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7 ways to improve your service desk www.acora.com
7 ways to improve your service desk
www.acora.com
Acora - head office:Acora House, Albert Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TN T: +44 (0) 844 264 2222 E: [email protected]
IntroductionThe continued consumerisation of technology means users are more demanding than ever and there are usually multiple devices per user to support, including their own. So whilst these challenges are not new, the nature of the issues and the focus of the service desk is changing.
Challenge 1Reduce call volumesIt’s always Catch 22. You’re so busy handling calls that it’s hard to find spare resource to focus on improvement projects.
The key is to understand the nature and volume of demands in order to prioritise improvement projects that will have the most impact.
Are the phones ringing because there are technical problems and failures within the infrastructure? In which case, IT (not just the Service Desk) must work to eliminate the cause of this demand. Are users requesting some kind of information or data to enable them to do their job? Then perhaps the service desk can look to divert demand to self-service tools, peer support tools and/
or its knowledge bank – if it has one! Are users requesting something new from IT to enable them to work more effectively? These are the types of requests that the Service Desk should try to focus on, as they will really help to drive the business forward.
The first step to all this? Are you able to extract a report that can insightfully breakdown the nature and volume of the different demands?
Challenge 2Find and keep the best staffThis has and always will remain the number one challenge. Retaining high performing, motivated staff will implicitly tackle all other challenges.A low performing, de-motivated workforce that’s always churning can take the Service Desk backwards. Your budget, time and focus will be drained into constantly recruiting, re-training and managing staff.
Therefore, it’s important that IT support managers take a strategic approach to the acquisition and retention of good staff.
Acora - head office:Acora House, Albert Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TN T: +44 (0) 844 264 2222 E: [email protected]
Recruitment: It’s easier to train technical skills than soft skills. Good Service Desk staff are those who can demonstrate empathy, responsibility, good communication, team-work and a problem solving attitude. Technical skills are important, but as technology changes analysts’ skills will have to adapt, and you could question how much of this knowledge could be taught.
Retention: A competitive salary and benefits might seem obvious to retaining good staff, but what’s really powerful are the intrinsic factors of purpose, support, autonomy and a clear development path.Finding and managing staff takes time and investment and our flexible on-site support model is a strategic choice many of our clients take to assist with this.
Challenge 3Use the right tools in the right wayMany Service Desks will be faced with shortcomingsin the capability of their existing technology. Notenough time, budget and/or resource to dedicateto Service Desk tool upgrades or optimisation andconfiguration projects are common complaints. Yet,technology (like in the business as a whole), is keyto bringing order to chaos.
It can enable automation of manual processeswhich can both free up Service Desk resource tofocus on improvement projects and improve end user satisfaction levels. There’s no magic answer (ormagic vendor for that matter). It’s about adoptinga structured approach and regular review of howService Desk software is used, how it can beimproved and whether it’s actually fit-for-purpose.
Acora - head office:Acora House, Albert Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TN T: +44 (0) 844 264 2222 E: [email protected]
Challenge 4Improve first time fixIn general, a high first time fix rate indicates a strong performance. However, there’s always a healthy debate between the Service Desk and the business about its relevance. There are always so many interpretations of the measurement and many external factors that can affect it.
However, if you take the perspective that what ismanaged can be managed, first time fix is a goodindicator that can provide insights to a ServiceDesk Manager as to how things can be handledbetter. It’s by studying its profile and questioning itsvariance that can help prioritise action.
First time fix is also so closely matched to customer satisfaction that it should remain a high priority metric for the Service Desk. Users expect quick fixes to their problems.
Challenge 5Operate in line with the businessThe majority of businesses rely on technology to help deliver competitive advantage. Service Desks need to support users’ demands of today and anticipate their needs of tomorrow.
In supporting today’s demands, IT support priority matrices need to closely align with the commercial drivers of the business and adapt with them. That way, activity on the Service Desk will have the greatest impact. This appreciation will also help develop the business case for any IT investments too.
It’s also important to be proactive in gaining that forward view of demand, by engaging with business managers (and C-level executives) regularly to understand their plans and what they will need to deliver them, and encourage them to actively communicate with the Service Desk too.
Challenge 6Facilitate peer support Today’s IT savvy users are a huge pool of potential resource that could help divert demand away from the Service Desk and reduce call volumes.
The first step is to ensure there is the right platform for expert IT users to display their knowledge in a controlled manner. This is achieved by utilising the collaboration elements that many ITSM tools are now offering. That way the Service Desk can monitor information exchange and step in where necessary. However, the key challenge is encouraging and leveraging the knowledge of users for corporate wide benefit, perhaps through incentivisation and recognition strategies; the other challenge being how to measure this emerging area of IT support. As an aside, the current generation of users are much more familiar with IT terminology.
If the Service Desk (and IT) can effectively communicate various IT projects going on ‘behind-the-scenes’ they may be able to use peer support mechanisms to spread the message, so users have more of an understanding of what’s going on and the benefits that the project might ultimately provide.
Challenge 7 Increase end-user satisfactionWith more sophisticated experiences of support in the consumer world, users’ expectations from IT at their place of work are a moving target.
The Service Desk is the face of IT as far as the user is concerned. If its performance stays still against this back-drop, satisfaction levels will drop. Users will be tempted to use their own technology and software, not sanctioned by corporate IT. Risks will increase (no one wants a Sony hacking scandal – well unless you’ve got a big film to release, that is) and IT budgets may start to transfer to other areas of the business.
A quick and effective response to issues is the minimum users expect. What’s important when conducting (the regular and easy to input) customer satisfaction surveys, is that the Service Desk is also able to extract insights as to what users want from IT. From there, improvement projects can be prioritised to drive up satisfaction and increase the overall perception of IT.
Acora - head office:Acora House, Albert Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TN T: +44 (0) 844 264 2222 E: [email protected]
If you’re considering using a managed service provider to help deliver end-user support, why not contact Acora for more infomation. We’re happy to help.
[email protected] 264 2222www.acora.com
About AcoraAcora is a UK-based, award winning IT services and technology partner with over 25 years’ experience. We are ranked amongst the top 50 global managed services suppliers. Financially stable with a strong balance sheet, Acora currently manages contractual revenues of more than £70m and employs over 300 people.
Our vision is to provide the mid-market with an outstanding customer experience through innovation and great people and become the leading provider of IT services within 4 years.
