Three Tips To Tackle Tough Tickets

No matter how long you’ve worked in IT, you’re guaranteed to eventually find a ticket that has you stumped, whether it’s a piece of software you’ve never heard of (And doesn’t look like it’s been updated since the ‘90s), or an error message that gives less than no substance or information on how to resolve.

When these tickets come in, it’s easy to get lost and not know where to go next. That is where this post comes in!  Just remember the Three Tips to Tackle Tough Tickets and you’ll have that ticket closed in no time!

1)    Simplify & Reproduce the Problem

If you’re lost, the first thing you should do, before even attempting troubleshooting, is to simplify the problem down to the core basics.

When a user reports a problem, often they will describe the problem in a roundabout way. A simple issue can often masquerade as a much more confusing or difficult task than it really is. The easiest way to ‘trim the fat’ of the problem is to simply ask the user to reproduce the issue while you’re watching. Close out of the affected program, and ask them to demonstrate to you exactly what they are doing when they encounter the issue from the start. Make sure to take notes as to the exact steps the user is taking, as well as any error messages or dialogue boxes that come up.

Use your notes to start trying to cut out any redundant steps. Try cutting out or changing a seemingly-insignificant step and seeing if you experience the same issue. Keep doing this until you have a series of exact steps that can reliably reproduce the error/issue.

2)    Searching Effectively

Often times the best solution to a problem is the easiest one – and there’s nothing easier than leveraging the knowledge of your peers. Provided you have a PSA or Knowledgebase platform set up, your first port-of-call after simplifying the problem is to check your own Knowledgebase and any previous tickets.

(If you don’t already have a Knowledgebase or PSA, check out our post on important considerations when looking at essential tools here: https://www.whitelabelit.com/post/essential-tools-for-it-technicians)

Often times, searching for your exact problem will be difficult – Different agents can word similar problems very differently and the same problem can lead to different symptoms for different users depending on how the end-user uses the application in question. If searching for your exact problem doesn’t result in anything, then gradually broaden your search until you have exhausted any possible leads.

The first thing to try would be to try and cut down the query into shorter and more precise wording. If you have an error message, try searching for just the error message + the application name. If that fails, try cutting down the error message to not include any information that may be user-specific in the search.

For example, a message that says ‘ApplicationName could not locate a file at C:\Users\xxx\Appdata\Local\AppName’ could be shortened down to ‘ApplicationName could not locate a file’

And if you’ve still got no luck, try an even broader search – Such as searching for information about the application as a whole. Search through the data and identify if anything could possibly apply to your problem.

If this still doesn’t work, it’s time to try broadening your search even further. Try using external search engines such as Google or Bing  to see if anyone else has encountered this problem previously. Follow the same steps as before, starting with an exact description of your issue and continually broadening the search query until you find something that may pertain to the issue.

3)    Find a Rubber Duck

When you’ve tried simplified the problem, and have searched for the problem without success, it is time to start ‘rubber ducking’.

What does this mean? The term ‘Rubber Ducking’ as a means of troubleshooting comes from the world of programming. Everyone has had that experience where you explain a problem to someone else, and in the process of doing so, you suddenly piece together the cause and solution.

Rubber Ducking is a method of troubleshooting which aims to use these experiences to your advantage. The process is simple, if not a little silly. Find either an inanimate object or a colleague to act as your ‘rubber duck’. Explain the problem in-detail step-by-step to your rubber duck or duck substitute. At each step explain what you expect to happen compared to what is happening.

If your duck substitute is another colleague, they may be able to offer advice in return on where to go. A great ‘rubber duck’ is someone who asks questions about the problem. The more you explain the problem step-by-step, the more likely you are to identify the source.

If your rubber duck is an actual rubber duck – or another inanimate object – instead start filling in the role of the ‘duck’ – Ask yourself questions about how it works as if you were an outsider. The strength of rubber ducking comes from considering the outside perspective, so while it may seem silly to explain your problems to a desk toy, forcing yourself to consider the outside perspective can often result in a ‘Eureka’ moment.

Conclusion

I hope the steps outlined above have helped in any future troubleshooting endeavours. Next time you end up with a seemingly impossible problem to solve, just remember these three tips in order to speed up the troubleshooting process.

If you are unsure where to start, want to outsource your IT services, or need guidance in building your IT department, our team is here to help. Get in touch today.

Written by Jared Ridge