Tact
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- drsawbones
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 154
- Thanks: 0
- Joomla Adict
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For all webmasters, coders, devs, nerds and geeks in general:
And for those learning, frustrated, tired, or rushed to perform magical things on the net.
tact
[takt]
noun
1. a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense; skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations.
2. a keen sense of what is appropriate, tasteful, or aesthetically pleasing; taste; discrimination.
3. touch or the sense of touch.
I spent a bit of time this past week, more than usual in the past year, hanging around Joomla oriented
info sites, forum sites, here at RT...why have I not been all over Joomla like days of old?
Well, for the past year, when I was healthy enough to, strong enough to, mentally prepared enough to - I've been studying android development, ubuntu/linux forums, eclipse, java, basically
geek sites in general. Phisha twitter, facebook, et al...anyways, I see a trend I'd like to comment on and I'll start with a very memorable positive experience.
I remember after DAY1 at Joomla! Day Las Vegas (how many years ago now? 4+yrs?)
4 newly found Joomla addicts sitting around a square table with pints just geeking out.
A man and a woman not far from our table as they were exiting stopped by our table
and announced, "We don't have the slightest idea about what you all have been talking
about, but it is amazing and exciting for us to hear you discussing, what to us, sounds like
you are speaking in tongues. We are simply thrilled to see a group of "young" people being
so deeply immersed, communicating and expressing with pure excitement, over what seems to be
very deep and creative thinking."
I also remember DAY 1 at the Joomla DevCON NYC 2009, literally shaking from nerves
during the ...
"Ask the Joomla DEV team anything"....
long long silence...
I raised my hand and asked,
"why can't Joomla auto update all of it's modules and components and core like "cough"
WordPress....from the backend...an auto update feature?".... long long silence...
and then what felt like a standing ovation from the members in the meeting hall.
I often wonder had I not spoken up at that moment, what course of actions, what shape
the team would have made in their following development strides...I take no credit, however,
whatsoever, other than bringing forth the obvious rockin' feature that I thought Joomla
really needed.
The point I try to make, whether it be a "stupid" client, a "slow" student, a lazy block head,
a significant other, a friend, an enemy .... especially online in printed communication...
Please remember to be "tactful". Otherwise, folks might not discuss, not speak creative
thoughts, not desire to do xya because they have been "bent" by someone without TACT.
It really makes a difference to the greater common good where progress and movement, development and the creative process as a whole is concerned. You don't know
if the person you are responding to has just lost a parent, a child, a job, a client, has been
ill or worse, going through tough times, and need to not be punished for asking perceived
"simple" questions. They need answers, or they wouldn't be poking around looking for
information or worse yet, sticking their necks out and asking for "help".
I'm not talking about "politeness" - that should be an inherent general rule of thumb
while communicating at any level. Tact. Simple sweet TACT goes a long long way.
It's hard for "us" at times to be patient, not feel like OMG that is a really easy xyz they must
be a noob...it's hard to suck those feelings down and be TACTFUL. TACTFULNESS is
truly an ART. Please, let's all try to be masters at practicing the art of tact when helping
one another. A little goes a long way!
Regards,
Doc
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- David Goode
- Preeminent Rocketeer
- Posts: 17058
- Thanks: 890
- Web Designer and Host
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Hi Doc,
Nice post and clearly put across.
The nature of your example implies that it is the responder who needs to be tactful when reacting to a question. Needless to say that tact and diplomacy tend to go hand in hand and can make a formidable partnership when replying to posts.
There is something I would like to add to your information.
Most initial posts are a request for help and we like to think we try and provide that help. If people could just take a couple of extra minutes to provide enough information in their post then we would probably reduce the amount of tact required.
If people could read their own post BEFORE hitting submit and ask themselves - "If I got that post from someone would I have enough details to go and investigate?" - then they would notice they have forgotten to give us a URL to go see the problem, or that they haven't told us which Joomla version etc.
This would help to reduce the frustration for the original poster and the moderators. Some posts will then get answered a bit faster because we don't have to ask for a link and then await a reply before seeing the problem.
It is inevitable that as the club grows and people experience good service their expectations get raised a notch. As problems get more complex and take more investigating people 'feel' that the service levels are dropping and they get irate far quicker than they used to. At times like that it would be good if tact was also considered before the poster starts what they perceive as a justifiable attack on the people trying to help them.
But in summary, we are all human and we will all make mistakes and upset someone sooner or later, so it is nice to take a moment or two to reflect on how we, as individuals, interact with others.
Thanks again for your post.
Please search forums before posting. Please make sure your post includes the version of the CMS you are using and a link to the problem. Annotations on screenshots can also be helpful to explain problems/goals. Please use the "secure" tab for confidential information
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- drsawbones
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 154
- Thanks: 0
- Joomla Adict
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Thanks David and great response!
Hmm, creative mind here.... I've run many forum sites
over the ages....
Has Team RT ever considered when someone creates
a "first post" of a thread or rather a "new topic"
...that they are required - make them complete a
"details" form that would sig the initial question/post?
IE: I go to post a new topic:
I get presented with a small form field of
a) what version of joomla
b) what extension or template - what version of extension
c) what does your topic concern drop down
- [CSS, Error, Learning, Installation, Debugging, How Do I]
Seems like it might save a lot of strain and make the
Q/A process more streamlined...just a thought anyway.
Back On Topic
Yes, I concur that TACT is in the hands of the responder overall
it depends on the nature of the situation being positive or negative
and the response that situation generates to those required to respond.
Hang out and answer posts in the JORG help forums and you'll
catch on quickly to not only learning from other's errors, but how
much one really knows about old Joomla, new Joomla, and
everything in between... and to be tactful without sounding like
a know it all when replying... truly it is an art - or is it a science?
:shock:
Regards,
Doc
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