Information Technology is a baffling world to those who lack the expertise, which means the experts who give advice need to aspire to certain qualities in order to be heard.
The vast majority of people who have worked in an office before will have had a conversation with a business IT support worker who either condescends them or talks in impenetrable jargon. At a time when you are having operational issues, this kind of poor service is hugely frustrating.
As a result, it is refreshing when you enjoy effective IT support at work that allows you to get on with your seemingly interminable to-do list for the day. So what qualities should you be looking for in your IT support team?
Efficient communication
Problem solving is all about communication, so you need all of the business PC support staff to be good at understanding the issue being posed to them as well as being capable of giving concise instructions on how to solve the problem.
It is crucial to remember that everyone is busy when they are at work, so it is not only important to be able to communicate well; experts need to do this as quickly as possible.
Expertise
An obvious point, granted, but it is essential that your IT support team knows what it is doing otherwise you could get into real difficulties not only when solving everyday issues, but also for fundamental points of IT infrastructure – the failure of which could be critical for your business.
The world of technology is a fast-moving place so you want to know that the team is in touch with the latest issues in the IT industry, as well as having relevant qualifications. Again, it is important for very knowledgeable support staff to be selective about the information they share so as not to confuse callers.
Patience
Aside from the expertise and experience that your IT team should bring to your organisation, it is also good for them to have their human side; this means they need to be patient with the people that ask for help, as there may be a lot of terms that are completely alien to many workers, particularly older staff.
For example, business IT support experts might need to deal with someone who consistently uses the wrong words to describe applications or tools. In this situation, a bit of patience and a quiet word in their ear after the problem has been solved could be all that is needed to educate them sensitively.
Personable nature
It will help hugely if IT experts can be as personable as possible when offering advice, particularly if the solution they are working through is quite complicated or long-winded. The caller may be even harder to advise if they are upset with the terse way they have been spoken to; they must remember their telephone etiquette.
However, they should not go too far in the other direction and be too chatty as it may feel like the caller’s time is being wasted. It is a delicate balance for them to sound friendly yet professional, but they should be capable of achieving this combination if they want to really impress customers.
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