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<\/p>\nPicture the scene.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re a top private investigator with one of the best reputations in the industry for hunting down criminals and solving mysteries of all kinds. You solve 99.99% of your cases, and there\u2019s a very long list of people who have hired you for your services and been delighted with the results.<\/p>\n
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You\u2019re sitting at your office desk catching up on some paperwork, blinds down, dust motes drifting peacefully through the air. Suddenly the phone rings.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s the local police, and they need your help investigating a new, very urgent identity theft case. The family involved is highly influential and there\u2019s a lot at stake. You carefully take down all the details and assure them that you\u2019ll begin investigating straight away.<\/p>\n
Although you always have several cases on at any one time, you try to give them all equal importance. Having said that, you understand the time-sensitive nature of the situation and how serious this is to the police, and you start working through the key details. You\u2019re confident you can resolve this, but it will take a little time to investigate.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve been hard at work for half an hour and you\u2019ve made great progress so far. But before you can get any further, the phone rings again.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s the police officer who called you earlier. \u201cHey, how\u2019s the case going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going well,\u201d you reply, \u201cI\u2019m still investigating the finer details, but it looks promising so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
The police officer isn\u2019t convinced. \u201cI can\u2019t even describe to you how important this is. The family is absolutely distraught. They\u2019re calling us constantly, and they\u2019re angry and frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019re used to this kind of urgency and you\u2019ve learned not to take it personally. After all, it\u2019s important that you stay calm even in the most demanding of situations in order to do the best job possible. You\u2019re still frowning down at your notes and scribbling the odd extra question in the margin as you reply, \u201cPlease reassure them that I\u2019m doing the best I can. I know that every minute counts, but I\u2019ve been working on it non-stop as my top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The police officer still sounds just as agitated, and he\u2019s beginning to lose patience. \u201cBut WHEN will it be sorted out? How much time will it take?\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019re still trying to work through the problem at hand, but you put down your pen at this point. Frowning, you reply confusedly, \u201cI have no idea how long it will take. How long does it take to solve a crime?\u201d<\/p>\n
Your question is genuine, but the police officer starts yelling. \u201cDon\u2019t be so flippant! Tell me more about the issue. They want more information. They want to know what\u2019s going on. They want a resolution. They want an ETA!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t give an ETA,\u201d you say. \u201cI literally have no idea how long this will take, or even how I could realistically guess how long it will take. It might be a simple, straightforward case or it might have all kinds of twists and turns. It could be resolved shortly, or it might take a while. We both know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least give me more information,\u201d the officer says. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can really say at this point, and even if there were, it would be technical elements that wouldn\u2019t mean anything to them,\u201d you respond patiently. \u201cI just need to get on with the investigation. By the time I\u2019ve explained where I\u2019ve got to so far, I could have done twice as much work on the actual case. The sooner you let me get on with it, the sooner I can get this resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what exactly am I supposed to tell the family? Their fortune and reputation is at stake here! You\u2019re not helping! Just what kind of service are you providing here? I\u2019m going to have to hire another investigator to get on this case. Our reputation is on the line, and you\u2019re not taking this seriously!\u201d<\/p>\n
You understand that the family is on his back, but all you can think about is getting on with the case at hand. There\u2019s no way you can do any more than you\u2019re currently doing. And at the end of the day, everyone\u2019s end goal is a resolution, regardless of where they are in the chain. \u201cPlease tell the family we\u2019ll update them later, I appreciate that everyone is stressed, but I really need to get on so I can get this resolved as soon as possible,\u201d you reply. Every second counts. The police officer sighs heavily. \u201cI\u2019ll call you in an hour, and you\u2019d better have an ETA by then!\u201d He hangs up.<\/p>\n
The above scenario can be applied to many different areas and roles within the web industry. Whether it\u2019s a coding issue, a hardware problem, a system or network behaving strangely, an essential third party supplier having problems, or one of numerous other things, it often leads to the same question from customers: \u2018What\u2019s the ETA for a fix?\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s a legitimate question, but one which is difficult to answer, and gets more impossible the more complex the problem is. It could be fixed in the next two minutes. Or the next hour. But 99% of the time it\u2019s impossible to say until it\u2019s actually resolved (and by then all anyone cares about is that it\u2019s fixed).<\/p>\n You don\u2019t want to pluck a number out of the air because it\u2019s almost definitely going to be entirely wrong. You don\u2019t want to mislead your customers. You also want to communicate that you\u2019re doing everything within your power \u2013 and usually lots of other people\u2019s power, too \u2013 to reach a satisfactory resolution quickly. But this is often difficult to get across, particularly when emotions are running high. You don\u2019t want to interrupt the \u2018investigators\u2019, because you know it will delay progression and put even more pressure on an already difficult situation, but it\u2019s also challenging and stressful to have unhappy customers.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the answer? If we knew, we\u2019d probably be trillionaires. But there are ways to mitigate the situation, and to mitigate the situation for customers, and customers’ customers, and so on down the chain, by remembering the following:<\/p>\n 1. Keeping calm is the most productive thing you can do right now<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyone involved in the situation is doing the best they can, and working as hard as they can. It\u2019s already a high pressure situation, and getting angry or upset doesn\u2019t resolve anything any more quickly; in fact, it tends to create more problems. Trust us, we know!<\/p>\n A linked issue here is feeling helpless. Just take a minute away from your screen and your phone to take a deep breath and do something you enjoy or that will distract, for example making a coffee, creating a playlist, or stretching your legs.<\/p>\n 2. Everyone\u2019s in the same boat<\/strong><\/p>\n No one wants anyone to be unhappy, and everyone is wholeheartedly after the same outcome: a fast, practical resolution. Everyone cares just as much as you do, if not more. Issues aren\u2019t fun for anyone anywhere in the chain, and they cost everyone time and money. We hate you being stressed, your customers being stressed, and our teams being stressed. It\u2019s not a situation we ever prolong in any way, and we utilise maximum resources to make sure issues are resolved as quickly as possible. Check out What happens during downtime?<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/case-of-the-missing-etas5.jpg\")
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