The IT Skeptic - Comments for "The service desk isn't here right now"

precious

skeptic — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:39:52 +0000

The first call resolution goes to near zero for that time, but overall I dont think service is always seriously degraded. I want a new pc. That can't wait 2 hours to process? Of course it depends on the company and the criticality etc but I think we are way too precious about this.

On a tangent, but I believe there is a real trend towards more support professionals: people who see service desk as a career not a stepping stone to one.

Might be ok but..

RichPem — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:00:38 +0000

It might be ok to do it on a weekday - depends on the business' tolerance for service degradation, and the risk of course is if they can tolerate it for one day you'll lose every future resource argument.

I don't think this is an issue reserved for service desks; all service environments suffer from it and it's a challenge that probably doesn't have a single solution. Pre- or post-shift team meetings can work, scheduled out of hours events (doesn't need to be away days, could simply be a meeting in a pub followed by a social). July/August presents not altogether unrelated challenges.

Where there is call for whole days out, such as for training, you can do this in two batches and supplement the service desk with 2nd/3rd line peeps. It's a practice I always felt had great value in terms of reminding the 2nd/3rd liners about customer focus, and indeed demonstrating just what a skill dealing with users at first line actually is.

I think the underlying issue we still need to address is an undervaluing of the role of the service desk and the people operating it. To me it's the one place you can daily influence the perception of your users and customers, and yet because it's often a relatively early stop on people's careers it's looked down upon. Millions are spent on PR every year, and yet...

weekend retreat

skeptic — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:24:00 +0000

A weekend retreat may work occasionally but of course

it's expensive
it ought to be optional, which defeats the whole purpose
as a work-life balancer I won't tell you what I think of employers who help themselves to my weekends
it isn't going to work on a regular basis, e.g, for team meetings
doesn't address my core point, which is that it is okay to do it on a weekday - we shouldn't have to go to these lengths

Use weekends

Jose Huerta — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:00:32 +0000

I've found myself with the same problem in the past. The solution we arrived was to organize a "service desk weekend". Pay a hotel for them and family for Saturday to Sunday. Half the time is used for teaching and coaching. The other half is as a reward for the job. You can easily set 4 to 8 ours of sessions.
My experience with this options was very positive.

The IT Skeptic - Comments for "The service desk isn&#039;t here right now"

precious

Might be ok but..

weekend retreat

Use weekends

The IT Skeptic - Comments for "The service desk isn't here right now"