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For the purpose of this post we will be addressing the user, employee, as the customer.

IT systems are consumed by users. These users are the end clients and your customer. If these customers are not able to interact with their systems to perform their work and tasks, like any customer, they will get frustrated, disheartened and in some cases, get angry. We require our systems to be up and available so customers can be productive, complete their tasks like submitting payroll (so you can get paid 🙂 ), feel like they have contributed to their employer etc.

When talking to these customers you still need a level of understanding and empathy towards the customer. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. When they report an IT issue (e.g. unable to log into a system, a hardware fault on their machine has occurred, or a software bug has caused the laptop to not function) during the day, that customer is not able to fulfill their tasks. They might even take it out on you….. (but lets hope not 🙂 ). Despite you both working for the same employer (you will need to build some resiliency in your work ethic to work through these types of issues).

At the start of your job, ask the boss or your employer who the customer is? Is the customer an actual customer that interacts with the system on a short time basis (i.e. an online shopper), that works in payroll, works on systems to enter data which they gets some output (e.g. a report) etc. By getting an understanding of who your customer is, you can then gauge what types of systems they interact with.

Once you get a grasp on who your customer is, sit with them if possible to learn the systems they use for their work. (This is only viable if your customer is an internal employee. If your customer is a consumer of an online store or someone receiving a service or product in return for a payment, it might not be viable to sit with this customer. In this case you might need to get access to this system and be a customer yourself to begin understanding what these customers interact with).

When sitting with the customer ask the following questions. (In this example let’s pretend you are a IT helpdesk / application support engineer and your customer is a payroll officer).

