CHAPTER 5 OUTLINE

What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?   Definition:        Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret                         their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their                         environment. Why is this important to the study of OB? Because people’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.
A.    Factors Influencing Perception
1.     Factors that shape and can distort perception (Exhibit 5-1): ·         Perceiver ·         Target ·         Situation 2.     When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver. 3.     The more relevant personal characteristics affecting perception of the perceiver are attitudes, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations. 4.     Characteristics of the target can also affect what is being perceived.  This would include attractiveness, gregariousness, and our tendency to group similar things together.  For example, members of a group with clearly distinguishable features or color are often perceived as alike in other, unrelated characteristics as well. 5.     The context in which we see objects or events also influences our attention.  This could include time, heat, light, or other situational factors.

 

Person Perception: Making Judgments about Others

B.    Attribution Theory  (Exhibit 5-2)
1.   Our perceptions of people differ from our perceptions of inanimate objects. ·         We make inferences about the actions of people that we do not make about inanimate objects. ·         Nonliving objects are subject to the laws of nature. ·         People have beliefs, motives, or intentions. 2.   Our perception and judgment of a person’s actions are influenced by these assumptions.
3.   Attribution theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused. That determination depends largely on three factors: ·         Distinctiveness ·         Consensus ·         Consistency 4.  Clarification of the differences between internal and external causation: ·         Internally caused behaviors are those that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual. ·         Externally caused behavior is seen as resulting from outside causes; that is, the person is seen as having been forced into the behavior by the situation. 5.   Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations. What we want to know is whether the observed behavior is unusual. ·         If it is, the observer is likely to give the behavior an external attribution. ·         If this action is not unusual, it will probably be judged as internal. 6.   Consensus occurs if everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way.  If consensus is high, you would be expected to give an external attribution to the employee’s tardiness, whereas if other employees who took the same route made it to work on time, your conclusion as to causation would be internal. 7.   Consistency in a person’s actions. Does the person respond the same way over time? The more consistent the behavior, the more the observer is inclined to attribute it to internal causes. 8.   Fundamental Attribution Error ·         There is substantial evidence that we have a tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors. ·         There is also a tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors such as ability or effort while putting the blame for failure on external factors such as luck. This is called the “self-serving bias” and suggests that feedback provided to employees will be distorted by recipients. 9.   Are these errors or biases that distort attribution universal across different cultures? While there is no definitive answer there is some preliminary evidence that indicates cultural differences: ·         Korean managers found that, contrary to the self-serving bias, they tended to accept responsibility for group failure. ·         Attribution theory was developed largely based on experiments with Americans and Western Europeans. ·         The Korean study suggests caution in making attribution theory predictions in non-Western societies, especially in countries with strong collectivist traditions.
C.    Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
1.   We use a number of shortcuts when we judge others. An understanding of these shortcuts can be helpful toward recognizing when they can result in significant distortions. 2.   Selective Perception ·         Any characteristic that makes a person, object, or event stand out will increase the probability that it will be perceived. ·         Since we can’t observe everything going on about us, we engage in selective perception. ·         A classic example: a.   Dearborn and Simon performed a perceptual study in which 23 business executives read a comprehensive case describing the organization and activities of a steel company. b.   The results along with other results of the study, led the researchers to conclude that the participants perceived aspects of a situation that were specifically related to the activities and goals of the unit to which they were attached. c.   A group’s perception of organizational activities is selectively altered to align with the vested interests they represent. 3.   Halo Effect ·         The halo effect occurs when we draw a general impression on the basis of a single characteristic: a.   This phenomenon frequently occurs when students appraise their classroom instructor.  b.   Propensity for halo effect to operate is not random.  ·         The reality of the halo effect was confirmed in a classic study. a.   Subjects were given a list of traits such as intelligent, skillful, practical, industrious, determined, and warm, and were asked to evaluate the person to whom those traits applied.  When the word “warm” was substituted with “cold” the subjects changed their evaluation of the person. b.   The experiment showed that subjects were allowing a single trait to influence their overall impression of the person being judged. c.   Research suggests that it is likely to be most extreme when the traits to be perceived are ambiguous in behavioral terms, when the traits have moral overtones, and when the perceiver is judging traits with which he or she has had limited experience.

