Trey, You've touched on a topic that I feel isn't really taught in any class or certification. I am not sure how it gets taught to the student. Luke had a good point that the junior admin has to know that they aren't going to go to the wood shed for trying some type of fix , The First Time. They have to know they have the authority to do what it takes to fix the issue.
I think it comes down to logic, a trait that some people don't have. Technical skills do not directly translate to logical skills. I believe it comes through repetition and through numerous times fixing problems. In the Quality Management Days they taught this in the training sessions using Fishbone charts and looking at problems and see what can cause the problem. I also saw a course on this called "Analytical Trouble Shooting" When I was a Maintenance Machinist with the US Mint I had to sit through the one week course. It was fine for my resume but the course was just a rehashing of my 20+ years of troubleshooting. Most of it was common sense to me but to a newbie it was enlightening. I would make sure you explain your logic when s/he is with you on a problem. I work a lot with our High School Techs. Most of them can run rings around me in Windows Administration, but when things go bump in the night and I have to step in I try to explain the thought process I went through to come to that end. Again I would say to empower them when they are on their own they should stop and take a minute to assess the issue and try to walk through any decision in your mind and maybe paper before taking the next step. I tell people as long as no ones is being dragged into the shredder then there is time to resolve the issue. Panic just brings more problems. They also should be reminded that they may go down many blind alleys while learning. My first days on this job almost had me leaving. I had no one to turn to in the office so I was the master of blind alley travel. The one thing to keep in mind is that all of the training and teaching in the world may not add logic or common sense to some people. I have met a few in my time that I often wondered how they found their way into work each day. Heck I still can't balance my check book and I have to manage accounting Software. John Boris Archdiocese of Philadelphia >>> "Trey Darley" <t...@kingfisherops.com> 7/15/2010 3:30 AM >>> Suppose you have a junior colleague with bang-up technical skills but who gets thrown off-track whenever things don't work as expected. Suppose this person gets routinely blocked from working until a more senior person has the availability to unblock them. Suppose this person routinely gets blocked and it turns out that there is a common-sense workaround. What would you do to help them to see the light? _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lopsa.org http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
