Stop Creating BAD Documentation!

 I prefer learning from the written word. But I often to turn to video as well. But time and time again, I realize that I'm just not getting what I need - because the "how to" is horrible. Each of these formats has a primary problem, although it manifests differently. And the primary problem has an ironic cause.

Documentation is ultimately just a specific kind for communication. The primary function of all communication is to transfer information (or opinion). The factors that define successful communication are clarity and brevity. Unlike fiction or even commentary, documentation requires clarity and brevity. No one wants an 800-page novel about how to set up a remote access to a storage device.

The Primary Problem

The biggest mistake people make is to skip steps. And the most important step that gets skipped is usually the first step. If you keep any eye out for it, you'll see it again and again. The documentation assumes that you're logged in to the program you want and you have the correct page or document open.

This is because the person the person writing the document is 1) very knowledgeable, and 2) in a hurry. You'll notice this, in a written document, when you ask yourself, "Where am I supposed to be and how did I get there?" For example, if a document begins:

"From the FILE menu, select the folder ..."

Wait. What? Which file menu?

I know it seems simplistic, but the ultimate GOAL of documentation in the long run is to save time and money by handing the documentation to someone who is competent and let them execute it. To do this, they need to know exactly where they start and then go click-by-click.

In video tutorials, you'll see that someone clicks through a lot of stuff while they're talking about something else or doing the introduction. So you see them click on a project folder, right-click, open a document, go to the dashboard, select and option ... And then the dialog and visual are in sync. 

In this case, you find yourself rewinding 30 seconds again and again in order to figure out what they did zip-zip-zip as second nature. The video "watch time" is through the roof because you keep watching a tiny portion of it over and over. At this point, you should realized that you need to look elsewhere. If you can't get past the first minute without rewinding five times, the rest of the video will be torture.

The Irony is that documentation is supposed to save you time in the long run. But if the documentation is poorly written or poorly demonstrated, it wastes a great deal of time. Documentation is the ultimate example of: Take time to do it right!

It's also a great example of one of the absolutely unbreakable rules of service delivery - Slow Down, Get More Done. A little extra time spend on documentation will save massive amounts of time down the road.

Comments welcome.

:-)

Hiring a Great Administrative Assistant

Hiring a Great Administrative Assistant 

- Lessons Learned, Episode 26

Long ago, I started sharing one of the most powerful (and most ignored) pieces of advice I can give: Hire an administrative assistant as soon as you can, and before you hire a technician.

Depending on where you live, and where you outsource, the cost might be as low as $100/month. For someone working remote in the Philippines or India, the cost will obviously be on the lower end of the scale. 

For someone in the U.S. who actually comes to the office, it will probably be in the range of $20-$30 per hour. At 10-20 hours per week, that's $200-$600 per week.

I only give those number so you have some ballpark of what we're talking about. I hired my first admin, Jennifer, for $200 per work. And quickly began referring to her as my $200 miracle. Today I pay my admin $30/hour and I buy her time in ten-hour blocks.

And what does an admin do for you?

• To start, they makes sure bills get put into the system. So, you can Open Xero or QuickBooks and see accounts payable at a glance. Ideally, they'll have the skill s to help make sure you're using Xero/QuickBooks properly.
• They balance the checkbook(s)
• They pick up the mail from the mailbox
• If you still receive checks, they deposit them in the bank
• If you still bill in arears, they prod people who are slow to pay (via email, phone calls, resending invoices, etc.)
• They print all the invoices from your PSA or CRM for review
• They help you to make sure your newsletters and marketing email get started - and finished. If you have a postal campaign, they stuff envelopes, applies postage, deals with the details for bulk mail.
• If you hold seminars or events, they handle the coffee and pastries
• They keep track of all the office supplies, a order supplies as needed
• They do all the tedious bits of new employee onboarding: First day check-in, payroll processing, and printing all kinds of stuff I don't even keep track of any more. 
• They proofread everything
• When something breaks, they call the landlord or the fix-it place
• And pretty much anything else you can think of
• When there's too much for her to do, she supervises someone else to help get it all done
• They verify that technicians have filled out their time cards properly at the beginning of every day (for the previous day)

Even a very small business has a boatload of paperwork and details that are NOT the labor needed to send out quotes, hold sales meetings, bring clients in the door, and sell by the hour at $150-$200/hour.