ECON 201 Discussion Week 2

Graded Discussion Week 2

Please note that if you edit your initial response (Original Post), you will not get credit for the Original Post. The discussions are set up as "Must post first".

You are expected to make your own contribution to the main topic as well as respond with value-added comments to at least two of your classmates as well as to your instructor. Your original post is due Thursday, August 29th and your two response posts are due Sunday, September 1st. Your original post should be at least 100 words. You are also required to post value-added responses to at least two classmates. Response posts should also be at least 100 words each.

Go to the internet and find a news article(s) published within the last month that discusses U.S. short-term and long-term economic growth, summarize key points of the article using macroeconomic terminology, and post your response in the Discussions area.
Please note that the goal of this discussion is to read, understand, and discuss recent news using macroeconomic terminology. The article should be from an on-line newspaper or magazine. Materials posted on educational websites, like www.thebalance.com,  www.khanacademy.org , and so on, are not considered news articles even if they were recently updated and contain material related to the discussion topic.
Reflection – the students also should include a paragraph in the initial response in their own words, using macroeconomic terminology, reflecting on specifically what they learned from the assignment and how they think they could apply what they learned in the workplace.

Solved: Sustainability

Sustainability

Authors' Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date of Submission

Sustainability

Introduction

Sustainable university entails universities that contribute positively when it comes to sustainable building societies. Sustainable societies will be achieved through education, researches, and collaborations with people within community and university development. To make proper growth, sustainable universities will focus on global citizen educations. This case means that these universities will focus mainly on offering urgent societal challenges and most importantly, reduction of environmental and social footprints based on university operations.  Higher education can be considered as a potential catalyst for sustainable development for the coming generations (Chugh, Wibowo & Grandhi, 2016). Therefore, the importance of these universities has started to emerge in a more commercialized landscape. Consequently, a lot of people, organizations, and governments believe that universities are the key to a future that is sustainable. Transparency and accountability of information have become critical and increased in demand form stakeholders and business among most societies in Australia. This paper will focus on the role and impacts of a widened access to Australian higher education on a sustainable environment.

Higher Education in Australia in Ensuring Sustainability

The primary role and objective of higher education in Australia are to develop students' knowledge and other vital skills. Other than that, the universities will also have a high impact when it comes to influencing general characters and morals of students.  Australia has focused on increasing resources and attention in her universities with a primary objective of improving the development of students (Holgaard, Hadgraft, Kolmos & Guerra, 2016). Sustainability involves processes and events that will help to meet the needs of currents generations. At the same time, it will help to avoid compromising future generations from achieving their goals and needs. As a result, sustainable universities in Australia have become an essential element and a priority with a primary objective of influencing social, economic, and environmental development.

The widening of Australian higher educations can be considered sustainable for Australian information technology professions rather than information technology professions. When it comes to information technology professions, integration of sustainability into products, technology systems, services, and other processes entails a combination of environment, social and economic factors in consideration to the evaluations designs. For these professions, sustainable development and universities are developments that will ensure different needs have been achieved. Other than that, it also helps in prevention and limiting of current challenges that societies and people in these societies are currently facing.  Information technology plays a vital role in impacting ways in which people and communities provide solutions to the problems that are suffering (Aranda & Jerrard, 2019). This case means that widening of higher education, particularly in Australia offers an easy and a higher chance where the education system is sustainable for information technology professionals.

