In many organisations, it is often assumed that users instinctively know how to contact their user support team when needed. However, this assumption is far from reality. A lack of awareness about the correct steps can lead to delays in resolving incidents, disrupt business processes, and negatively impact employee satisfaction. This article explores this issue through five key points, examining its root causes, impacts, and potential solutions.
1. Fragmented Information: A Major Barrier
One of the primary reasons users are unaware of how to contact user support is the fragmentation of available information. Procedures are often scattered across multiple channels, such as emails sent during initial training, documents shared on intranets, or internal notes. This dispersion makes accessing the right information challenging, forcing users to spend valuable time searching for best practices, often without success.
Moreover, these materials are frequently outdated. Changes to tools, processes, or contact points are not always communicated systematically. As a result, employees may rely on obsolete procedures or reach out to teams no longer responsible for their issues, leading to avoidable delays.
2. Process Diversity That Fuels Confusion
In some organisations, the steps to contact user support vary across departments, geographic locations, or even incident types. This lack of uniformity creates confusion among users, who hesitate to make requests or default to the most accessible method, even if it is not the most appropriate.
This process diversity also creates challenges for support teams, which must manage disorganised and misdirected requests. Manually sorting tickets or redirecting incidents to the correct contacts consumes resources unnecessarily, prolonging resolution times. This not only impacts their efficiency but also the perception of their responsiveness among users.
3. User Reluctance in the Face of Uncertainty
When users are unsure of the correct steps, they often adopt behaviours that exacerbate the situation. Some hesitate to ask for help, fearing they might phrase their request poorly or bother support teams unnecessarily. Others bypass formal processes altogether by turning to colleagues or attempting to resolve issues independently, often leading to additional errors.
This reluctance to report incidents has a dual negative effect: it prevents support teams from gaining a complete understanding of user challenges and slows users in their daily tasks. These delays and roadblocks accumulate, impacting both individual and collective productivity.
4. Organisational Impacts: A Vicious Cycle
At an organisational level, a lack of clarity about contacting user support creates systemic inefficiencies. Support teams, faced with poorly formulated or misdirected requests, waste time identifying issues and redirecting users. This reduces their ability to focus on critical incidents or improve internal processes.
Additionally, this situation fosters a widespread sense of frustration. Users perceive user support as inaccessible or ineffective, further discouraging them from using official channels. This negative perception also hinders the adoption of business tools and new technologies, slowing the organisation’s digital transformation and innovation efforts.
5. Rethinking Processes for Accessible Support
To address this issue, it is essential to centralise and clarify the steps for contacting user support. A first step is to standardise processes across the organisation by defining common standards that apply to all departments and locations. This standardisation should be accompanied by proactive communication to ensure all users understand the procedures.
Investing in suitable tools is also critical. For instance, innovative solutions like Smart Ticketing can guide users step-by-step through the reporting process, pre-fill certain fields, route requests to the appropriate contacts based on the category, and even suggest solutions. These tools reduce errors, improve user satisfaction, and enhance support team efficiency.
Finally, regular user awareness campaigns, through communication initiatives or continuous training, help maintain up-to-date knowledge of the steps. This proactive approach fosters smoother interactions between employees and their workplace support teams.
Conclusion
The belief that users inherently know how to contact user support is a risky assumption. In reality, fragmented information, diverse processes, and user uncertainty can lead to significant inefficiencies for both support teams and the organisation as a whole. Rethinking these processes by centralising and making them more accessible is essential for ensuring a productive and satisfying work environment.
To learn more about solutions to optimise your user support processes, contact us today.
👉 For more insights, check out our article: 3 Tips to Reduce Back-and-Forth in Request Qualification.
