2008 March | wisefaq.com

Acknowledge the user, to avoid the flack

So said a very experienced helpdesk leader I worked with.

It lets the annoyed customer to get all their annoyances out, and they calm down. Of course, swearing at a helpdesk person is not permitted.

To get the helpdesk staff to remember "Acknowledge the user, to avoid the flack", he purchased some AFLAC ducks.

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Some meeting etiquette

If you are invited to a meeting by me:

TO vs. CC vs. BCC

TO indicates you are REQUIRED. CC indicates that are invited, but not required. BCC means I’m telling you about the invite for your information.

Acceptance

it means I’ve checked your calendar, and you are listed as free. If you are [...]

Some email etiquette

Some points on work email etiquette which I “borrowed” from someone else.

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As your team lead, you can expect:

I will “see” your email within 12 hours. If what you want to know is urgent, pick the phone up. You have been issued a cell/mobile phone, start using it. I generally will not [...]

Go the Central Oklahoma Bronco’s

It’s a big THING I’m told by people who know, that the Bronco’s Men’s Basketball team has made it into the Elite Eight.

From what I gather, it’s been running 52 years, so you know it’s got to be big.

Anyhow, my thoughts will be with you guys (Mark, Erika, Nate) 3am Thursday [...]

Cool costs me money.

Know your audience, and speak to them in their [...]

Spam Matters – How to report spam.

If you believe MessageLabs, 73% of the 0 billion messages it scanned, in February, were unsolicited bulk emails. SPAM in other words!

In Australia:

Under the Spam Act 2003 it is illegal to send, or cause to be sent, unsolicited commercial electronic messages. The Act covers email, instant messaging, SMS and MMS (text and [...]

Good first impressions – receptionists

It’s been my experience in IT, that good first impressions count, and often those first impressions are formed by your reception staff. If your reception staff seem to directly descended from the SS-Helferin guards from Ravensbrück, then you have problems.

Your reception staff should be:

neatly attired well spoken helpful smiling, and optionally: attractive.* [...]

Knowledge transfer

*ring* *ring* goes the phone.

“What do you know about the ‘letsrebootthepcandreallyannoythecustomer.exe utility?”

First written in 2005, by Mahatma Coat. We tried getting some modifications to it. We were partly successful.

“Who looks after it?”

Try Mahatma, his boss and the generic “Desktop Engineering Team” mail box. You might have some luck with those.

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Matthew 22:21 – Render to Caesar …

There are three things which will get you into trouble in life, thus explains why I returned a USB memory stick to my employer.

It was a surprise to the colleague I gave it to.

“Why not keep it?”

It’s not mine, that’s why.

“Not that they’re going to miss it”

No, but the [...]

Some (more) Shared Items

Previous post -> Some shared IT items

Today’s Front (Newspaper) Pages – 609 front pages from 58 countries (and growing) Every morning, more than 500 newspapers from around the world submit their front pages to the Newseum via the Internet to be part of Today’s Front Pages.

WorldTimeZone.Com – Australian timezones

Weimaraner Club [...]

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