Typically, information technology is the basis on which secure, reliable, and also sustainable communities will be based on in general. It is one of the most critical elements that leaders in widespread use when it comes to influencing economic, environmental, and most importantly, social developments.   The concept of sustainable environment tends to support social and economic growth that is strong. These developments play a more significant role in influencing how a community operates and how it works towards creating a future that will be reliable and productive. On the other hand, information technology will focus on underlining the role if ensuring protection for natural resources. Social and economic well-being cannot be achieved with measures that will not protect the environment. Therefore, intergenerational solidarity will also play a significant role. All development that will be made need to consider the impacts they have particularly on the opportunities for future generations.

University education in Australia has undergone different government initiatives. These initiatives focus on providing funding to integrate corporate social responsibility problems. This case means that they help in training professionals that have a strong ethical sense, social values. It also helps to increase concern for the repercussion that is related to daily societal and people's needs.

Investigate previous attempts to regulate entry standards to professional university degrees in Australia and their eventual impact.

In the 1980s and 1990s, universities in Australia were considered as an object that could be used in minimizing state interventions. These reforms were mainly characterized and based by a gradual decline in consideration to the number of students and most importantly, the country's founding. This case resulted in a more competitive environment, where university investments to increase their competitive advantage.  Academics, on the other hand, focused mainly on the role and importance of people's competitiveness in consideration of the global market. The consequences of this view were an increase in demand and search for profits that were more than just changes in climate and sustainability of the environment.

In the past few years, a consensus has played a significant role in showing that universities need to focus on a critical role in social responsibility. To achieve this objective, there was a need to incorporate corporate social responsibility principles into Australia's strategies, visions, and most critical missions. The primary purpose of reforms in these universities was to response to neoliberalism and focused on social issues and challenges that were experienced by most societies in the country (Coupland & Boyle, 2016). Theorem, the government in Australia has focused mainly on the creation and making personal investments efforts, particularly in higher educations and focus primarily on areas that will help to create a sustainable environment. As a result, universities are expanding in consideration to their sphere of actions. This case has allowed the universities in Australia to focus on the concept of sustainable development in account of the daily reality of life in the universities.

The value that universities transmit plays a significant impact on influencing information technology professional development. The role of these universities is to change and improve the perception of students in dealing with challenges that are currently facing most people and communities. Other than that, universities help students to enhance understanding of the role that IT has when it comes to the daily lives of people and general operations of the country. It will be achieved by creating a sense of social responsibilities among students and other people. The goal of social responsibilities is to seek ways in which it can alleviate impacts that are adverse to the natural world and the environment (Hay, Mercer, Lichtwark et. al, 20170. These impacts are related to people. In social responsibilities, students in these universities are encouraged to engage directly in dealing with problems that most societies are facing. This case will be achieved through adaption to productions and consumption system in a way that helps in the reduction of ecological impacts.

Widening access to university higher educations is thus an effective way in which students will be encouraged to engage in improving the environment and most important focus on the preservation of resources. These goals will, therefore, create a sustainable environment and societies where future generations could depend on in general. It means that these initiatives will focus mainly on the creation of a sustainable environment, particularly for IT professionals (Griswold, 2017). Typically, information technology has become one of the essential elements in solving social problems. IT is also used as a way to provide solutions for most of these problems, thus creating an environment that is productive and reliable in general.

Widening the education system is a way in which students are urged to take environment to heart. Therefore, this system of education is a way in which environmental issues will be addressed in most of the courses offered by these organizations. This case helps in the disclosure of information that is related to social responsibilities in each of these courses (George, Howard-Grenville, Joshi & Tihanyi, 2016). It also helps in the demonstration of student commitments to the environment in general.  As a result, the widening of Australian higher educations has allowed most of them to integrate social responsibility as an essential concept when it comes to promoting sustainability, particularly in the IT sector. Integration of social responsibilities is also engaged in strategic planning in most of the universities. It is achieved through setting specific objectives and most importantly, the development of long term initiatives in considerations to matter that is directly related to social responsibilities.

