Leeches

IT Support is not just stressful but it can also be annoying. The work itself is rarely annoying, it is the people that you deal with. As I have said before, you really lose faith in the human race after doing this job!

There are some I like to call leeches. They grab on to you and never let go.

In most cases, it is because you have done some work for them. They start calling you direct instead of using the centralized point of contact they are supposed to.

All kinds of new problems start to come out of the woodwork and they expect you to solve them. Many of these are time consuming.

These people basically have a major defect in their interpersonal skills. Maybe they have no friends? Maybe they see you as a friend? Maybe they are too lazy to fix their own problems, or to even think about them, and look to you for help.

It is really difficult to shake off a leech. There is no guaranteed method in IT that is akin to holding a lighter to a real leech. Because you are the service provider, you cannot tell them to get lost.

The best thing is to avoid getting attacked in the first place. Do not give the best quality service that you can or the leech will attack. Give the bare minimum. Sometimes, it's even a good idea to give poor service. That way, they won't deal with you in future and will go latch onto someone else.

If you find that a leech has taken hold, they can be gotten rid of. It requires careful management. You need to start ignoring their requests. Tell them how busy you are when you finally get back to them and they will realize that you cannot deal with their problems quickly anymore. If you're lucky, they may also come to their senses and realize that their requests are spurious. It's unlikely, but it does happen.

Just remember to avoid the leeches getting a hold in the first place.