Running and Managing a Service Desk: A Detailed Guide to Best Practices and Processes

A service desk is a communication center that provides a single point of contact between a company and its customers, employees, and business partners1. Its primary function is to handle incidents and service requests, in addition to managing communication with users. A service desk can be internal, supporting employees within a company, or external, supporting customers of a company's products or services. It is a foundational element of IT service management (ITSM), handling the full lifecycle of IT service delivery, from managing service requests to resolving service issues and planning service upgrades1. The service desk has evolved from the traditional help desk, expanding its scope beyond fixing issues to delivering a wider range of services to users1.

The ITIL Framework

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework is a set of best practices for IT service management (ITSM). ITIL provides a structured approach to managing IT services throughout their entire lifecycle, ensuring they align with business needs and deliver value2. ITIL service management is important to businesses because it encompasses some of the most effective techniques for providing end-users with optimal customer experiences3. In a crowded market, users can and will take their business elsewhere if they receive inadequate performance or slow responses to requests3.

The ITIL framework offers guidance and best practices for managing the five stages of the IT service lifecycle:

These stages are interlinked, and their interaction ensures the delivery of high-quality IT services2.

ITIL 4, the latest version of ITIL, was released in February 2019 with 34 practices5. It promotes a holistic approach to service management with its four dimensions model that identifies the four factors critical to successful value delivery with ITIL:

• Organizations and people

• Information and technology

• Partners and suppliers

• Value streams and processes 6

ITIL 4 also includes the service value system (SVS), which describes how all the components and activities of an organization work together to facilitate value creation3. The SVS includes guiding principles, governance, the service value chain, practices, and continual improvement3. The service value chain describes the key activities required to respond to demand and facilitate value creation through the creation and delivery of services3.

Benefits of a Service Desk

A well-run service desk offers numerous benefits to organizations, including:

• Increased operational efficiency: Service desks standardize IT processes and automate routine tasks to enable faster incident response and more cost-efficient operations1.

• Greater alignment between business and IT: Service desks act as the interface between users, business processes, and the IT services that enable them. This provides valuable insights into user satisfaction, enabling proactive problem management and better planning of future IT services1.

• Increased productivity: Self-service tools, shared knowledge bases, and automated workflows streamline the delivery of IT services. This helps users get back to work faster and frees up IT staff to focus on more strategic activities1.

• Improved IT asset management: Service desks act as a hub for all hardware and software assets, as well as any contracts, enabling easy information retrieval, asset valuation, configuration, maintenance, etc1.

• Greater reliability: By speeding incident resolution, reducing incidents and problems, and even automatically preventing or resolving issues, service desks keep the business up and running at less cost1.

Service Desk Best Practices

Implementing service desk best practices is essential to ensure that agents are providing the highest quality of service to their customers7. These best practices provide a framework for service desks to follow to ensure that their customers receive the most efficient and effective support possible7.

People

• Hire the right talent. IT help desk jobs aren’t always easy. You need the right people staffing your help desk8. Look for individuals with strong technical skills, excellent communication skills, and a customer-centric attitude9. One way to ensure your support agents are operating using help desk best practices, especially in terms of customer service and asset management, is to get them HDI (Help Desk Institute) certified8.

• Keep your help desk employees happy. It’s imperative to prioritize the work-life balance of your employees while incentivizing them to improve their crafts. The end results will benefit all8.

Processes

• Establish clear service level agreements (SLAs). Organizations should establish clear SLAs to ensure that customers receive timely and accurate responses to their inquiries7. Service desk teams should also look to report back on these SLAs consistently to build trust with key stakeholders7.

• Aim for first contact resolution. Focus on solving tickets on first contact to minimize downtime or disruptions8. This may require providing a significant amount of training to each of your help desk staff8.

• Follow up on resolved cases. Your IT help desk should follow up on closed/solved cases with a survey or feedback form. This is a great opportunity to collect information, assess your staff, and improve processes8.

• Track your help desk’s performance. Your SLA should require your help desk to track its performance across key metrics, including ticket resolution rates, time to solve tickets, average pick-up/ticket response time, percentage of tickets still open/unsolved after a set amount of time, FCR rates, and the number of escalations to Level 2 and Level 3 support8. By getting visibility into these areas, your help desk will identify gaps in its knowledge base and processes8.

• Group similar incidents to streamline resolutions. It’s not uncommon for multiple people to encounter the same or similar issues10. Instead of having your technicians tackle each of these as a separate incident, you can group them to cut down on your team’s workload and deliver faster resolutions to users simultaneously10.

Technology

• Use the right help desk software system. Without the right IT service management (ITSM) software, your help desk will be helpless8. ITSM enables your help desk to receive service or incident tickets, manage assets, and report ticket resolution rates and other metrics8. A well-configured ITSM suite enables IT help desks to manage large volumes of tickets and — via self-service portal and other features — reduce call volumes and control IT support costs8.

• Be available on multiple contact channels. The importance of great communication cannot be overstated8. You should be able to communicate with your help desk through live chat, phone, email, and as many other means as possible8.

• Provide self-service support options to users. One of the best ways to maximize service desk efficiency is to provide self-service options10. This enables requesters to resolve their issues quickly without involving your actual support team10.

• Collect data to foster continuous improvement. It’s challenging to try to improve your service desk’s effectiveness and efficiency if you don’t know where you’re starting from10. Collecting data such as your team’s average response time and cost per ticket can illuminate areas you need to refine10.