To focus on suitable IT professionals, higher education takes into consideration matters that are essential in addressing social, economic, and environmental consequences of the operations and goals. Universities also focus on communicating targeted actions in different fields that will help to increased productivity and contribute positively to solving most of the societal issues. Therefore, students, in this case, will be able to identify and address stakeholders' expectations effectively. It allows the creation of mechanisms that will help in improving and using information technology to solve challenges that people and most societies are currently facing.

Compare these with policy measures enacted in other countries and assess the desirability of their application to the engineering or information technology professions in Australia.

Information technology continues to become one of an essential element when it comes to operating organizations and providing solutions to problems that people are currently facing. Therefore, most states, not only in Australia, are considering and focusing on IT, are one of the best and most reliable ways where sustainability will be created (Low, Butler-Henderson & Nash, 2018). Therefore, most states have focused on the integration of information technology particularly in the education system with the hope that they will improve general performance and productivity of students particularly when it comes to influencing performance and contributing positively to the success of their societies.

Currently, there are a lot of challenges that people and communities are facing. Therefore, education provides the best and most effective in which professions could be brought up to deal with most of these issues. This case has allowed effectiveness and reliability in ensuring that most of the organizations and states will be able to solve challenges that societies are facing.  To increase the outcomes, widening of the education system in most of these countries has become the best and easy way to ensure effectiveness. The desire is to increase the number of students that will help and focus on problem-solving (Whiteford, Cairnduff, O'Donnell, Cavanagh et. al, 2017). This case allows efficiency in creating awareness, and an increasing number of people and professionals that will focus on the use of information technology to ensure the efficacy and most important solve most of the problems and issue societies are facing.

Information, its transparency, and its use in decision making help in providing effective and reliable measures that will be critical and productive in solving problems that communities are currently facing. Widening of higher education in most of the states has resulted quickly in accountability is facilitated. It results in enhanced communication and an increase in access to information for use in solving challenges.  It is a process that students learn to act and behave ethically with the use of knowledge society on social responsibilities issues. Students can relate problems that communities are facing and through focusing on suitability strategies from these universities, providing solutions through information technology become reliable, productive, and easy to achieve in general. The goal is to create an understanding of how IT can be used to solve societal problems and come out with valid and reliable outcomes in general.

Australian universities are highly active in matters that focus on the integration of information technology. This case means that they are committed in the use of this information to ensure that challenges that societies are facing will be addressed in the best and productive way.  This way helps to confer a legitimacy that is more improved in considerations to the actions and creation of an advantage to creating a competitive and productive society.

The use of IT in Australia` has a more significant influence on almost all areas related to the daily lives of people.  Information technology has, therefore, become critical in the creation of conditions and in making decisions that will create significant and useful societies. Widening of the Australian higher education has consequently allowed effectiveness in suitable IT professions. These professions help to cater to the needs of organizations, people, and general operation of the country.  The outcomes are improved ways in which solutions to different problems will be provided for in general. Information technology helps to make decisions and predict outcomes.  The prediction will thus be used as a way to avoid or improve situations depending on their findings, thus resulting in societies that are sustained and those that are effective and productive.

Higher education in Australia allows most of the universities to operate in environments that are characterized by central government control in a high degree. This case helps these organizations to plan and determine findings thus involved in setting goals and most importantly developing tuition policies. The outcomes are an easy way in which regulatory controls are established, which can either be directly or indirectly, thus influencing the whole educational system in the country (Norton, Cherastidtham & Mackey, 2016). Therefore, the educational system in this country has allowed for sustainable impacts form Australian information technology professions. Therefore, the outcomes are increased ways in which most of the problems that societies are facing will be solved.

