Whether you’re introducing a new service desk tool or optimizing your service desk in general, the key is to maintain the right focus. If you’ve assumed that this is all about metrics and strategic foresight, you’re not entirely wrong. But amid all the strategic thinking, you shouldn’t forget that strategy is built on operations. And operations are carried out by your employees. So, to implement your strategy and subsequently improve certain metrics, things have to work at the ground level. “All right,” you might say to yourself, “so we just need to raise the bar and clarify the tasks. The employees just need to implement them, and then everything will run like clockwork.” Unfortunately, no.
People-centered
Don’t forget: Your employees are people, not machines. You won’t generate enthusiasm or foster motivation if you simply tighten the reins. As a result, neither the numbers will improve nor will there be any other noticeable increase. And your goal will remain a distant prospect. Unattainable.
Out of reach? Not at all! Why not try changing your perspective for a change? Put yourself in the shoes of your IT support staff—ideally, even in those of your first-level support staff. Ideally, don’t just do this in theory—no. Set aside at least one day to do this, and see what your employees’ day-to-day work looks like. What are their tasks, how do they handle challenges, where do they hit their limits, and what are their biggest problems? Talk to the people. This way, you’ll not only learn things you would never have discovered just by looking at your numbers. You’ll also be showing your employees genuine appreciation.
Technology is only part of the solution
Of course, the well-being of your employees is already a top priority for you. But how does that relate to your professional goals and the chances of success for your service desk project? To put it simply: it’s about figuring out what your employees need to stay motivated—and thus work effectively and efficiently. Because—in our experience—only when employees are truly involved in the project, feel valued, and have all the resources at their disposal to make their daily work easier can both the implementation of new service desk software and the optimization of your service desk succeed. And with outstanding success.
Identifying the needs of your support staff
1. Simplicity
Please, no more complex interfaces or fancy bells and whistles. Your IT staff want a tool that’s clear, easy to understand, and simple to use—one that doesn’t require poring over a thousand-page manual.
2. Relevance
Your employees want to focus on what matters most and see only the relevant details and information needed to resolve issues and tickets.
3. Possible Solutions
In addition to identifying the causes of issues, support staff want the ability to resolve them directly.
4. Speed
Instead of wasting hours on surveys, remote access sessions, or workplace inspections, they want to be able to identify the root causes at a glance and take prompt action.
5. Automation
Ideally, we would have automations that save time and effort. For example, assigning clients and tickets simply by entering the user name, or resolving common issues with a single click.
6. Holistic Approach
Your support staff would like to see all relevant information consolidated into a single interface—essentially bringing together content from various other tools and sources. Ideally, this would allow them to identify the causes of issues, resolve them directly, and process the corresponding ticket at the same time.
7. Sense of accomplishment
And last but not least, support staff—especially those in first-level support—naturally want recognition for their work. After all, it’s certainly no fun to always be the scapegoat because even the smallest issues can’t be resolved, or only with considerable effort. No one enjoys being yelled at by a user whose computer hasn’t been working for three days because no one was able to find a solution. Now imagine what it would be like for your employees if, instead of saying “I’m sorry, I’ll have to check that first,” they could often say:
“Ah, there it is—boom, solved!”
Above all, don’t underestimate that last point. Most employees want to excel at their jobs, experience a sense of accomplishment, and even become the proverbial hero from time to time. Give them that chance. Take your support staff and their needs seriously—no, make them the focus of your efforts! You’ll be amazed at the difference that alone can make.
But what happens next—how do you put what you've learned into practice?
How do you meet the needs of your employees?
Of course, the points listed above are not set in stone and will certainly vary from company to company. After all, many factors come into play here—company size, number of support staff, tools used, prior experience, internal hierarchies, and so on. Nevertheless, based on our years of project experience with service desks, we were able to draw relevant conclusions that, on average, resulted in the points outlined above. In the next step, we therefore considered what would be needed to meet these requirements on the whole. These considerations led to several general conditions and circumstances from which a corresponding comprehensive solution can be derived.
Five Key Factors for Service Desk Success
1. Clean, intuitive interface – keep it simple
A separate tool for every problem—each one is affordable on its own, and they all do what they’re supposed to. Cool, right? Take a look at your support staff’s desktops. How many tabs do you see? A lot. A whole lot. And that’s not so cool. So: Look for a solution that brings as much as possible into a single interface—one where you can see exactly what you need to see at a glance.
2. Reduced display elements – The more relevant, the better
More is better? Nope. If you want to know what time it is and you’re staring at a dial where you have to waste minutes looking for the hands because they’re hidden among all the displays for the date, moon phase, air pressure, altitude, temperature, season, and constellations, then this watch doesn’t quite serve the purpose you intended—at least if you’re just looking to tell the time. The same applies to tools and resources for your employees. They should ideally display only the information necessary for their work. And ideally, they should present this information so clearly that neither a magnifying glass nor a compass is needed. How about a few meaningful icons in self-explanatory colors? Red, yellow, and green, for example?
3. Create solutions at the touch of a button – Push the button
Give your employees buttons to press! Not just any buttons, of course, but ones that solve problems and resolve issues—in a matter of seconds. So look for tools that offer simple solutions. This isn’t impossible, because, after all, the same issues tend to crop up time and again in everyday work—or, to be more precise, the same causes are responsible for certain issues.
These issues can therefore be identified and linked to simple actions by deploying predefined PowerShell scripts. For example, a full hard drive or synchronization problems caused by insufficient RAM. Imagine your employees being able to see this at a glance and resolve it with a single click. Brilliant.
4. Plan B
When it comes to first-level support, it’s clear that not every issue can be resolved here, no matter how good the tool may be. This is especially true when dealing with more complex issues. That’s why second-level support is usually available for such cases. However, it would be ideal if issues weren’t simply forwarded blindly because the first-level support agent has no idea what might be causing the user’s problem. It would be ideal if they could at least identify relevant clues in their tool and thus be able to arrange for the issue to be forwarded to the right person. And perhaps they could also include all the important information with minimal effort, so that the second-level colleague has everything they need right away to start working on a solution. No follow-up questions, no blind ticket ping-pong.
5. Appreciation and enjoyment at work
Praise and recognition, along with a positive work atmosphere and enjoyment of the job, are true game-changers when it comes to successful leadership—and ultimately, the success of the entire company. This starts with the layout and appearance of the workplace—which, in the IT sector, naturally includes the software used—extends to playful elements in daily life, and culminates in genuine enjoyment of the work, sincere praise, and true appreciation.
Sure, things shouldn’t get out of hand with games, fun, and excitement—there’s still serious work to be done. But what do you think about blowing a little party horn when a support ticket is successfully resolved? Or a fun Easter egg that pops up unexpectedly? Especially in first-level support, a little fun at work never hurts. After all, the job is stressful enough. And it goes without saying that you should praise your employees, celebrate with them, and provide them with opportunities for professional development.
Your Service Desk – More Than the Sum of Its Parts
So if you succeed in designing your service desk to meet as many of your support staff’s workplace needs as possible, this should result in significant improvements in your key performance indicators. Ticket resolution times and first-call resolution rates are likely to improve, while errors and misrouting will decrease. Beyond the mere numbers, there are additional positive effects: End-user satisfaction increases, thereby improving your IT department’s image. Your employees are happier, and absenteeism and turnover decrease. Overall, this results in improved effectiveness and efficiency that benefits the entire company.
Of course, we need to keep our feet on the ground. This result can only be achieved through hard, consistent work. It’s not enough to ask employees about their needs just once and then throw a cool tool their way. This is an ongoing process, because revolution is followed by evolution. Still, stick with it—it’s worth it.