When we had twelve employees, one was the office manager (Jennifer moved into that position) and three more were administrative assistants. They handled setting up cloud accounts such as O365 - because they're far more detail oriented than technicians, and cost a lot less.

Hiring the Right Person

It took me several tries before I developed the perfect system for finding the right person. I've hired men and women for this job. Old and young. And lots of stay-at-home parents as well as college students. Once you have the system down, the right person is easy to find and it's not an overwhelming task. 

See the sample posting below.

Here's what you want:

• Someone with experience
• Someone who is eager to work and not afraid to take initiative
• Someone who has some interesting experience not directly related to this job*
• NOT someone who is only looking for a fulltime job that makes about $50,000 per year
• As for skills, they should be comfortable with computers and have actual skills or training in Word, Excel, and your financial tool. Pretty much everything else can be on the job training. 

You don't want to plough through 300 resumes that all look the same after a while. 

Note: * That "interesting" bit above is often an opportunity to bring someone with a seriously different perspective into your business. They might own a "side-gig" business, or have an artistic flair. The last three superstars I hired all had side gigs. One turned out to be a weight lifter!

Check out the model ad below. Here's why that ad works so well:

• It's different and interesting. You don't want a hundred identical applicants; you should not be just another job post.

• The ad makes it look like this is a really big, complicated job. In truth, it's not that bad. But the ad helps people filter themselves out.

• The ad has a "hidden" request. People who are actively spamming the universe with resumes will not see it. Those who do get a stupendous bonus.

• The ad encourages diversity with a simple promise: "Everyone is welcome here! If you value diversity and enjoy working with a wide variety of people all over the world, you'll fit in well."

• I ask people to NOT send a resume or they will be disqualified. This eliminates 97% of all applicants. I ask for a short note about why I should ask for the resume. This takes thought and energy. Most people don't have that. In my opinion, this is the single best indicator of a high quality candidate.

Of course, you will need to do a bit of extra work in the beginning. Training takes time. You'll need to side-check their work until you're comfortable.

But here's the promise: If you hire a miracle admin, they only need to free up enough of your time to bill two additional hours per week to pay for it. At the end of a month, you'll have someone who relieves you of ten hours per week AND gets more things done than you do in two weeks. Your business will be able to get that newsletter out on a regular basis. Invoices will go out when they're supposed to. Expenses will be properly entered. And more.

Final note on part-time workers. We live in an era where people seem bent on criticizing everything at first glance, and I've had several fulltime-only candidates criticize me to for abusing workers simply because I want to hire a part-timers. Here's the reality.

The largest groups of people who fit into this category are 1) Parents with young kids; 2) College students; and 3) Older folks who are trying to get their own business off the ground. 

The parents want to get the kids off to school, do some work, and then get back to the kids in the afternoon. The students need to fit their strange schedules into a job that give them flexibility - and a week off for finals. And, of course, the gig workers just need flexibility and little money.

All of these people bring great skills, good education, a large portion of motivation, and a different perspective. All of those are good for you and your business. You are not taking advantage of these people. You are providing the unusual, hard-to-find, flexible job that they can't find anywhere else.

-----

Sample Administrative Assistant Posting:

Part Time Administrative Assistant and Marketing Admin

Please read the whole ad before you respond. Thanks.

20 hours per week. Perhaps more. Start working in my well appointed home office. Eventually, work from home will be an option. 

Looking for someone who is very comfortable with Internet-based services. You don't need to know all these things, but you must be able and willing to learn:

- PayPal

- Web-based store front

- File sharing services

- US Postal Service online 

- Social media platforms and tools

- Zoom.us webinar and meeting portal

- WordPress 

- Constant Contact

- Xero or QuickBooks 

 -- Input invoices 

 -- Create vendor Bill-Pays

 -- Check PayPal and Stripe for any new transactions and input those into 

 -- Receive payments / apply to invoices

 -- Make deposits

General Job Duties: 

- Order processing from clients 

- Scanning business cards into Excel or database

- Typing

- Maintaining inventory of supplies

- Scheduling meetings

- Updating forms

- Copying

Personal duties include getting coffee, filling car with gas, etc. Whatever needs to be done.