Assess the sustainability implications of lower entry standards to the engineering and information technology professions from the perspective of one of the following: civil engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, structural engineering, or information technology

A widening Australian university has forced the university to make use of lower entry standards to information technology. The goals are to provide more chances and easy way in which more students can directly get admitted to these universities. It increases the probability of ensuring sustainability and overall outcomes when it comes to problem-solving (To, Lee & Lam, 2018). To create a sustainable way or problem-solving, increasing number and ways in which solutions will be provided is thus an essential and critical way for most of these organizations to focus on in general. Therefore, a sustainable implication when it comes to lower entry standards of information technology has been enormous. This case means that more students will be able to enter quickly to the universities. This case will increase the number of professionals that will help to provide solutions for most of the social problems. This case has contributed to improved general performance and impacts of IT professionals when it comes to delivering solutions and catering for issues that societies are facing.

Other than that, this case has allowed Australia to subscribe to different international declarations that focuses on promoting training and research in considerations to matters that are directly related to SR in most of the universities.  Lowering entry standards in account to sustainable implications tend to allow effectiveness when it comes to individual projects that will help in addressing sustainability. It does not take a systematic view that relates to learning and changes throughout these learning institutions. The goal is achieved through the government's acknowledgment for the need and essence of integrating sustainability to the education systems. Therefore, it has helped to make an Australian education system that allows students to understand and develop the required skills when it comes to achieving sustainability.

To achieve these goals and objectives, it has become critical for these organizations, and through government, efforts to focus on reducing entry standards in consideration of information technology. It helps in increasing the number of student in matters that focus on information technology result in an improved outcome when it comes to solving problems. To achieve this objective, reducing entry-level has, therefore played a significant role in impacting performance. It will also affect the way in which solutions could be provided to most of the problems. The government of Australia has also focused on the approval of the Australian National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability (Muñoz & Dimov, 2015). The primary objective of this plan is to support institutional changes in whole through integration of information system. The outcome is that universities in the country have become very competitive in offering chances for international students to learn and make changes to their societies in general.  In most cases, an increase in the use of sustainability reports by most of these higher educational organizations has become an ever-growing symbol required by most organizations. This case will ensure and improve accountability and transparency in solving problems.

Organizations, people, and the entire country need to focus mainly on gaining legitimacy for the actions, thus aligning activities and perception of what is required by a sustainable community. Therefore, Australia has become a critical state that focuses on the application and implementation of information technology in education for over a decade. This case has forced most of these higher education organizations to consider lowering entry standards of information technology with the aim of an increasing number of students. The increased amount will help to cater and prevents problems that societies are facing through the use of information technology strategies and methods of problem-solving (Mansi & Pandey, 2016).  By allowing this, more professions will come from these universities. This case means that it will be useful and reliable to ensure that most of the challenges and issues that communities are facing will be catered for in the right and most effective method.

Sustainability implications have therefore increased the need for the government to focus on the way that it will increase IT use and professionals, particularly in solving issues within societies. Lowering the entry standard for information technology in these universities have, therefore helped to ensure an increase in the number of students. These students are expected to contribute positively when it comes to problems solving and particularly in assisting societies in understanding what is required from them and the role that information technology has in ensuring effectiveness and solving most of the issues. Demand for sustainable development in most societies has increased the interest of higher educational institutions to focus on social commitment, particularly in the IT sector. The goal of these universities is to improve the quality and quantity of social responsibilities regarding information technology.

Conclusion

Widening of access regarding the Australian higher educations is sustainable for the Australian information technology professions. Information technology as an essential role in promoting societies that will ensure people live in the best way possible. The use of information technology ensures effectiveness and increased productivity in developing communities that can solve most issues and problems experienced by people. To achieve this objective, universities in Australia have considered widening their access, thus improving people understanding of the role and impacts of information technology on the general performance of these societies. Courses offered in these universities have focused on the integration of information technology as a way to problem-solving and a way in which a sustainable country will be achieved. Sustainability will, therefore, involve the ability to understand and develop strategies for problem-solving. Therefore, students can easily make use of IT in their daily lives and professions a way that helps to come up with solutions to societal challenges. Thus, this widening of higher education access in the country has promoted sustainability, particularly among professionals in the It sector.

