The real 80/20 rule: 80% of the advice other techs give you will be irrelevant or useless.
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The real 80/20 rule: 80% of the advice other techs give you will be irrelevant or useless.
Beware of 'Dedicated Education Suppliers' thats retail industry code for 'We only sell to schools stupid enough to pay our prices'.
Undestand TCO's, lifespans and build quality - the cheapest is not necerssarily the right purchase. Don't expect the Head Teacher/Bursar to understand this.
Don't expect any ICT Teacher to know anything about ICT - it's alway a plesent suprise when you find one that does.
Follow Mr Scott's advice - and multiply any repair estimate by a factor of three.
Virtual PC is a great way to test settings/software before deploying across the network
No-one in management will ever ask you to do the really important stuff on your network. It doesn't interest them.
Adhere to the principle of Least User Access.
When planning a project use the 'Scotty' rule of time-scales. 4 weeks is actually 1 week. How else are you going to look like a miracle worker?
When users are rude, be nice
When users shout, scream, breakdown, cry and have a tantrum, be nice
When users call you names, delete their account :)
Never, ever, let anyone buy software without letting you test it first.
Assume that no-one will listen to anything you say. Understand that all they will hear coming out of your mouth is white noise.
Even if you think you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
Remember - 99% of the rest of the staff you work with have NO IDEA what it is that you do. Look confident, carry a cable/hard drive/manual and smile. Then retreat to your office and google the problem!
Don't expect anyone to read your carefully crafted instructions...
Remember - signs are there to be ignored, rant's fall on deaf ears ... but internet access is a precious commodity
Turning it on in the first place works even better. Don't expect people to understand complex technology like mains electricity switches.Quote:
Originally Posted by theeldergeek
Just remember, all your efforts to idiot proof a system will just create better idiots.
Make sure you know who equipment has been issued to, so you know who to chase when you don't get it back.
Always read the manual (just make sure no one sees you doing it).
To you a printer is just a piece of computer hardware, but to everyone else it's a status symbol. Make you are well versed in total cost of ownership unless you want to be overun with the bloody things.
EDIT: Can someone record this in a Baz Lurman style.
Never under estimate what people don't know. Try and keep a straight face & be polite when this rule is proven correct.
Always check twice what people actually need for an event/setup & then get out what you think they will need as well, it saves faffing & stress.
If it has a plug on it, its your responsibility
If a student/user deletes something, dont believe them, chances are its hidden somewhere.
If a student has deleted something, dont resort to getting it off the backup, chances are it involves moving to get the backup tapes.
When a toner has run out, shake it, chances are it will last longer.
If it dont work, throw it out, it isn't worth trying to fix it.
I'll collate these and remove any duplicates.
- When getting a call to replace a toner, check it doesn't say "Order Toner" instead of "Replace Toner"
- When setting up a projector/laptop/presentation, test it. Then test it again. And again 5 minutes before.
- When setting up laptops for the above, disable screensaver, sleep mode and anything else that will lock the workstation.