How Do I Ask Less Questions at Work?

NetworkingStudent

I have a quick question...
I work a an MSP
At my present job I'm expected to complete a certain number of managed tickets.
We have had two techs that left and they have not been replaced.
We don't have enough customers to justify replacing them.
If feels like everyone is doing more and taking on more roles.

Now my boss has taken on the the role of Service Desk tech as well as being the NOC manager, HR, and all the other roles he plays.
I take notes of reoccurring issues and how to troubleshoot the min my own notebook.
I have been told in the past to get help if I 'm working on a ticekt for longer than 15 minutes.
Problem:
I have been told by the NOC manager that he doesn't mind answering my questions, but then he doesn't get his stuff done. I think it's not just me asking questions, but other techs as well.
Here is my question or questions?
I have been asked by the Service Desk Tech (which happens to be my manager) and the net admin, what would it take for me to ask less questions?
I said I needed more confidence in myself

**Here is my question or questions?
Is it wrong to ask questions if I'm not sure what to do?

**Are all MSP stretched this thin?
Is it wrong to ask for help? Is this a common thing in the IT?
Also, things seem to change all the time as far as what we bill for and what we don't bill for.
Some days I'm able to ask very few questions and other days I ask several.

Snow.bros

As far as I know you have to ask until you know everything, I don't see a reason why should feel guilty when you ask questions how else would you know if you doing the right thing.

We are in the IT industry you have to know what you doing, so in opinion, if was working with someone who never asked question at all I would worry. Ask as many question as can you can until you get all the answers.

We all need help sometimes no matter how experience you are or how much of an expert you are, if you a beginner no one would expect that you know everything you obviously going to need help at some point, the important thing here is learning.

Kai123

Ignore the request to stop asking questions. If you don't know something that they do, you have to ask them. Really sounds like an odd request.

If they get funny with you, then just crack on and learn as much as you can. As time goes on, you will become more familiar and better equipped to do the job well.

I've caught my colleagues on a bad day asking them something that they feel I should already know, normally I have a customer on the phone so I cant really leave it, so it gets pushed until I get my answer. Its your job and career, learn as much as you can and if the time comes, you can jump into a similar role and do well

bhcs2014

What kind of questions are you asking? Technical questions?

Asking about what you bill for, etc. of course you have to ask if you don't know.

pramin

Is it possible for you to at least try this before asking questions . . .

Take a stab at the issue/problem and then ask the question or for help. This shows that you are trying and not always asking for help or questions.

LeBroke

You can always put it this way:

"When I ask you something, it takes you 2-3 minutes to show me, and then both of us can move onto the next ticket. I know it's annoying, and I'm sorry. But if I were to do it myself, i might take me 25 minutes of research, and that's assuming I get it right on the first try. In this 25 minutes, I could have solved 3-4 tickets I DO know the answer to."

But seriously, just keep asking. Maybe try googling it a few times first, but definitely ask if it's too confusing or too complicated. If it's something like "Try X. If that doesn't work, try Y," nothing hurts you from trying it out.

Nothing hurts you from trying it out as long as you don't get locked out of an SSH/RDP session, that is...

--chris--

I have worked at two MSPs, one large and one small. This is a pretty common situation (also why I would be hesitant about taking a manager role in one). My manager also does tickets, calling customers for payment, managing the team, etc...

Until you learn everything, there is nothing you can do aside from ask. If you ask the same question 3 times however....then you need to learn how to document the fix for later or just remember better.

xocity

As long as your not asking the same questions over and over I think it would be in their best interest for you to ask as many questions as possible so that you can meet SLA requirements. Sometimes I have issue where I have no Idea where to even start working on an issue , but I can find an account manager or an engineer that previously worked on the issue and ask 2 or 3 questions to get me started. One engineer is never going to know everything about everything, there are always going to be questions to be asked and you should have the liberty to do so.

