I respect your time, please respect mine Dreamed 5115 days ago | | 391 words

I’ve got this pet peeve. It’s about my time being respected. I hate when my time is wasted because the person I’m corresponding with doesn’t take a second to reply. To be fair, I’ve been a big fan of Merlin Mann’s writings and ideas. In a nutshell, it’s about cutting out the things wasting your time and doing away with distractions and just getting down to work.

As calls and emails come in for support to me everyday I have to respond to them. Sometimes it means a phone call, sometimes it’s an email, and sometimes it means a trip to the user’s desk to troubleshoot or investigate. When I can resolve a problem and close a ticket out it feels good and I know I’ve actually resolved the issue.

However, there are many times when I need to work with a remote user to resolve an issue I can’t directly resolve for any number of reasons. This is where communication is key. I try my best to respond to everyone in a timely manner during work hours and in the evenings after I’ve left the office. I would appreciate the same level of commitment from the people I am trying to help.

I am not saying I expect replies at all times of the day and night. What I would really appreciate is when I send an email or leave a voice mail asking, “Did this resolve your issue?” to get a response one way or the other. A simple Yes or No would suffice.

However, often times I email, wait a day, email again, follow up with a call and if I don’t reach them then I never hear back. I take the position that no news s good news when I hear back from a user. Much of the time I will hear back days or weeks later about how they are still having the same problem as before.

Here’s the thing. You asked me for help. You contacted the Help Desk and I responded and provided some level of support. If you want the help, at least respond if I’ve solved your issue. It seems like our time means nothing to you. We are here to provide the support quickly and correctly. As a user and initiator of the request, you owe me the courtesy of a reply to my assistance.

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