Meeting software - how do you handle it?
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@JasGot said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@scottalanmiller said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
Saying that it is your job to do the impossible simply means that they are not giving you a job description. No one's job is to actually do the impossible.
Rarely is it impossible; this whole topic is an example of how it is possible.
It's important to remember that "bosses" don't usually ask you to do the impossible, in fact they may not realize it when they say "fix it", that they are really saying "Do something, so I can do this thing, and get on with my day".
I'm sure Dashrender's boss was thinking "This is supposed to work, and I can't get it to work. I'll re-schedule this meeting and have Dashrender get me hooked up."
There was likely no thought about whether it was broke, or the vendor's fault, or Dash's fault, etc. She just wanted it working and she knew Dash would be able to do something to get her into that meeting.
And lookie here..... With this new info in his toolbox, Dash will show 5 minutes before the rescheduled meeting and get her online. Viola!
If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's that you really need to decipher the true meaning behind a persons words when they ask for IT help. It's pretty rare that we get someone asking us to fix problem 'XYZ" when the problem actually is "XYZ". We usually have to ask several questions to find out what there real issue is.
So my point is, when she asked Dash fix it, she wasn't telling him it was broke, she was asking him to resolve her current dilemma.
If I told every person who expected us to "fix" it, that it's someone else's problem (when it really is; like in this topic) to deal with, and to call them, I would have lost my business decades ago.
Pretty much exactly!.
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@JasGot said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
So my point is, when she asked Dash fix it, she wasn't telling him it was broke, she was asking him to resolve her current dilemma.
Her dilemma is she is *&(!^%#0 inept at how computers work. How should Dash fix that?
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@JasGot said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
So my point is, when she asked Dash fix it, she wasn't telling him it was broke, she was asking him to resolve her current dilemma.
There is a difference between the request of an end user looking for help, and an insane job requirement stated by a boss. It's our job to interpret the former, it is the job of the latter to be accurate.
If you need to interpret your boss because they can't do their job and you have to trick them, that's their issue.
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@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
Her dilemma is she is *&(!^%#0 inept at how computers work. How should Dash fix that?
And she is the head of IT. If we describe IT as needing to interpret, why does that apply to the underlying but not the IT decision maker? The logic doesn't hold up.
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@scottalanmiller said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
Her dilemma is she is *&(!^%#0 inept at how computers work. How should Dash fix that?
And she is the head of IT. If we describe IT as needing to interpret, why does that apply to the underlying but not the IT decision maker? The logic doesn't hold up.
Exactly!
Just because Dash is in a position of break/fix/jump when she says jump doesn't mean that he can't tell his boss that she's a flipping loony-toon who needs to re-evaluate the issue.
Fix it in this context is "make it so I never have to think about joining any web conferencing system ever again". Which can be resolved by him showing up 5 minutes ahead of every meeting and joining it for her. But is that really a fix?
No! Teach the dumbass how to fish, rather than giving her a fish.
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@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@JasGot said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
So my point is, when she asked Dash fix it, she wasn't telling him it was broke, she was asking him to resolve her current dilemma.
Her dilemma is she is *&(!^%#0 inept at how computers work. How should Dash fix that?
That's totally not relevant. It's not her job to ept at computers, at least not at installing software. As mentioned earlier - since she didn't have the software installed - the vendor did have a total fail for not having an alternative way to get her going (i.e. your previously mentioned guest based web access). That said, since the vendor failed her failure might be more considered - why is she sticking with a vendor who clearly can't make something like this web demo work? That I will grant you.
But, as I've mentioned before, we constantly find ourselves forced into vendors because of prior relationships made above her head, so perhaps in this case she can't dump that vendor. Working from that POV, she moved onto the next solution she though of - have her IT person solve this web meeting issue at another time when it was more convenient for her.
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@Dashrender said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
That's totally not relevant. It's not her job to ept at computers, at least not at installing software.
Is she in charge of the IT department? If so, she needs to know how to use a computer system and simple things like how to join a web conference. If she doesn't know how to do that, how could she possibly expect you to know how to do this?
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@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@scottalanmiller said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
Her dilemma is she is *&(!^%#0 inept at how computers work. How should Dash fix that?
And she is the head of IT. If we describe IT as needing to interpret, why does that apply to the underlying but not the IT decision maker? The logic doesn't hold up.
Exactly!
Just because Dash is in a position of break/fix/jump when she says jump doesn't mean that he can't tell his boss that she's a flipping loony-toon who needs to re-evaluate the issue.