Qualifications: 

Must have experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Other office products helpful. Adobe suite is a plus.

Must be good with numbers and be good with details. 

Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills along with good verbal and written skills are required. 

Super Bonus Qualifications that Might Really Help:

- Experience managing order processing and fulfillment

- Previous work with confidential client information

- Excellent communication skills 

- Ability to work unsupervised for extended periods of time

- Ability to sneak the word Stupendous into your application

- Bookkeeping (or at least QuickBooks)

The bottom line:

This is a very small but dynamic company. We have one fulltime employee, one part-timer, and a number of outsourced people who provide specialized services. It's a great, fun place to work. Generally low stress. You must be able to tolerate humor in the workplace. You will have a full desk setup with a good computer, monitor, and printer.

I am extremely flexible. So if you need to run errands, take care of kids, etc. that's okay. I know this is a low-paying job and not your highest priority. But I hope you'll love it here and help us grow to the point where we have to have you fulltime.

Do Not Send Your Resume!

Send one or two paragraphs telling me why I should ask for your resume.

Compensation: $18/hr - 20 hrs/wk

There will be a review after the 60 day probationary period.

NOTE: Everyone is welcome here! If you value diversity and enjoy working with a wide variety of people all over the world, you'll fit in well.

Location: College Greens / near Sac State

-----

All comments welcome.

-----

Episode 26

This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

Leave comments and questions below. And join me next week, right here.

Subscribe to the blog so you don't miss a thing.

:-)

The Time Has Come for IT Mentoring

I have long believed that the various fields within "IT" are missing an important element. Broadly speaking, it would be defined as apprenticeship or a formal mentor/mentee relationship. 

Today I am announcing a new Reddit discussion at:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ITMentor/

Here's what's up:

I had some early jobs in HUGE corporations, but have spent most of my IT career in smaller companies, including companies I've owned. In the last thirty years, I've worked with thousands of IT consultants all over the world. And I've worked with employees of companies of all sizes. 

One of the most important things missing in our industry is a well-defined path (or set of paths) from newbie amateur to experienced professional. It sorta mostly just happens. But the lack of clear paths that are generally accepted means that we have too much reliance on "sink or swim" as a way to pass career-focused knowledge from successful people to in new hires.

Many, many people in various IT-related groups are employees who are overwhelmed with the lack of training, lack of good SOPs, and bad management. They are overworked and hate their jobs. They could "just" improve themselves despite their environment, but that's easier said than done. Connecting with mentors can give them advice, encouragement, and perspective.

Today I am starting a new Reddit around mentoring in the IT industry. I was actually surprised to find that one did not exist. And I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to step up. I was actually surprised to find that /ITMentor was available. Join us:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ITMentor/

This Reddit makes no attempt to create a formal program, but merely to facilitate more discussion about IT career paths, and how "older" (more experienced) folks can help "younger" (less experienced) folks make the most of working in IT. The big goal, of course, is to help mentees become more professional, avoid unnecessary mistakes, and embrace this wonderful industry as a powerfully good part of their life. 

Improving our profession begins with a commitment to building pathways to professionalism. Mentoring can be a powerful tool in that endeavor. 

My audience includes tens of thousands of people who are seasoned professionals. That is, generally older and more experienced. I encourage you to join this Reddit and lurk a bit. If you are ready to jump in and volunteer to help, please do so. But even if you're just curious, we would love to have you.

Everyone has something to offer. You can Google all the drawbacks of mentoring (lack of confidence, time commitment, etc.). But the absolute truth is: Your experience matters. It can help someone. And even if your advice is limited to a few posts in the conversation, someone will find that useful. I promise.

Regular readers will know that I have a love affair with the SMB IT community. I love finding people who want to help others. And I love finding people who just need a little advice and encouragement to get to the next step on the ladder. And I love bringing these people together in communities, courses, and even in-person events.

Since the day I discovered this global community (at SMB Nation way back in the day), I have been amazed with how openly people help each other. I honestly feel sorry for the people in IT who hate their jobs and feel stuck. Connecting with someone who loves their job and loves their career is a great way to help those people both personally and professionally.

Helping people step up to mentoring and helping those in need to find mentors is a natural, long-overdue endeavor. 