Unless you keep asking the same questions, or ask So many that its basically the other person fixing all of your issues I dont see a problem. I think you should ask enough questions to get you started and understand a little bit about the issue and then you can do your own troubleshooting on your end to actually master the problem and remember it for next time. Or at least ask questions after you've attempted to understand it yourself so that you show initiative.

I have only worked for MSPs and communication at throughout the Helpdesk and account managers and the NOC team are very important parts of the job.

--chris--

xocity wrote: »

As long as your not asking the same questions over and over I think it would be in their best interest for you to ask as many questions as possible so that you can meet SLA requirements. Sometimes I have issue where I have no Idea where to even start working on an issue , but I can find an account manager or an engineer that previously worked on the issue and ask 2 or 3 questions to get me started. One engineer is never going to know everything about everything, there are always going to be questions to be asked and you should have the liberty to do so.

Unless you keep asking the same questions, or ask So many that its basically the other person fixing all of your issues I dont see a problem. I think you should ask enough questions to get you started and understand a little bit about the issue and then you can do your own troubleshooting on your end to actually master the problem and remember it for next time. Or at least ask questions after you've attempted to understand it yourself so that you show initiative.

I have only worked for MSPs and communication at throughout the Helpdesk and account managers and the NOC team are very important parts of the job.

This is a good point, not only is asing questions in a position like this nescessary its a big part of the job. Knowing when to stop banging your head against a wall and when to call someone is a great skill to have. You should do all the basic stuff, spend some time googling, then combine the results of that with past experiences (maybe read old tickets for the same client)...then if you are stuck call a co-worker that might have more experience or call the person who has been designated for this purposes.

LeBroke

Oh, one other thing that came to mind:

Invest in a notebook. It's been my habit to take notes any time I start a new job (even when it was something as inane as cafe barista) to take notes. Anything from closing procedures, to FAQs, to problems with complicated solutions.

Bchen22

Team work is very important no matter where you work.
For this reason theres really nothing wrong with askin questions
When I started out in IT i had interviews with companys that had the mindset that I WOULD know a whole bunch of stuff for low pay no thanks and they wanted me to be the Solo IT Guy.
When I took a job and worked with a team i learned a lot but I had to questions for somethings I couldn't solve myself.
It took me like 3 years to master the help desk and desktop support
I still ask questions to this day buts its rare at this point because they been the same problems for 10 years.
Don't be ashamed of asking questions the only way your going to ask less is by learning as you go.
We all be there and I believe no one is perfect but everyone must work hard and try to learn as you go.
If you have a boss thou or team that says to you too much you should know this by now When you are starting then its obvious they are incompetent and not good people to work for.

Jon_Cisco

I think you need to get some clarification about what is expected if you don't ask questions.

If they want you to know everything that probably won't work in the short term. However some companies do want you to escalate all tickets that can't be solved in x amount of time on your own. This is usually a method of getting calls answered and routed where you are more valuable taking the next call then fixing the current problem.

Don't take it personal until you need to. Sometimes it's just business and they have to meet customer expectations with what they have.

d4nz1g

ALWAYS ask questions.
You should only take any action if you are absolutelly sure about what you are doing.

markulous

For the most part, not being able to ask questions sounds pretty dumb. How else are you supposed to grow and learn there? If they don't want you to do that, then they are just a bad company to work for.

Now if you're asking the same questions over and over, not getting things, and/or not wanting to learn, then that's a problem, but that does not appear to be the situation here.

EDIT: Also, it does look bad when you ask questions without putting in any effort or using Google. Again, not sure if that's the case but I always try to do that myself before I go to another tech or lead.

GAngel

As long as you're still not asking the same questions all the time then you're doing the right thing.

Nobody knows everything though we all pretend we do.

techfiend

Can you spread questions among your colleagues so you aren't asking the same guy a bunch of questions? This might give him some relief, but you need to know what your colleagues are skilled in.

If it's a crucial issue, where money could be lost from the company, I'd google then ask if that's what should be done before doing it. This way they see you have some knowledge of the problem but it might not be the right or preferred way for the environment. If it's a non-crucial workstation issue with office or something, google and try a few things before asking, there's little risk and you improve your problem solving skills while possibly avoiding the inconvenience of asking.