References

Aranda, A. S. D., & Jerrard, M. A. (2019). A Comparison Between Australia and Chile of Factors Facing Women Engineers and ICT Professionals in Their Careers. In Gender Gaps and the Social Inclusion Movement in ICT (pp. 1-23). IGI Global.

Chugh, R., Wibowo, S., & Grandhi, S. (2016). Environmentally sustainable information and communication technology usage: Awareness and practices of indian information and communication technology professionals. Journal of cleaner production, 131, 435-446.

Coupland, C., & Boyle, M. (2016). 7. Professions under pressure: voices from the field. Perspectives on Contemporary Professional Work: Challenges and Experiences, 123.

George, G., Howard-Grenville, J., Joshi, A., & Tihanyi, L. (2016). Understanding and tackling societal grand challenges through management research. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 1880-1895.

Griswold, W. (2017). Creating sustainable societies: developing emerging professionals through transforming current mindsets. Studies in Continuing Education, 39(3), 286-302.

Hay, M., Mercer, A. M., Lichtwark, I., Tran, S., Hodgson, W. C., Aretz, H. T., ... & Gorman, D. (2017). Selecting for a sustainable workforce to meet the future healthcare needs of rural communities in Australia. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 22(2), 533-551.

Holgaard, J. E., Hadgraft, R., Kolmos, A., & Guerra, A. (2016). Strategies for education for sustainable development–Danish and Australian perspectives. Journal of cleaner production, 112, 3479-3491.

Low, S., Butler-Henderson, K., & Nash, R. (2018). Future-proof and sustainable health professionals for the 21st century: Applying transversal competencies to workforce development and learning pedagogy. In SHAPE Symposium 2018: Facing the future: energising and shaping healthcare (p. 2).

Mansi, M., & Pandey, R. (2016). Impact of demographic characteristics of procurement professionals on sustainable procurement practices: Evidence from Australia. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 22(1), 31-40.

Muñoz, P., & Dimov, D. (2015). The call of the whole in understanding the development of sustainable ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(4), 632-654.

Norton, A., Cherastidtham, I., & Mackey, W. (2016). Mapping Australian higher education 2016.Stevenson, R. B., Lasen, M., Ferreira, J. A., & Davis, J. (2017). Approaches to embedding sustainability in teacher education: A synthesis of the literature. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 405-417.

To, W. M., Lee, P. K., & Lam, K. H. (2018). Building professionals' intention to use smart and sustainable building technologies–An empirical study. PloS one, 13(8), e0201625.

Whiteford, G., Cairnduff, A., O'Donnell, C., Cavanagh, J., Tregale, R., & Stoddart, J. (2017). Building bridges: The story behind Australia's largest widening participation collaboration. In Bridges, Pathways and Transitions (pp. 33-53). Chandos Publishing.

Solved: Troubleshooting Theory - 6 steps of troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Theory

Lesson overview.

In this lesson, we will cover:

●        The importance of having a methodology.

●        Six-step troubleshooting methodology.

The importance of having a methodology.

Having a troubleshooting methodology is important, especially in the IT arena. I like this quote by Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam, "My methodology is not knowing what I'm doing and making that work for me." While this is a great quote, not everybody can do this, especially in the technology world.

Due to the complexity of modern computing systems, a wise technician will have and follow a troubleshooting methodology. A formal methodology gives the technician a starting place and a logical sequence of steps to follow. If you do not have a methodology in place, you are much more likely to waste time and effort and create frustration—not only for yourself but also for your end user.

Six-step troubleshooting methodology.

CompTIA recommends using a six-step troubleshooting methodology. The first step in their methodology is to identify the problem. Step two is to establish a theory of probable cause. The third step is to test that theory of probable cause. Step four is to develop an action plan and implement that plan. The fifth step is to verify complete system functionality. And step six is to document the process. In the section below, each of these steps is covered in more detail.

The six steps of troubleshooting.