Please check it out. Please join us. Please ask for help if you need it. Please offer assistance to those who ask. It really is a big step toward professionalism for everyone.

I welcome your feedback here, of course. But I much prefer you join our Reddit and contribute to conversation.

Thank you for being part of this awesome global community.

- Karl Palachuk

- Smallbizthoughts.org

/ITMentor - https://www.reddit.com/r/ITMentor/

Feedback? Put it in the Reddit.

:-)

Hiring a "First" Employee, Take Two

Hiring a "First" Employee, Take Two

- Lessons Learned, Episode 25

In Episode 21, I talked about my first attempt to hire an employee. See https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2025/03/trying-to-get-that-first-employee-take.html.

Having failed to do it right the first time, I went more slowly the second. I decided to hire a part-time tech who would work as needed. Having set that intention, it didn't take long before someone came along who was willing to do just that. 

Al was newly-minted with a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certificate and looking to figure out how to get into IT consulting. He was not young, but he was eager. Best of all, for me, he was willing to tag along for free and work when I need an additional pair of hands. 

This quickly moved into about twenty hours per week. But it was sustainable because I wasn't committed to a full forty hours plus benefits.

Lesson for newbie consultants: MANY business owners worry that they have to hire someone fulltime or nothing. Be flexible and you'll get something. Note: Al hung out with me for about a year as he worked to grow his own business. He honed his skills.

And when he left, I had learned that a part-time tech was both manageable and good for helping someone launch their career. So I had a system and went looking only for someone interested in part-time. Of course I found one easily. 

Another lesson for me is that there will always be an unlimited supply of people trying to break into this industry. You might have the technical skills, but all the details of working a job, taking notes, and making it repeatably successful have to be learned.

As revenue grew with this extra pair of hands, I revisited my real need: I hadn't become "too busy" with tech support. I had become too busy with paperwork, billing, collections, opening the mail, getting out newsletters on time, and all the front office stuff that makes a business run.

That's when I started looking for my first administrative assistant - who would eventually stay with me for eight year. But that's a story for next time.

All comments welcome.

-----

Episode 25

This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

Leave comments and questions below. And join me next week, right here.

Subscribe to the blog so you don't miss a thing.

:-)

Never Lose Money on a Project Again - Class Starts April 22nd

Highly Successful Project Management

Five-Week Course Starts April 22nd

https://www.itspu.com/all-classes/classes/highly-successful-project-management/

Taught by Karl W. Palachuk, Author and Coach

Five Tuesdays - April 22 - May 20,

Register Now!

All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

This class will help you:

• Never lose money on a project again!
• Keep projects on time and inside the scope
• Learn to manage client expectations around projects
• Learn to manage employees for profitable projects
• Quote projects so each is more profitable than the last

This course covers the most important aspects of project management for small business. It is intended for computer consultants, VARs, and managed service providers. Whether you sell projects on a Time-and-Materials basis or flat fee, it is critical to manage them successfully. Successful projects are more than simply profitable. Successful projects make you look good. They make the client more productive and potentially more profitable. They help you build a positive relationship.

Tuition includes the book in PDF format along with all associated downloads.

This course is for consultants who are new to project management as well as those who have been running projects for years and would like to take a serious step up to a the next level of professionalism and profitability.

Topics to be presented include:

• Different kinds of project management; What’s best for this job?
• Tools to Use for managing your projects
• Documentation at all stages
• After the Project
• Checklists of all kinds
• Project Planning, Quoting, and Selling
• Why Projects Go Wrong
• The Scope is Everything
• Closed Loop Project Management
• How an Ant Eats an Elephant
• Managing Projects in Your PSA
• Microsoft Project
• Client Training
• The Evaluation Process
• Managing Time / Managing Employees
• Outsourcing Options
• Creating Repeatable, Successful Projects
• Building an Action Plan that works

Overview of the Course

Unit 1:  Introduction / Setting the Stage

Unit 2:  Project Planning, Quoting, Selling

Unit 3:  Closed Loop Execution

Unit 4:  Repeatable Success

Unit 5:  Implementing Your PM Process

Includes five weeks of webinar classes with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor.

This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Service Manager or Operations Manager.

Only $399

A Few Details . . .

