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As an industrial software developer, my golden rule when dealing with support requests is: I will not do anything until they tried whatever they can try. If the

by pif 5y ago

As an industrial software developer, my golden rule when dealing with support requests is: I will not do anything until they tried whatever they can try. If they just want to offload the issue to me, it will be a dead end.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago
Yup, don't try and fix a problem they themselves don't understand either. Don't try to fix a problem if they just say they have a problem - see if they ask you to fix it (= offload it to you) or if they ask you a specific question that you can help or refer them to something. This goes for non-work stuff as well; I see a trend happening (on- and offline) where people just posit a Problem, instead of asking a question or working towards a solution. Stupid example: people saying "I'm hungry" instead of a "Wanna get some lunch?" or solving the problem for themselves in silence. There was a thing on Facebook as well (remember Facebook? That was a thing) where people would make posts or comments to the tune of "The worst thing happened today!" without explaining themselves, instead waiting for / fishing for people to ask "What's wrong???". It's a way to fish for attention in a sense.
- cogman10 5y ago
  Any tips on how to do this nicely? I always like lending a hand to someone and helping them solve problems, but as of late some of my new coworkers have been taking advantage of my nature. They don't even try to look up the docs, I'll give them a bit of sample code and if it doesn't work without blind copy/paste they'll come back and have me go through a debug session with them. I have a hard time saying no because they are in India and have stayed up late so they could get me on a call. Yet, I also am irritated because it's apparent they've not made any effort to solve the problem themselves.
  - swader999 5y ago
    I typically ask them what they've tried to address and then tell them the tasks to try that they haven't already. There was significant cost savings to offshore to India on paper but its not up to you to fix the reality of a 12 hour offset in team availability. If it takes 3 sessions to fix a problem, there's no going around it. They need to learn and learn by doing and you cheat them if you do it for them.

by pif 5y ago

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

Yup, don't try and fix a problem they themselves don't understand either. Don't try to fix a problem if they just say they have a problem - see if they ask you to fix it (= offload it to you) or if they ask you a specific question that you can help or refer them to something. This goes for non-work stuff as well; I see a trend happening (on- and offline) where people just posit a Problem, instead of asking a question or working towards a solution. Stupid example: people saying "I'm hungry" instead of a "Wanna get some lunch?" or solving the problem for themselves in silence. There was a thing on Facebook as well (remember Facebook? That was a thing) where people would make posts or comments to the tune of "The worst thing happened today!" without explaining themselves, instead waiting for / fishing for people to ask "What's wrong???". It's a way to fish for attention in a sense.

cogman10 5y ago
Any tips on how to do this nicely? I always like lending a hand to someone and helping them solve problems, but as of late some of my new coworkers have been taking advantage of my nature. They don't even try to look up the docs, I'll give them a bit of sample code and if it doesn't work without blind copy/paste they'll come back and have me go through a debug session with them. I have a hard time saying no because they are in India and have stayed up late so they could get me on a call. Yet, I also am irritated because it's apparent they've not made any effort to solve the problem themselves.
- swader999 5y ago
  I typically ask them what they've tried to address and then tell them the tasks to try that they haven't already. There was significant cost savings to offshore to India on paper but its not up to you to fix the reality of a 12 hour offset in team availability. If it takes 3 sessions to fix a problem, there's no going around it. They need to learn and learn by doing and you cheat them if you do it for them.