As a former manager in another field, auto mechanics where troubleshooting is a key skill, I think a lot of managers pay attention to how employees are handling these situations. You don't want to be a know-it-all and make wrong moves but you also want to show them you can handle some difficult issues on your own.

bluemc

I agree with what everyone has said. You have and always should ask questions if you are unsure and/or don't remember.

You should also write and take notes for issues which you have already fixed and you shouldn't be asking the same question more than 2-3 times. If you are, you should of written notes which you can go back on and refresh. I have a ton of notes and it surprises me how many people don't have notes. Some people are able to remember and more power to them.

If you don't know. Find out... If that takes asking someone. So be it... Don't assume, be certain and get the job done. Remember the solution, don't let it happen again and learn the next task.

I ask a ton of questions and if I don't know something. I'll write it down and do more research to figure out exactly what it is.. There's no way past not knowing but learning and doing your research. It's the only way to excel and move forward.

NetworkingStudent

@snowbros - good point. I can't know everything or fell guilty
@kail123 - So true, it is my job and career. If I don't ask questions and I make mistakes then I will be held accountable.
@pramin-Yes I try to take a shot at an issue before I ask for help.
One issue I had was were a customer would not return emails or phone calls for backups for system backups failing. I called/emailed ect. for one month.
I got authorization from the NOc Manager to connect to the machine, see if anyone is using. If no one is using , then correct the issue.

@LeBroke-I don't want to say that, becasue it would rude and unprofessional.
I can spend time troubleshooting issues, but they would like me to escalte issues after 15 minutes and progress hasn't been made.
@chris - So true I can't know everything. The Noc Manager I think he is pretty stressed
he is always saying he's gotta do and gotta do that.
@xocity- This is the hard part. This is also part of my job is talk to account managers and net admins, as well as the service desk techs for each account. Part of my job is to make sure all high priority clients as well as al carte devices are reporting and managed services are working correctly.
Sometimes I think the expectations we give the customer and the expectations we have aren't always for our high priority clients.
@techfeind-I try to troubleshoot on my own, but sometimes google isn't much help. We have managed serivces that a company packages software sells to us, and that we sell to our customers.
If an issue comes up I have aobut 10 onenote books that have troubleshooting tips and tricks.
I go through those and then I escalte and make a case with the vendor.
Going forward-
I'm not going to be ashamsed to ask questions---How will I learn
I will try to exhuast all of my troubleshooting steps, before escalation
I'm going to tryto work more with account manager, and net admins, so I don't have to escalte as much to the NOC manager.

MagnumOpus

"The only stupid question is the one that remains [FONT=arial, sans-serif]unasked."[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Took me a few years to figure this out and I am certainly smarter because of it. I've met well to do individuals in high ranking positions who wouldn't hesitate to ask questions about things we refer to as common knowledge. [/FONT]

philz1982

If it's something you can google then it shows a lack of initative. Look on Google first then ask. Also self study helps.

bhcs2014

I agree with Philz. Researching on Google and using documentation can be a skill in itself. 99% of the time the answer can be found on Google. When you get good with Google you can find solutions pretty quickly. I know this because I recently took a job I wasn't completely qualified for and I use Google... a lot. I have no one to ask questions (other than Google ). And yes, study whatever will help you at work.

blargoe

Are your questions technology/skills questions? Break/fix questions? Questoins about department/company process and procedures? All of the above?

Of course, training/self study helps, but for some things like fixes for common problems, or how to _____ at your company, having some documentation or a knowledge base helps (or at least, knowing where to find more information on your own without having to ask).

anhtran35

One way you can ask the question is to inform what you did to troubleshoot the issue. That would show me that you took a SHOT at researching and resolving the issue on your own instead of relying on me as the first source. As others have stated, establish a WIKI to retain the resolution to common issues. Your department seems to be going through a very stressful period. YIKES.