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Technical Support Essentials - Advice to Succeed in Technical Support
of: Andrew Sanchez, Karen Sleeth
Apress, 2010
ISBN: 9781430225485 , 260 Pages
Format: PDF, Read online
Copy protection: DRM
Title Page
1
Copyright Page
2
Contents at a Glance
4
Table of Contents
5
About the Author
11
Acknowledgments
12
Preface
14
Introduction
16
PART 1 Advice for Dealing with Yourself and Your Work
18
CHAPTER 1 Your Work Ethic
19
The Value of Technical Support Work
20
A Dynamic Career: Moving Up Laterally,and Even Down When Necessary
21
Keep Your Job
23
Yeah, It’s a Job, But Make It More
25
Look Out for Your Company
26
Tell It Like It Is
28
You Either Have It or You Don’t—Troubleshooting
30
Leave the Work Where It Belongs
31
Make a Difference in Every Call
33
Success is Up to You
34
Take the Initiative
36
Specialize in Something
37
CHAPTER 2 Intricacies of the Field
40
The Status of the Profession
41
The Curse of the One-Eyed Man
42
The Paradox of the Solo-Solver
44
Technical/Mechanical Support Style Theory
45
The Avit Phenomenon
47
Support Demand Function
48
The Multidisciplinary Field
50
The Vernacular of the Profession
52
The Expert Proletariat
53
One Last Note About Science
55
CHAPTER 3 Your Work Practices
58
Write Down Anything New Immediately After You Learn It
59
The Above-Average Performer
60
The Resource Collector
62
Work Smarter, Not Harder
64
Following the Watson Way
66
Don’t Be Afraid of the Tough Issues
67
Find Your Zebra
69
The Knowledge Seeker
70
Reinventing the Wheel
72
The Technology Contributor
74
Recognizing Opportunities
75
The Approachable Expert
77
PART 2 Working with Others
80
CHAPTER 4 The Technical Support Group
81
Group or Team: Which Is It?
82
Informal Groups
83
What’s So Good About Groups Anyway?
85
Groups: What’s In It for the Individual?
87
The Vision of a Group
89
Group Communication
91
The Involved Group
93
The Open Group
95
The Group Crisis
97
The Constructive Group
99
Support Group Development Cycle
101
The Successful Group: An Inventory
103
Cohesiveness
103
Collaboration
104
Sympathy
105
Total Value = 3 — The Dysfunctional Group
106
Total Value = 4–5 — The Struggling Group
106
Total Value = 6 — The Idiosyncratic Group
106
Total Value = 7–8 — The Healthy Group
106
Total Value = 9 — The Communal Group
106
CHAPTER 5 The Technical Support Colleague
108
Work on Trust
109
Respect Among Colleagues
110
Coworker Solidarity
112
Teach Them How to Fish
114
Personal Conflict
116
The Power of Criticism
118
Comforting the Demoralized Colleague
120
Understanding Your Colleagues’ Behaviors
121
The Customer Within
123
The High Performer Vs. the High Producer
125
The Self-Sustaining Colleagues
127
Dealing with the Impossible Coworker
128
CHAPTER 6 Leadership in Support
131
What Is a Leader?
132
The Leader: Made or Born?
133
The Major Leadership Models
135
The Pragmatic Leader
137
The Linda Effect
138
Characteristics of a Support Leader
140
Leadership Development
142
The Situational Support Leader
144
Leading by Involving Others
146
Cultivating Leaders Within the Support Group
148
PART 3 The Support Organization
150
CHAPTER 7 Support Roles and Behaviors
151
Your Excess Value
151
The Contributor Role in Regard to Management
153
The Role of the Support Manager
155
The Nature of Management
157
Systems Theory in Support
159
Managing Behaviors
161
The Davila Cycle
162
The Price of Recognition
164
The Management Support Structure
165
The Fallible Manager
167
CHAPTER 8 Structures and Tiers
170
The Structure Dilemma
171
The Tiered Approach
172
Technology vs. Skill
174
The Service-Oriented Structure
176
The Meaningful Support Structure
177
The Reactive/Proactive Tiered Approach
179
The Performance-Driven Structure
181
Common Mistakes from the Upper Tiers
183
Wiping Off the Tiers: The Flat Structure
185
The Hybrid Support Structure
186
CHAPTER 9 Process and Practice
190
What’s a Process?
191
Discretionary Process Principle
193
The Reasons Behind Process Changes
194
The Support Practice: A Definition
196
Group Process Evolution
198
Process and Maturity
200
Practice and Incompetence
202
The Process Map: Friend or Foe?
204
Problem Solving: A Waste of Time
206
PART 4 Working with Customers
208
CHAPTER 10 Customer Service
209
Customer Service: A Dimensional Explanation
210
Customer Reality
212
The Customer’s Iceberg
214
Find the Affliction
215
Real Wants
216
Real Needs
216
All About the Behaviors
216
The Open Mind Approach
219
Problematic Interactions and Coping Strategies
221
Rational-Emotive Therapy
223
Systematic Desensitization Therapy
223
Cognitive Character Replacement
224
Mindful Agreement Technique
224
Customer Service: The Hierarchical Approach
224
Meet the Customer’s Needs
225
Address the Customer’s Requirements
225
Accommodate the Customer’s Requests
226
Respect the Customer’s Wishes
226
Consider the Customer’s Suggestions
226
Reshape the Customer’s Unrealistic Demands
227
The People Business
228
Talk Is Not Cheap
229
Inexperience
230
Buying Time
230
Inefficient Processes
231
CHAPTER 11 Communications
232
At the Core of Our Work
233
Colleague Communication: It’s All About Us
235
Talk in Terms of “Us”
236
Be Genuine in Small Talk
236
Speak a Common Language
236
Communication Challenges with Language Accent
237
Get to the Point: Cutting the Useless Chatter
239
Situational Communication
241
Email
242
Online Chat
242
Online Forums
243
Phone Support
243
When All Else Fails
244
Spinning the No
246
CHAPTER 12 Perspectives
249
What the Future Holds
250
The Renaissance Professional
251
The Preventive Support Model
253
No More Training Down the Drain
254
The Support Contractor
256
Opportunities in Global Labor Dynamics
257
The Need for Uniformity
259
Going Customerless
261
The Extra Mile
262
Where to Now?
264
Index
266
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