Job stress among help desk technicians - Coursework Example

Job stress among help desk technicians The job stress among the help desk technicians can be controlled and reduced by simply following the simple rules on how to reduce stress in the workplace. The simple rules to be followed by the help desk workers who are mostly it experts include;Help users help themselvesOne common complaint many IT support employees have is that they spend a lot of time helping clueless users fix obvious problems. That takes time away from more pressing issues, and adds a good deal of stress to a busy help desk environment.

One way to limit the number calls: Give every user a cheat sheet outlining simple fixes to the most common tech problems. Ask support staff what issues they run into most often, and if they are things that users could fix themselves, add them to the list (Knapp 45). Make it easy to report problemsSometimes, a bad relationship with the help desk may cause users to avoid reporting minor IT problems and that means those issues can stagnate and become big issues. That is why departments should make it as easy as possible for users to send IT support requests to the help desk.

Different groups will prefer different communication methods. Find out what users in your company prefer, whether it is the phone, email, instant messaging, or something else (Knapp 45).Always respond quicklyOf course, some problems will take time to fix, but often a quick response like “Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we’re working on it now” is enough to soothe an impatient user.PrioritizeMany help desks operate on a first-come-first-serve basis however, that often allows more requests that are important usually delay in favour of minor issues in the company.

Instead, IT support staff should be able to prioritize their work according to established protocols. For example, issues that prevent users from getting work done should be placed ahead of those that do not.Explain what techs are doing and give reasons as to why they are doing soUsers often complain that IT employees mess around on their computers without explaining what they are doing. Often it is something simple like installing an update, but if users do not know, they might assume they have done something wrong when a support employee stops by to use their machine.

Offer reassurance to usersUsers can often get stressed out when they run into what they believe is a huge technical problem and it might be even worse if they think it was their fault. Support staff should assure users their problems can be fixed, and be sure to never scold a user for doing something wrong. Instead, IT staff can look for opportunities to pat users on the back when they have done something right.Cited materialsKnapp, Donna. A Guide to Service Desk Concepts. Boston, MA: Course Technology, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.