Each course will be five one-hour webinars 

There will be handouts and "homework" assignments

If you wish to receive feedback on your assignments, there will be instructor office hours

Class calls will be recorded and made available to paid attendees only.

Questions? Email [email protected] 

:-)

The Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service Delivery - a great audio book!

Looking for a great audio book?

I humbly submit The Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service Delivery. This is NOT a 60-page self advertisement or a one-good-idea-and-done monograph. This is a five hour audio book that you'll probably want to listen to more than once.

The Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service Delivery is filled with practical advice and some true best practices that will serve you well no matter what the economy does! See the table of contents below.

AND there are lots of options for accessing the audio book:

• Audible listeners can grab it for one credit on Amazon: https://amzn.to/42ABNFW

• You can learn all the details, read a sample, and purchase on our dedicated site: https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/member-content/the-absolutely-unbreakable-rules-of-service-delivery/

• Order it from our SBT store: https://store.smallbizthoughts.com/product/the-absolutely-unbreakable-rules-of-service-delivery/

• ... and, of course, Small Biz Thoughts Community members get this and all of our books free inside the community. https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/member-content/the-absolutely-unbreakable-rules-of-service-delivery/

Exactly what are these rules? The chapter titles give you the story, below. For all the juicy details, grab the audio book. Of course it's also available in paperback, pdf, or ebook formats.

Table of Contents

I. Successful Service Delivery

1. The Rules for Success

2. Success is a Habit  

3. Never Stop Learning 

II. Branding is Everything You Do

4. The KPE Way

5. Documentation and the E-Myth  

6. The Way You Do Anything

III. General Rules for Successful Service Delivery 

7. Prioritize Everything 

8. Do Not be Interrupt-Driven

9. Slow Down, Get More Done

10. Know What You Know

11.The Competition is Irrelevant  

12. We Only Work with People We Like  

IV. Rules for Client Management 

13. Define Your Ideal Client – and Go Get Them  

14. Don’t Have Both Sides of the Conversation

15. You're Not Responsible for Every Lost Dog that Shows Up on Your Doorstep

16. We Cannot Care More about the Client’s Business Than They Do 

17. Every Client is On a Service Agreement

18. Evaluate Your Pricing Once a Year 

V. Rules for Managing Employees

19. Have an Administrative Assistant 

20. Have a Formal, Detailed Hiring Process

21. Hire Slow; Fire Fast

22. Culture is Built from the Top Down

23. You Can't Control People (But you can control your processes) 

VI. Rules for Billing and Finance

24. Control Billing and Cash Flow

25. Get Prepaid for Everything

26. All After-Hours Work is Billable

27. It's Not Our Responsibility to Save the Client’s Money

28. You Don’t Have to Pick Up Every Nickel You Find 

29. If a client has a past-due balance, their service is cut off 

VII. Rules for Service Tickets195

30. Track ALL Time Inside Your Business 

31. All Work is Done on a Service Ticket

32. Every Ticket is Massaged Every Time It's Touched

33. Every Job Has a Scope

34. Document Absolutely Everything 

VIII. The Bigger, Bigger Picture 

33. Relax Focus Succeed™

36. Why Does Your Business Exist?  

37. The Culture of Success 

What's on YOUR Spring reading list?

:-)

Client Engagement in an Uncertain Economy - Webinar May 7th

Join me for a free educational (and entertaining) webinar:

Client Engagement in an Uncertain Economy - How to Protect Your Client Base, Grow Your Income, and Build Stronger Client Relationships 

May 7th

9:00 AM Pacific

Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cuw7R7I8RTamdW8thJencQ

Literally no one knows what’s next. No business owner has certainty about the business environment in the year ahead. But that doesn’t mean you need to be ruled by fear. As an IT consultant, you are in a unique position to help your clients make the most of their technology in the months and years ahead.

Join us for an educational and entertaining webinar on how to build stronger client relationships in uncertain times. You really can strengthen client relationships when they are overwhelmed with FUD – fear, uncertainty, and doubt. As an advisor, a true consultant, and a technology professional, you can help them spend money (and save money) strategically. You can help them reach their goals, and your company will be better off for the effort.

Join us:

May 7th – 9:00 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern

60-minute Zoom webinar

Note: While scheduled for 60 minutes, we’ll stay as long as there are questions.

What Do We Do?