• Ask the customer what do they do daily and what systems they access
  • Get the top 5-10 tasks the customer needs to perform each day/week to complete their duties (5-10 is an estimate number. Just focus on the main tasks. If you want you can delve into the other minor tasks of the customer later on).
  • E.g.
    • 1. I need access to ‘ABC Payroll system’, to enter the payroll for the 50 staff in the organisation
    • 2. I need access to MS excel for some spreadsheet data to submit to the boss at the end of the pay run.
    • 3. I need access to this AWS Lambda function (payroll_delivery_submission) so the payroll is delivered at the time intended.
    • 4. I need access to Salesforce to perform basic admin duties
    • 5. I need access to this network folder (F:\Payroll) to view all the payroll profiles of the employees.
  • By getting the top tasks of the customer you can understand the complexities and flows of what the customer needs.
    • You can then apply the 10% rule, begin learning these systems, and research if there are existing bugs, limitations, or blockers on these systems.
      • (Refer https://infotechmentor.com/2024/10/23/the-10-rule/ for the 10% rule)
• What are some of the common blockers and limitations with this system?
  • Is there a work around for these blockers and limitations? If so does this add time to the customer’s work and add unnecessary work to their day?
    • You can document these blockers and limitations, and then discuss with your boss or developers if they know of these blockers and limitations.
    • Is there currently being work done to address these blockers and limitations?
  • Understanding the blockers and limitations of the systems will provide you insight on what customers need to put up with.
    • The employer should be aspiring to document these blockers and limitations and put a timeline on resolving these.
      • (However some, IT organisations don’t really prioritise this 🙂 )
• Do you have procedures or processes on troubleshooting these sytems?
  • If a customer described an issue to you, would you know how to troubleshoot and where to begin?
    • (In most cases probably not. You’ll probably be given the whole, ‘nothing is documented’ speech or the person that used to do this is no longer here etc etc)
  • Get a visual on how the interfaces, screens, displays look, where buttons are positioned etc
    • In this part, you will be gathering this information if you sit with the customer
    • Get to know where buttons are going, what the buttons do, what API call’s they perform, what other systems do they talk to etc
    • Map this out visually so you know in your mind where to go yourself if you we’re navigating troubleshooting with the customer remotely or on the phone
    • Take photo’s or screenshots if needed and paste onto a word document and include some blurbs and notes, so you know what the photo’s and screenshots refer to.
  • Review the visuals, document them down for your own knowledge, and write a procedure for yourself
    • In time you will forget how to support these systems if you manage multiple systems. Best to document these.
  • Note – The building of troubleshooting notes, documents, visuals etc is only necessary if there is nothing available. I personally would still perform this documenting on your own to build your own set of notes and knowledge base. Not all documentation is understandable the first time, so either build your own or you can improve the current set of documents if they exist.
• Finally ask the customer, if they had a wish (or two.. maybe three 🙂 ) to see an improvement of the system, what would it be?
  • This is so overlooked in the world of IT. It doesn’t matter what system you support, there are always going to be limitations and blockers.
  • Do these limitations and blockers lose money for the employer and more importantly does it add unnecessary hours of work for the customer
    • If yes, document it and present it to your boss or employer. Get their support to improve the limitation or blocker.
    • I don’t have numbers but it’s a fact employers and organisations lose $$$ due to poor systems and productivity.
  • Customer’s just get used to this poisonous cycle of just putting up with systems that don’t perform. Customer’s put in extra work outside the system, wait for certain times for the system to work, or rely on others to perform their tasks and duties etc.
    • I can tell you now from experience, as a consumer as well of IT systems, it’s soooooo demoralising when you experience this. It doesn’t need to be this way. We can challenge our employer to improve.
    • Customer’s should not be putting up with a poor experience with the systems they use
  • Make sure you document these improvements and speak with your boss, the employer, or the developers if there can be a discussion on these improvements.
    • Important note – Depending on your situation, you might feel good in sharing these improvements with others. Just remember other people have other priorities and in some cases aren’t really bothered (this is being realistic unfortunately). What you feel is a high level / immediate job to perform, is a low / it can wait type job for others. Don’t feel down by this, it is part of learning. During the course of your IT career, you will need to learn how to deal and navigate with these situations.
    • Below are some ideas and suggestions on how raise improvments
      • Ask the boss or employer straight up that you have identified some improvements that can help the customer. Is there currently an appetite to improve the systems or no one’s really bothered?
        • If there is an appetite to improve, a timeline of development or constant discussion on improvement get a hold of the people responsible for this. Learn and understand this process. This will add to your 10% rule / knowledge.
        • If there is no desire or appetite to improve and the employer just wants to keep the lights running, document the improvements keep it somewhere and if there is a change in management, employer, or boss you can raise it with the new person. Alternatively are you able to raise this with someone else that will listen? Maybe the CEO, CIO? Don’t be afraid to go up the chain. I have done this myself. You’ll be surprised what you might encounter 🙂
      • Document the productivity and cost savings
        • Some users, particularly management want to see savings on cost (maybe not necessarily productivity).
        • When they can see what the extra costs are being spent on, users and senior management will tend to act on addressing the system limitations.
          • Just remember to keep in mind some of these people might still not care or be bothered.
      • Research some other systems that perform similar functions to the current system, save money and improve productivity.
        • Similar to documenting improvements, researching other tools and systems will expand your own knowledge (which is a must).
        • Researching these other systems will give you an understanding on what is out in the market and the competition.
        • Again by researching and suggesting to implement these better systems will come at a cost (E.g. implementation/installation, developer work, time etc) and again some users might not necessarily share your enthusiasm. Just be prepared for this.

Another long winded post, but it’s very important to grasp who your customer is. Knowing who and how to support your customer is needed to get positive input and output from your work.

Summary:

• Obtain permission from your boss or employer if you are able to sit and speak with your customer
  • Please keep in mind who the customer might be. As mentioned if the customer is a fast paced, short interaction customer like an online shopper, you might need to just get access to the system they use and learn some of the possible limitations and blockers.
    • If your work has a legal way or process to speak to the online shopper, then I would highly encourage you to pursue this avenue.
• Ask the top 5-10 tasks on the tasks the customer’s perform
  • Understand the shoes the customer is in.
• Ask the limitations, blockers, frustrations of the current system
  • What can be done to improve the current situation
  • Why is the limitations and blockers there to begin with?
    • How did they end up occuring?
• Document and write down these improvements
  • Take a particular note on cost and productivity savings