “just fix it”. You tell her to calm down which only makes her angrier. In turn you become frustrated and instead of focusing on the job at hand you are drawn into a confrontation. In the end, her conference is missed and you are reprimanded for your performance.
In the second scenario before you even make your way to the user you understand that what you control in this situation is your attitude, your opinions, and your reaction, all internal. The response from the user is not under your control, the malfunction of the internet is not under your control, whether you are shown gratitude or merely dismissed after you do your job is not under your control. Now that you understand and accept the parameters going in, what you focus on is being your best self. The anxiousness and frustration of the user does not affect your performance because you understand that these are outside of your control. You are able to ask questions in a calm manner so as to isolate the issue. Your focus is maintained and zeroed in on the task at hand. You calmly answer any questions the user may have, reassuring her that you will do your best in order to fix the issue, and understanding that her responses are outside of your control.
Which scenario is most likely to achieve the desired result for both parties? The Dichotomy of Control is a powerful tool that you can exercise everyday, not just in your professional life but personal as well, to maintain a calm and positive attitude that helps to reassure your cohorts that you are dependable and pleasant to work with.
Your Communications
There is a stereotype of tech workers being antisocial, rude, condescending, etc. that is not wholly divorced from reality. I have been in work environments where the mere mention of the IT department or system administrator will elicit groans, rude gestures, unpleasant words, or strained expressions. I find this unfortunate because it doesn’t have to be this way at all. In fact, because of these attitudes, companies become less efficient and employee moral declines. A large part of the problem is the way you communicate with your fellow coworkers.
When meeting someone for the first time, introduce yourself with a “Hello, how are you today?”, your name, and if appropriate, title. Make sure to smile.
When providing support for an issue either in person or remotely, introduce yourself and reiterate the information you currently have relating to the problem you have been assigned. If a user has taken the time to either type or explain the details already, having them do so again will only add to their frustration. If a correction to the information needs to be made, they will tell you so. If you have no information to go on, assure them that you will do your best to get them back on track and then question them as to how you can help. Notice the difference in tone between “How can I help you today?” versus “What’s wrong?” or “What’s the problem?”.
Have empathy with users when things go wrong. It is important that you understand that just like you, the user has a job to do, may be under tight deadlines, and can feel frustration when they are unable to perform their duties. Put yourself in their position. Being empathetic may not come natural to some people based on their personality, but empathy can be cultivated through self-awareness and practice. If you find it difficult to feel empathy for others, work on visualizing what you would do in the same situation. Would you not be frustrated as well? Approach situations like this with kindness and understanding.
Use language that is clear and concise but also be aware of the technical level of the person you are dealing with. Stay away from insider jargon and acronyms that may not be understood. Always explain what you are doing, no one likes to be kept in the dark or talked down to. When explaining a process or problem it may be appropriate to use metaphors or language that is more accessible to the layman. Consider these two ways of explaining why a user cannot connect to the internet.
“There’s either a rogue DHCP server on the local subnet or two of our DHCP servers’ scopes are overlapping because your device should have a class C subnet mask but instead it has a class A subnet mask. I’m going to release and renew your lease and see if that fixes it for now while I go back and use the network analyzer to see what’s going on.”
“Think of a network like a neighborhood and your PC as a house in this neighborhood. Just like every house needs a home address in order to be identified when sending and receiving mail within the neighborhood, every device on a network needs an IP or internet protocol address to send and receive information as well. This IP address is split into two parts. One part identifies what network or “neighborhood” your PC belongs to and the other part identifies your device’s address or “home address”. A number called a subnet mask is used to identify which part of the IP address is which and yours is incorrect.”
Don’t ignore, dismiss, or forget about people. You are in a field that requires not only human interaction but a helpful demeanor as well. Many times, IT and system administration is not on people’s minds unless something goes wrong. Your job is to provide a reassuring and competent point of contact. Reply to tickets, questions, and requests promptly and with professionalism. If you are busy, it only takes a second to reply and notify the user that you will address their concern as soon as possible. Make sure to give them a time frame of when you will get back to them. Make a note of the time that you gave the user and set an alert or alarm before said time so that the request doesn’t go unanswered. If it looks like you will not be able to fulfill the request in time, notify the user beforehand and give them another time frame apologizing for the delay. Do not leave the user to wonder if you have forgotten about them.
Follow up with coworkers and clients after fulfilling requests. Just a quick email or phone call asking if everything is still working correctly lets the user know that their technical issues are your concern and you take your job seriously. When following up, do not ask for them to answer a survey, contact your superior to put in a good word, or for any kind of reference. These actions portray your reaching out as disingenuous and self-serving instead of genuine concern. If they wish to praise your work, this must be of their own volition and not your prodding.
Conclusion
Use this post as a template for your own professional habits. It is not meant to be all encompassing but rather as a guideline to address problems I have witnessed not only among my own coworkers but friends and business acquaintances as well as complaints I have heard from others regarding their hesitancy to approach IT departments.
This article is only meant to address issues with common courtesies and social skills within the tech industry. As such it doesn’t cover things like troubleshooting methodologies or more technical matters. It will probably be expanded in the future based on feedback and whatever else I may decide to add.
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