1. Identify the problem.

The first thing that you need to be aware of when troubleshooting a problem is that the symptoms are not the problem. When troubleshooting, it is critical that you actually identify the underlying problem—what’s actually causing the symptoms to manifest themselves. To do that, you should question the user. Ask detailed questions about when the symptoms occurred and why they may have occurred. If the user can re-create the issue for you, this can be extremely helpful. Determine what, if anything, has changed, which may have caused the problem. Importantly, before you take any action, make a backup copy of the system, so that you can preserve everything as it is.

Highlights:

●        Question the user.

●        Remember that the symptoms are not the underlying problem.

●        Determine what has changed.

●        Make a backup of the system before moving on.

2. Establish a theory of probable cause.

Once you have identified the base problem that is causing the symptoms, you will establish a list of probable causes. Once you have a list of all of the probable causes, use your technical knowledge to prioritize that list. Your list should have the probable causes listed from most likely to least likely. Incidentally, be sure to question the obvious. For instance, if the symptom is a power situation at the workstation, is the power cord plugged in and, if it is plugged in, is the outlet actually getting power? Additionally, if no probable cause can be determined, you will need to escalate the problem to a higher level.

Highlights:

●        Make a list of probable causes.

●        Using your knowledge, prioritize the list.

●        Question the obvious (i.e., if the symptom is a power issue at the workstation, first check to make sure that the power cord is plugged in).

●        Escalate to a higher level if a probable cause cannot be determined.

3. Test probable cause theory to determine actual cause.

Once you have established your theory of probable cause, you should take a moment to consider whether or not you can troubleshoot the issue on your own, or if escalating it to a higher authority is called for. If it falls within your capabilities, you will need to test your theory to determine if it is, indeed, the actual cause. Your theory was created from the most likely probable cause, so you need to determine how best to test it. If your theory is confirmed, you will move on to the next step. If the theory is disproved, you will need to go back to step two or step one, as needed, and work your way through the troubleshooting methodology.

Highlights:

●        Create your theory from the most likely probable cause.

●        If the theory is confirmed, move on to the next step.

●        If the theory is not confirmed, go back to step two or step one (if needed).

4. Establish an action plan and execute the plan.

Once you have determined the actual cause by testing your probable cause, you will need to establish an action plan and then execute that plan. Simple problems will probably only need simple plans. However, if it is a complex problem, you may need to write out the plan so that you can be sure to execute it correctly. This is another opportunity to escalate the problem to a more senior level if necessary.

Highlights:

●        Simple problems probably just need simple plans.

●        Complex problems may need written out action plans.

●        Escalate to a higher level if required.

5. Verify full system functionality.

After you have executed your plan, you will need to verify that the system is fully functional. If everything works—that’s great. Based on your findings and the issue, you may find that you have the opportunity to implement preventative measures so that the problem does not occur again. If full system functionality has not occurred, you will need to go back to step one and continue to work through the troubleshooting methodology.

Highlights:

●        If everything works, great! If applicable, use your findings to implement preventative measures.

●        If not everything works, go back to step one.

6. Document the process.

Once everything is fully functional, documenting the process becomes important. This is where you document findings, actions, and outcomes. When the problem occurs again, there will be information available to walk someone through the means of troubleshooting and resolving the issue.

This documentation also captures a history of equipment and users so that perpetual issues become known and recorded. An important aspect of this is that both positive and negative outcomes should be documented. This can save time during future troubleshooting and prevent others from taking the same missteps you may have taken.

Highlights:

●        Capture your findings, actions, and outcomes.

●        Issues that need to be troubleshot may occur again.

●        Documentation provides a history of equipment and users so that problem issues are known.

What was covered.

The importance of having a methodology.

A methodology gives a systematic approach to solving IT problems. It reduces wasted time and frustration for both the technician and the end user.

Six-step troubleshooting methodology.

Identify the problem; establish theory of probable cause; test the theory; establish a plan of action and implement it; verify system functionality; and document everything.