what to do when tech support is IEI/INFp

[Joy]

She may also have a mild form of an autistic spectrum disorder. I like her and we get along, but needless to say, communication between her and myself has been time consuming and I'm sure frustrating at times for both of us. I absolutely must understand the software in its entirety, and it's extremely complex. None of the programmers have ever actually used it in the field (so its features are not always practical)... and she's the only person who can answer my questions. She's also the one who serves as an intermediary between myself and the programmers (and there's no other way to do it), so when I make suggestions (which they often utilize), she's the one who I have to explain them to... and she explains the program's (and its platform's) limitations to me, often offering suggestions as to ways around those limitations. She's been very accommodating and I really can't complain about anything other than the amount of effort it takes for us to explain things to each other.

Any ideas? I'm primarily looking for ways to improve communication.

[Blaze]

what is your assessment of the main communication problem?

is it Te vs Ni?

[XoX]

Can't you bypass the intermediary or get another person to talk to?

[Joy]

what is your assessment of the main communication problem?

is it Te vs Ni?

I'd like to blame the Te PoLR, but I don't know. I just feel like I'm going in circles with her a lot of the time, like I'm not getting my point across effectively. I've tried taking different approaches but haven't found an approach that works consistently. Also, the help files and her instructions are difficult for me to follow sometimes, especially if I'm not in "hyperfocus" mode.

Sigh... I'm guessing "be more patient" is really the only thing I can do, but that doesn't bear any resemblance to a solution from my perspective.

Can't you bypass the intermediary or get another person to talk to?

She's also the one who serves as an intermediary between myself and the programmers (and there's no other way to do it)

Aside from the fact that I can't, I'm not sure that it would do me much good.

[Blaze]

joy i would ask questions of the IEI rather than try to get your point across.

eg: What do I have to do next? What does this mean? What does this lead me to? Why is this important? How will it help me to do it this way?

i have no idea about computer stuff myself but if i can't understand what people are saying then i just revert to questions and make them explain themselves.

HTH.

[Not A Communist Shill]

Why don't you kill her?

[Joy]

hmm... if it worked it could end up being more efficient I guess, but I'm not sure if I'll always be able to explain the problem in the form of a question. I'll give it a shot.

[Not A Communist Shill]

hmm... if it worked it could end up being more efficient I guess, but I'm not sure if I'll always be able to explain the problem in the form of a question. I'll give it a shot.

Who are you replying to ?

[Joy]

[Birds]

Uh, what seems to be troubling the communication?

[Joy]

We talk in circles.

[Smilingeyes]

Regarding the original question.
You buy the competitor's stock.

[Birds]

We talk in circles.

Like, can you give me an example? What do you mean by talking in circles?

[Gilly]

joy i would ask questions of the IEI rather than try to get your point across.

eg: What do I have to do next? What does this mean? What does this lead me to? Why is this important? How will it help me to do it this way?

Good point. Just tell her exactly what you need to get done; don't tell her anything unrelated or unnecessary for completing the task at hand. She's got her job, her system, her way of doing things; just tell her exactly what she needs to know and nothing else. Get info out of a Te type can be insanely frustrating for a Merry type because we feel like we have to sift through all this irrelevant bullshit that seems to just come flying out of their mouths in order to get the stuff we actually need to know in order to get shit done. Now I'm not saying you're just talking senselessly or are stupid or anything, but you have to realize that sometimes, that's just how it feels. To you, it might feel like babying someone or being rushed or talking to a computer or whatever to have to sort through the information you have and only say the things that fit exactly, no more or less, what is needed, but it's probably the only way you're going to end up making sense to her.

[Joy]

The trouble with buying the competitor's stock is that this company is way better than it's competitors.

Okay, here's how it goes...

I send a message saying, "I need to accomplish _________ with the program. I can't use function A to do it because that requires a and b. I can't use function B, because that requires a, c, and d. I can't use function C because it wouldn't do e, and I need it to. What do you suggest."

She says, "Well, in order to *insert something that I never said I wanted to accomplish here*, you could use function B or D."

I say, "I don't want to *insert whatever she said here*. I want to __________. Function B won't work because it requires a, c, and d. Function D wouldn't do ___________."

She says, "But you could use function D to *insert whatever she said here* by changing the settings of e or f and g."

I repeat my objective, wording it a different way to attempt to clear up misunderstandings.

She suggests another way to accomplish something similar to my objective... except it totally misses the point or is impractical.

I explain why I can't do it that way. I once again repeat my objective, wording it a different way to attempt to clear up misunderstandings.

She suggests using function A or B.

And so on.

[marooned]

Um... can you meet with her in person and demonstrate what it is that you are trying to do, reiterating why what you tried (what she suggested) will not work? I've noticed in general with tech support people that they may have a hard time explaining something if they can't see first hand what the problem is.

[Joy]

No. She's in a different part of the country.

It'll be okay... the last thing I did seemed to work well. I told her every detail of exactly what I wanted the program to do without getting into the objective or reasons why other features won't work or anything like that. I also put together a small demonstration of what it would look like in the end. There wasn't any miscommunication, but it's hard for me to understand why me telling her what I want it to do and how I want it to do it would be more effective than just telling her what kind of result I want. There may be better ways to accomplish that result that I can't think of, especially since I'm unfamiliar with the platform and .NET and that sort of thing.

[marooned]

Are you sure she's IEI?

[Joy]

Nope.

She does the Beta NF thing that my parents do though, and she's definitely IP > EJ as far as I can tell. I had one phone conversation with her, and I've talked to her through email, a forum, and I've read help documentation.

[marooned]

Well, good luck.

[Gilly]

Regarding the original question.
You buy the competitor's stock.