Fix it in this context is "make it so I never have to think about joining any web conferencing system ever again". Which can be resolved by him showing up 5 minutes ahead of every meeting and joining it for her. But is that really a fix?
No! Teach the dumbass how to fish, rather than giving her a fish.
As much as @scottalanmiller will call her the head of IT, which I don't disagree with, those people simply never do see themselves that way, and my only choice in this situation is to leave or just deal with it.
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@Dashrender said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
situation is to leave or just deal with it.
Those aren't the only choices, you can say hey boss, this isn't magic, smoke and mirrors. Click the link that says "Join with your browser".
If she is incapable of reading the content directly in her face, she has much bigger issues to worry about. Like which foot operates the break pedal. . .
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@Dashrender said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@scottalanmiller said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
@DustinB3403 said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
Her dilemma is she is *&(!^%#0 inept at how computers work. How should Dash fix that?
And she is the head of IT. If we describe IT as needing to interpret, why does that apply to the underlying but not the IT decision maker? The logic doesn't hold up.
Exactly!
Just because Dash is in a position of break/fix/jump when she says jump doesn't mean that he can't tell his boss that she's a flipping loony-toon who needs to re-evaluate the issue.
Fix it in this context is "make it so I never have to think about joining any web conferencing system ever again". Which can be resolved by him showing up 5 minutes ahead of every meeting and joining it for her. But is that really a fix?
No! Teach the dumbass how to fish, rather than giving her a fish.
As much as @scottalanmiller will call her the head of IT, which I don't disagree with, those people simply never do see themselves that way, .....
Right, making it worse.
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@Dashrender said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
and my only choice in this situation is to leave or just deal with it.
The problem with leaving is obvious, trying to find same or better pay and benefits.
The problem with staying is that what is suggested, and has to be in a case where we are treating the head of IT like an insolent child who is dishonest, illogical and emotional and failing to do their own job, is that we step away from being professional and have to be condescending, that's what is recommended. All the "do what they want, not what they say" is a form of condescension "oh, they are too stupid to talk to us IT pros, so we feed them a trick rather than doing what our job tells us to do" or whatever. It's an option, but it is also a problem. Once the head of IT is to be treated as a clueless, emotional user, all logic goes out the window. When do we do this... when they set the job requirement? When they ask for a specific task? We start picking and choosing because the "don't listen to them" can be applied at any time.
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Right, if you have to treat your supervisor like an inept buffoon, then do you listen to anything that they tell you to do? If they tell you to install a piece of software do you disregard it because that software is a joke in your opinion and just assume there would be no repercussion of it?
First, you boss needs to act like an adult, and start reading and comprehending the world in which she lives.
Second, your boss needs to stop treating her employees like gophers.
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@Dashrender said in Meeting software - how do you handle it?:
My boss had an online meeting today - and of course this presenter wanted to use Skype, plain ol' Skype, not Skype for Business.
Skype for Business is installed on Windows 10 by default (which I have not removed) but seemingly, Skype for Business will only allow logons from MS business accounts (which I suppose makes sense).
So - my boss couldn't do her meeting because she was missing the needed software.So let's get back to the original issue...
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Only the boss can determine what software she is going to allow. Nothing that she says, requires, demands, etc. matter, because she's the boss and her actual decision is what goes. Period. No amount of IT banter in this forum can change that, it's fact. Your only way to change this, is to get her removed. So if "do what is needed, instead of what is said" is done, then obviously the correct action is to get her fired. That's not going to happen, so let's not talk like that's an option. She's the boss, she makes the rules, and using these products are her decision, end of story.
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Skype for Business isn't a factor here.
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Your boss could do her meeting. That she didn't is, again, all on her. Yes, you can help here if she tells you what she has decided to use and asks you how to use it. But she wasn't missing software, she just didn't know how to use a product she agreed to use and presumably didn't ask for help early enough on it.
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In this one case, the fix is training the head of IT how to use a web based Skype interface. That's easy if she is okay with that. This assumes many things, though, as it seems that many of the problems come from the boss being capricious and illogical. So any given fix may or may not make her happy, we can't tell.
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In other cases, there is no universal answer. We fix this by not allowing other companies to dictate our software stack. Things like Skype are allowed specifically because they work in any browser. But things like Webex are not because... we simply don't have the infrastructure to make them work and it is on the vendor to provide viable systems.
At the end of the day, she is the boss and her actions not her words are her actual rules. Words that conflict with actions aren't your mandate, they cannot be.
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