Troubleshooting is important

The world we live in now is one of increasing digitalisation and one where the new generation are referred to as digital natives.

But really, this tag means nothing. All this means is that they grew up with some version of a phone's "owner's manual" etched into their heads. How many of these "digital natives" really and truly know how their devices work?

While I myself cannot argue that I know the inner workings of software development and would struggle to create complex programs, I am still well aware of how troubleshooting works - I was fortunate enough to have access to a computer as a child back in the early 2000s, a time when having a computer was still not very common back home. My childhood interest in video games and computers in general meant that I spent hours and hours just tinkering with how something like video games, and consequently computers, worked.

There was also the added element of software piracy (not something I recommend at all) - a phase that I think every computer geek goes through, and one which resulted in our family computer almost dying and getting bricked multiple times. I can say with absolute certainty that I have visited very questionable websites and downloaded even more questionable things in the effort to get a free copy of Doom 3. Combine this with the fact that I couldn't approach my family for help (because I wasn't supposed to be downloading things, let alone video games and that too from suspicious websites), I learnt a metric ton of things about removing viruses, portioning hard drives, fiddling with RegEdit entries, fixing a non-functioning USB bus driver (no, not the one who takes you to work on weekdays), checking the authenticity of software and what the next step was supposed to be if something went catastrophically wrong. Not only did this mean that I could fix my computer, it meant I could fix any computer anywhere in the world (provided it used Windows). It meant that most of my friends looked to me when something didn't work on their PCs, something that happens to this very day.

It is stereotypical, I know - of course the Indian dude can provide IT support - but there is something very gratifying about being able to look at problems on a machine and at least have an idea as to what could be wrong, and get the process of solving those problems started. These principles are now no longer specific to computers - many of the same concepts can be applied to phones, tablets and smart TVs. Where do you think the idea of "a restart usually fixes everything" comes from?

While I believe that everyone should know how to troubleshoot their computational devices, special focus should be paid on these basic concepts by people who work in hospitality businesses or client facing jobs. For example, if a front desk agent's copy of OPERA starts acting up, he/she has to wait for IT engineer to come fix the problem - but why? Why don't we teach our operational staff the inner workings of the software they use every single day? Why don't we throw unusual problem at them, within the software to solve? Why don't we incentivise this process, and reward them when they learn how to troubleshoot these processes on their own. It is a well known fact that these niggling issues jam up operational service and cause unnecessary delays.

What this means is that not only is less time wasted and spent on fixing menial issues, it empowers your workforce with new skills that could land them jobs in other industries, which would truly reinforce the fact that hospitality isn't just about waiting hand and foot on people.

Invest in tech education. Empower your people. Build a network of technologically sound members who can do so much more than just "use" software. Teach them everything, so that they can give you more than everything.

A shorter edition this time, as I am travelling for Easter. I hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you have any suggestions as to how I can improve my content, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. See you next week!