Session 301Beyond Desktop Support: A Journey from the Deskside to Comprehensive Service

Mike HansonDirector, Technology SupportOptum, Inc.

Hello!

What I’ll Be Talking About . . .

Remote Support – Business Relationships – International Support – Automation – Agile

Centralization – Process Centered Management – Support Alignment - Culture

Remote Support

• A true paradigm shift• “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced

by a new and different way”

• Cultural Challenges• Individual opinion changed as organizational approach to support evolved.

• Leadership Lessons• Changes to how we managed staff. Local vs. Distributed.

• Best Practices• Balancing remote vs. local. Maintaining customer relationships.

Centralized Services

• Process shifts• Focus on core responsibilities. Vertical vs. Horizonal support. Centralized fulfillment and distribution.

Repair function. Administration.

• Cultural Challenges• Losing ‘hands on’ work. Support becomes routine, less challenging.

• Leadership Lessons• Build in flexibility. Moving from generalists to specialists.

• Best Practices• Focused support teams. Huge cost savings due to creation of common inventory (JIT).

International Support

• Process shifts• Offshoring of support teams. Global support ‘follows the sun.’

• Cultural Challenges• Perception that we no longer care about US-based staff. Country-specific cultural issues.

• Leadership Lessons• Changes to how we managed staff. Time zones. Understanding cultural differences.

• Best Practices• Regular communication. Follow up verbal with written.

Support Integration

• Process shift• Integration of all support teams under a single leader. Support is not just customer-facing teams.

• Cultural Challenges• Building relationships between very different types of support teams.

• Leadership Lessons• Rally around common goals.

• Best Practices• Regular communication. Focus on common ground.

Back to the Basics

• Process shift• Walk-up support.

• Cultural Challenges• Financial concerns.

• Leadership Lessons• Selling the customer experience.

• Best Practices• Clearly defined roles & responsibilities.

Innovative Tools

• Process shift• Automation. Shift left / self-help.

• Cultural Challenges• Perception our job is being replaced by machines.

• Leadership Lessons• Beware unintended consequences.

• Best Practices• Clearly communicate strategy to support team. Help them understand the impact to

their role.

PCM (Process Centered Management)

• Process shift• LEAN. Six Sigma. Focus on process improvement

• Cultural Challenges• Helping people understand, ‘how does this effect me?’

• Leadership Lessons• Consistency is key. Communication. Performance management. Establish improvement habits.

• Best Practices• Daily huddles. Visual dashboards. PDCA.

Culture

• Process shift• Changing the focus from volume-based to customer-focused (quality). NPS. Values.

• Cultural Challenges• Changing a culture is hard!

• Leadership Lessons• Regular communication. Success requires buy-in at all levels.

• Best Practices• Keep culture front-and-center. Focus on values during individual and team meetings.

Common Threads

• Process shift• Evolutionary, with the occasional revolutionary.

• Cultural Challenges• Changing a culture is hard!

• Leadership Lessons• Build relationships and collaboration. Consistent messaging.

• Best Practices• Culture is the wrapper for all changes. Communication is vital.