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by johnjhayes 4713 days ago
I already have too many people coming by and trying to talk and be my friend. That just prevents me from getting work done. Of course being nice to people is always a good thing to do, but it's not going to solve IT problems.

Here is what you can do: understand your needs, communicate them clearly and have realistic goals. That's it.
1 comments
marcuscreo 4713 days ago
Do you know non-technical people that can do this well and consistently? How do they do it?
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johnjhayes 4712 days ago
Yes, a few. They do it by being competent and aware. The point I'm trying to make is that if you don't understand what you need an IT person isn't going to be able to solve your problems by just throwing technology against a wall. You don't need to understand the technology, but you have to have a very clear understanding of what you need to accomplish and then communicate that clearly.

Everyone should try to be friendly and professional, and clearly being rude won't win you any favors, but you shouldn't get moved to the front of the line because you stopped by to talk about last nights game or how my kids are doing. That's not a solution that can scale.

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marcuscreo 4712 days ago
Everyone should, I agree. And maybe I'm delivering IT a backhanded-compliment, which I don't intend.

My have tremendous fondness for people that work in Corporate IT. I've worked there in the lowest levels, managed them, protected them, fought for them, and ultimately have seen that the larger system at play works against them. I believe they are usually the smartest, hardest-working, most creative, most driven people in the company.

I should have set the context of my comments for those working within dysfunctional companies where IT is at the bottom of the pecking order. In my experience, this is when the need for strong relationships will go the farthest.

If things in an IT org are great, professionalism is key. Otherwise, I stand by the idea that being nice is more important than being clear.

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johnjhayes 4712 days ago
I get where you are coming from, however, if being nice gets you better service from IT then, yes, you work at a dysfunctional company. Maybe changing the culture of the company would be a good idea. From my perspective what you are doing is a workaround to the dysfunction, not something that will solve the problem long term.
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marcuscreo 4712 days ago
John, I agree. It's a hack for sure.
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