• Identify risks and stop problems before they start. One way you can work closer to this goal is by monitoring IT asset risks. This helps your team respond to them before they become widespread issues10.

Key Service Desk Processes

A service desk typically handles several key processes, including:

• Incident Management: This process focuses on minimizing the impact of incidents on IT services by swiftly restoring normal operations. It involves logging, categorizing, prioritizing, and resolving incidents to reduce downtime and disruptions2.

• Problem Management: This process aims to identify and address the root causes of recurring incidents2. By proactively addressing underlying issues, organizations can prevent incidents from happening in the future2. This proactive approach minimizes the adverse impact of incidents and improves the overall integrity of IT services11.

• Change Management: This process is crucial for controlling IT services and infrastructure changes. It ensures that changes are planned, approved, and implemented with minimal risks and disruptions2.

• Request Fulfillment: This process handles user requests for services, information, or access12. It ensures that these requests are fulfilled efficiently and effectively while meeting user expectations12. Service requests are generally low-risk and frequently performed, and are better handled by a separate process rather than being allowed to congest the normal incident and change management processes13. Examples of service requests include creating a new account, changing a password, making hardware or software upgrades, or even requesting information14.

It is important to differentiate between incidents and service requests. An incident is an unplanned interruption or reduction in the quality of an IT service15. A service request, on the other hand, is a request from a user for something to be provided14. Incidents are typically more urgent and require immediate attention, while service requests can often be handled in a more routine manner14.

Service Desk Metrics and KPIs

Measuring and tracking service desk metrics and KPIs is crucial for monitoring performance, identifying areas for improvement, and demonstrating the value of the service desk to the business16. Some of the key metrics and KPIs that service desks should track include:

• First Call Resolution (FCR): This metric measures the percentage of calls or tickets that are resolved during the first contact with the support page or chatbot17.

• Average Handling Time (AHT): This metric measures the average total time taken to handle all customer interactions from the moment they are first initiated to the moment they are finally closed18. This includes all hold times and transfers as well as after-call work by agents19.

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): This metric measures how satisfied customers are with the service desk's performance17. It can be measured through surveys, feedback forms, and other methods17.

• First response time: This is the amount of time between a support ticket submission and the first response from an agent20. A short first response time shows your customers and employees you care about getting them the help they need, and it also indicates a prompt and productive support team20.

• Ticket volume: This is the number of tickets submitted during a specific period of time20. Ticket volume tells you how frequently your customers or employees are running into issues20.

• SLA compliance: This measures the percentage of tickets or calls that are resolved within the agreed-upon timeframe17.

Service Desk Tools and Technologies

Service desk tools and technologies play a crucial role in streamlining workflows, improving efficiency, and enhancing the user experience. Some of the essential tools and technologies for service desks include:

• Ticketing Systems: These systems help track, manage, and organize service requests and issues from customers, employees, or internal teams21. Ticketing systems are primarily used in customer service but have applications across departments such as IT and HR21.

• Knowledge Bases: A knowledge base is a self-serve customer service library that includes information about a product, service, or topic that helps customers find answers so they can solve problems on their own22. A knowledge base should include supplemental support documentation, such as runbooks and flowcharts, to help technical staff quickly identify the next steps and probable causes23. Successful resolutions for known issues can be recorded and redeployed23.

• Remote Support Tools: These tools allow service desk agents to remotely access and control users' computers to provide support and resolve issues24.

Service Desk Staffing and Training

Effective service desk staffing and training are essential for ensuring that the service desk has the right people with the right skills to meet the needs of its users. Some key considerations for service desk staffing and training include:

• Determine appropriate help desk staffing levels. The number of staff needed will depend on factors such as the volume of calls and tickets, the complexity of the issues, and the availability of self-service options9. You will need to factor in talk time and the percentage of time an agent will be unavailable25.

• Hire good employees. When hiring service desk staff, it is important to look for individuals with strong technical skills, excellent communication skills, and a customer-centric attitude9.

• Invest in regular help desk training programs. Regular training on new technologies, problem-solving techniques, and customer service skills ensures that your team is equipped to handle a wide range of issues swiftly and satisfactorily26.

• Provide different levels of IT support. A tiered support structure is essential for efficiently handling service requests and issues27. This structure allows initial screening and solving of simple problems at the lower tiers while more complex issues are escalated to higher levels of support27.

Service Desk Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is essential for ensuring that the service desk is constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of its users and the business. Some key strategies for service desk continuous improvement include:

• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify areas for improvement. 28

• Use data-driven insights to optimize help desk processes and workflows. 28

• Continuously track and adjust metrics to ensure ongoing success. 28

• Use the PDCA cycle. The PDCA cycle – plan, do, check, act – is one of the most commonly used and effective approaches to continuous service improvement29.

Conclusion

Running and managing a service desk effectively requires a combination of best practices, processes, tools, and technologies. By adopting a structured approach, such as ITIL, and focusing on continuous improvement, organizations can ensure that their service desks provide efficient and effective support to their users, enhance customer satisfaction, and contribute to the overall success of the business. The service desk is more than just a reactive support center; it is a strategic asset that can drive business value and improve the overall user experience. By focusing on the interconnectedness of people, processes, and technology, organizations can achieve service desk excellence and ensure that their IT services are aligned with the needs of the business.

Works cited

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