One of the absolutely best things you can do for your clients is to help them. And one of the best ways to do that is to have regular, ongoing strategy meetings. I call these roadmap meetings. Some people call them QBRs, although few clients will hold them quarterly.

This webinar with help you:

• Begin “never-ending” conversations with clients and prospects
• Where roadmaps and strategic meetings fit in the sales process
• The slow sales process (a GREAT low-sales/no-sales approach to perpetual income)
• The power of being a true advisor
• Making money in a tough economy
• Taking the long view of client relationships
• Moving from “network checkup” to ongoing client relationships
• Building never-ending relationships with clients (old and new)

This webinar includes lots of handouts, and pointers to resources that will help you make the most of your ongoing strategic meetings.

Who should attend:

• Owners
• Managers
• Sales folks
• Marketing folks
• (And it wouldn’t hurt for senior technicians either. Just sayin.)

About Karl W. Palachuk

Karl W. Palachuk has been an IT Consultant since 1995 and is one of the pioneers of the managed services business model. He is the author of more than twenty books, most of which are focused on running a successful IT consulting practice.

Karl founded the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community in 2018. He maintains four blogs, including Small Biz Thoughts and Relax Focus Succeed, and produces several podcasts, including the SMB Community Podcast and The Killing IT Podcast. In 2021, Karl founded the National Society of IT Service Providers – NSITSP.org – where he now serves on the Board of Directors and the Professional Development Committee.

Sign up today!

https://mspwebinar.com/client-engagement-in-an-uncertain-economy/

:-)

Announcing - Small Biz Thoughts Peer Groups !!!

 After many inquiries, and months of preparation, I am happy to announce

Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community
Peer Groups by Kernan Consulting

This program begins May 1st, but you should sign up NOW. Sign up at: https://kernanconsulting.com/millionaire-mastermind-peer-groups/

We are constantly asked whether we have peer groups. I have always had to say that we do not.

My approach has always been that there are plenty of peer groups out there, so there's no void for me to fill ... until now.

James Kernan and I have been working together for almost ten years. We've been in mastermind groups together. He teaches some of our most popular courses. And he's active in the Small Biz Thoughts Community.

He HAS been running peer groups that whole time. 

Now we've taken that collaboration to the next level. James runs amazing Mastermind Peer Groups. Many of our members are in his peer groups.

Beginning in May 2025, James will be offering special peer groups exclusively for members of the Small Biz Thoughts Community. These groups are focused on financial success and group knowledge sharing - with a difference.

Small Biz Thoughts Peer Groups by Kernan Consulting will consist of groups of non-competitive business owners meeting together weekly for accountability and monthly for training, coaching and networking. Quarterly offsite meetings are also part of the program.

Two Great Groups Together!

The advantages of this killer combo are:

1) All group members must be members of the SBT community, which means everyone will have access to all of our content plus all of James' content. That's huge + huge! It also means that groups can do a deep-dive to all of this content with no additional costs.

2) One of the key elements of peer groups is to build trusting relationships with other business owners. Between meetings in the peer groups and meetings/forums/etc. inside the SBT Community, members will be able to have frequent contact throughout the month - plus use our resources to develop deeper communication and interaction.

3) Access to both James and me. We have very consistent views on how to build and run successful IT companies. And we each have deeper knowledge in certain topics. So no matter what you're looking for, you rely on two coaches in a addition to your peer group. This also means what you can request one-to-one meetings with either of us.

Whatever you need to address a specific challenge - peers, resources, or coaching - you'll find it in the Small Biz Thoughts Peer Groups by Kernan Consulting.

Who Can Join?

Membership is limited to members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. 

Luckily, that's a great community at any time. Starting at just $799/year, it's the best deal of any community built for IT consultants. Contents include ALL the best-selling books on managed services, plus a massive  collection of downloads, checklists, calculators, videos, books, and more - PLUS a free 5-week course of your choice.

Space is LIMITED and, unfortunately, we cannot accept everyone who applies.

Groups will be formed so that members do not compete in the same metro areas. James starts with a waitlist. When there are at least eight people signed up for a group, he will arrange the first group meeting. Ideally, groups will be 10-12 in size. This provides for a good working environment even if attendance is less than 100%.

James and I will be talking more about this, but you can get started today by signing up at: https://kernanconsulting.com/millionaire-mastermind-peer-groups/.

