Troubleshooting Pitfalls to Avoid

You've gained a lot of great foundational troubleshooting skills. But there are some common pitfalls that you should try to avoid in order to be at the top of your troubleshooting game. As an IT support specialist, you'll sometimes encounter the same issue over and over again. Before the next issue comes in, you may find yourself using your muscle memory to fix the issue. Pitfall number 1, going into autopilot. Makes sure you don't default to autopilot mode. Moving through issues out of habit without careful thought more often than not, they're small variables that change the problem you're seeing entirely. Ask questions and gather data so you can fully understand an issue. This takes less time than having to redo some sloppy work you did in autopilot mode. Pitfall number 2, not finding the root cause. It's very easy to get distracted by small problems that pop up but it's super important to remember there's probably a very big problem causing all these small problems. Spend a little extra time investigating the issue instead of trying to fix all the small holes. If you're trying to do a quick fix, it's tempting to wipe the system and start from scratch. This approach is like using a hammer when a surgical scalpel might be more appropriate tool. Let's say user isn't able to access a particular website, re-inventing the system isn't a great solve. It doesn't get to the root cause and it doesn't help further your knowledge investigating the problem but testing out possible issues and solutions incrementally and identifying the root cause can end up saving a lot of time and effort in the end and it feels really empowering as an IT support specialist. With that, you'll be able to go out in the real world and use your new skills to methodically troubleshoot an issue.
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