TravisDBA (5/2/2013)
joe.eager (5/2/2013)
People skills do not have to mean being a good socializer and spending a lot of time chatting.Joe,
I don't think most of us are saying that at all. People tend to confuse statements like "No, you cannot do that on the database.." as being uncooperative and not having people skills, and they are two different things. This is not Burger King, you cannot get it your way all the time. That is a part of being a DBA. We have to enforce rules and perimeters. It's part of our job, whether people like it or not, and usually they don't . However, as a result of this, people tend to confuse not getting their way alot with the other person not having "people skills". 😀
I agree that some people can take it that way. For those people I would probably approach it like "That's not possible, due to <insert justifications>. "
I've found that if people are given explanations at a level they understand they tend not to view us as uncooperative. Granted there are always those that will be babies about not getting their way but a tailored message seems to work wonders on many people. It's like I prefer a handwritten christmas card over a boiler plate one.