Note a SBT Community Member? Join today at https://smallbizthoughts.org/.

:-)

The Worst Technical Mistake I Ever Made

The Worst Technical Mistake I Ever Made 

- Lessons Learned, Episode 24

We've all made mistakes. It's part of learning. But some mistakes are bigger than others. Luckily for me, my biggest technical mistake did not cause a client to lose everything, or for me to lose a client.

There is a bit of "humble brag" here as well. But that doesn't diminish the absolute stupidity of what I did.

The scenario: The client had a server with a RAID-5 array and we got an alert that a drive had failed. The server worked "fine" with one failed drive, just a bit slower than normal. We did not have a spare because they were about $300 at the time, and the drives were not hot-swap.

We ordered a drive to be shipped overnight and developed a plan.

Our plan was pretty standard.

1. Verify that the backup is good. A full restore would take a long time and was not optimal, but we can't start a process that might lose data until we know we have a known good backup.

2. Take the backup out of rotation until we have two new post-replacement backups. Just to be super safe.

3. Power down the server.

4. Install the new drive and verify that an array rebuild is working.

What happened.

The backup was good. We informed the client of the process and then powered down the server. I removed the old drive.

When I went to install the new drive, it did not slide in easily. I wiggled it a bit and then gave it a good push.

That's when the world went into slow motion as I saw a small "something" fly by. It was metal. I removed the drive and discovered that I had sheared the top off of a tiny capacitor on the drive circuit board.

Freeze. Panic. 

Options:

1) Client has at least one more day of living-on-the-edge with degraded performance.

2) Begin the restore from backup, which would also involve an immediate day of unplanned downtime.

3) Fix that drive so they can be up while we wait for the replacement.

In all cases, I just ate the cost of the drive.

Relax. Focus. Succeed. I took a walk around the block. That's when I realized that I'd soldered thousands of capacitors over the years. I can fix this.

I went to an electronics store and bought a replacement capacitor, a soldering iron, and some solder.

Of course, I had to come clean to the client. My contact (John, the operations manager) was a great guy, and fairly technical. He thought I might be insane, but agreed to assist.

John held the light as I un-soldered the remnants of the capacitor and then soldered the new one in place. We made sure everything on the circuit board was nice a flat and installed the drive.

The array started rebuilding immediately and I ordered another replacement.

The aftermath.

First, as I said, I have lots of electronics background and experience. And I did take that drive home and use it in my systems. But I don't have so much skill that I could say with certainty that I hadn't over-heated something with my non-robotic soldering. 

I believed it was not right to install a "fixed" drive when the client bought a brand new one. So I ate that cost. (The fixed drive worked fine for three years and then got rotated out of existence.)

Second, as soon as the drive array was rebuilt, we took two good backups before we broke the array and replaced the new-but-fixed drive. That caused additional downtime. After the array rebuilt again, and we had a verified backup, I considered the incident closed.

Third, I wanted the billing to be fair. I charged for the one hour I had estimated. All other time was essentially rework or fixing my mistake. I charged the client for one drive, but not for two. I did write lengthy notes in the ticket explaining everything. I'm sure no one but John understood them.

We had a great reputation with the client, and this was a minor annoyance for them. Luckily, they had two isolated networks. One ran the part of the company that provided services to clients and brought in all the money. The one with downtime was only used by five people in the office. They had significant downtime, but no revenue was lost.

I consider this my worst technical mistake ever because it was 100% my fault. I did it. I could have avoided it. I felt completely helpless. I will never forget how I was filled with terror when I saw the top of that capacitor fly off the drive. 

It was truly and objectively a stupid thing to do.

And it was completely avoidable. One of my absolutely unbreakable rules of service delivery is Slow Down, Get More Done. If I had taken just thirty more seconds, I would have avoided all of this drama, downtime, and expense. I had a rock solid plan. And my impatience broke the plan.

It's hard to use an incident like this to fix a process. But we did. Now, when we install equipment that slides in, we first verify that everything is in place and that the equipment slides easily with no parts sticking up. I don't think I've ever seen something like this again. But, as they say:

Once bitten, twice shy.

All comments welcome.

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Episode 24

This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/p/lessons-learned-blog-series.html

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