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Troubleshooting Technology Issues: Get To The Root Of The Problem
November 19, 2009
They called Sue the “go to” person at the small manufacturing company. She was the Controller who had picked up some technical skills over the years and everyone knew it. Whenever some piece of software didn’t work just right, the response was “call Sue.”
Recently there were more “system emergencies” that were consuming more of her work day. Sue was happy to help, but felt some users took advantage when they might have done their own troubleshooting. So the last time she got involved with a computer problem that required her to call the company’s technology partner, she took the chance to ask for advice on handling her team’s technology challenges.
“You’ve got to be like Sherlock Holmes,” the consultant suggested. “Get them skilled at asking questions and separating facts from feelings.” He recommended Sue work with her team to develop a stream of questions to help narrow down the issue, which would either point to a solution or the need to escalate to a more skilled person.
Sue took the advice and working with the team, came up with a plan for handling those technology issues that crop up during the day. She also reassured them she would be happy to help if users still had an issue after they answered the following:
1. Confirm the problem still exists: If it was an isolated incident and can’t be recreated, just document it and go on.
2. Understand the problem. Communicate clearly and specifically to determine the actual issue.
3. Don’t be too fast to find the solution. Step back so you can see all possible causes and potential interaction. For example: The manufacturing company had internet issues last year. When they had connection issues again, they pointed the finger at the ISP. After wasting several days, they discovered it was their firewall that was on the fritz.
4. Ask the right questions. Simple questions can help narrow the source of the issue.
o Who is experiencing the problem? Is everyone having a problem or just one user? Try logging to the problem workstation as a different user or have the troubled user try from a different computer.
o What were you doing when the problem occurred? Is the issue happening in all application or just one? Did they change their normal process? What screen and field was the user on?
o Where is it happening? Is it just one user with the issue or a group or everyone? What do the problem users have in common? Is the issue specific to a workstation? A specific program? Are remote users having the same issue? If it is printing related, have you tried printing to the screen? Can others print the report or document?
o When are you seeing it happen? Same time each day? More when multiple people are using one program? Only on the weekend?
o How does it happen? Is it impacting everyone or just feel that way? Is it security related? Is it consistent or sporadic?
Each question can eliminate possible causes. Sue directed her team to keep a log of the questions and answers to avoid re-doing steps and wasting time. That became their process documentation.
Two weeks later Sue had another occasion to call her technology partner. She was thrilled to report the process seemed to reduce her involvement, though she admitted she had to write up the questions and process and hand it out multiple times until people got trained honing their skills.
“Congratulations,” said the consultant, who offered some additional advice to pass along:
· Reboot. You can laugh at the suggestion to reboot your workstation or printer, but when appropriate, do that first and you’ll be surprised how often the problem goes away.
· Back-ups! Technology is still an inexact science and often the best advice is to skip the detective work and restore from backup. Deciding this sooner can often be a time saver.
· Outside consultants are still a value. Being removed from the day to day often allows them to see things differently.
· How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Take the same advice for solving overwhelming and complex IT issues. Break it into small manageable bites.
As each new version of the software you use each day is enhanced and rolled out, there’s more opportunity for problems and frustration. Don’t let it get you down. Instead, keep calm. Take out your script for problem solving, put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and see what you can do to narrow the issues down and get on the road to resolution.
And one more tip: Don’t keep these tools a secret. The more people who know them the better it is for you and your organization.