Ever wondered what the rest of the office really think of you and your peers
in the IT department?
A recent article on Builder AU outlined 10 reasons to avoid the IT sales team
and why they rub IT managers the wrong way. Isn’t whining about sales
droids just too easy?
For the opposing view of the divide between the IT department and the rest
of the office I asked managers from a range of companies what they thought
of the IT managers and subordinates they currently work with. For better or
worse, here is the picture IT folks are framing to non-technical members of
your office and why they find working with you so exasperating.
These are their (edited) words, not mine.
- Superiority complex
Members of the IT department can act like they
invented the technology they are showing non-tech people how to use. If you
ask them a simple question they can look at you like a total moron. - Testing? What’s that?
It’s frustrating when some developers think
that finishing a project involves writing the last line of code. Leaving
testing up the end-users isn’t good enough and downright frustrating. It’s
especially bad when customers point out your IT team’s mistakes. - Stop with the techno mumbo jumbo
Sales and marketing folks may have
their own cliche-clad language but have you ever wondered how you talk to
non-technical people in the office? Using complex language and terms
regular folk don’t understand makes other people in your office feel stupid.
Maybe they are, but, it certainly doesn’t win you friends when you can’t
bridge technical terms to laymen’s terms. Tip: Use analogies to describe
what is going on. - Projects are always late
It seems whenever you give an IT
department a deadline you might as well give them a false deadline a week
before to give yourself a buffer when explaining to customers why a project
hasn’t launched. - No Love
It always seems like you’re at the bottom of the priority
list whenever you want something done. Everything else is always more
important. And there’s always an excuse given as to why you’re last in line
given in techno mumbo jumbo speak (see point 3). - Have you tried rebooting your computer?
No matter what is wrong with
your computer it seems like the IT support person’s first response is to ask
for you to reboot it before they come and see you. - Scruffy lookin’? Who’s scruffy lookin’?
Granted that most IT
professionals work in front of a computer all day but when you need to take
a developer to a meeting or show them off to a client without giving them
prior warning it can be embarrassing. Casual dress sense, unkempt hair, and
socks with sandals might win you friends in your virtual world but doesn’t
cut it at work. - The “Yes” IT guy
In IT anything might be possible but the guy/girl who
says yes when asked if x or y can be done but never seems to deliver or
later says no. Tip: Anywhere is within walking distance if you have the time, try to be more specific and hit your deadlines. - The “No” IT guy
While anything might be possible in IT the guy/girl who
says no before you even finish asking him or her to do anything can be
extremely frustrating. Tip: If you must say no, at least give valid reasons without resorting to point 3. - “Unscheduled maintenance” aka lying about why everything is broken
Nobody is perfect but when the IT department try to hide the real problems
then one bad lie can spiral out of control and make things worse than they
really. Unless you’re Ferris Bueller it’s unlikely you’ll get away with your lies in the long run. Tip: Be honest, everyone makes mistakes.
So there you go, the IT department don’t like salespeople and they don’t like you. Now that we’ve aired each other’s dirty laundry, can’t we all just stop with wasted billable hours whining and just get along?
