Tough breaks happen. Bones break, hearts break. Referees make bad calls. Networks go down, stress goes up, less-capable colleagues get the promotion. We may be plagued by problems, but focusing on the unfairness of life induces self-doubt, rationalization, and mediocrity—and despair. We must get...
Tag(s): leadership, supportworld
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
Without clear objectives, metrics are just a pile of numbers. The good is when we beat our targets, the bad is when we fail to hit those targets, and the ugly is when we fail to set challenging objectives. Remember, like baseball, the only thing that really matters in the end is whether or not...
Tag(s): metrics and measurements, performance management, service desk, service delivery
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
If you’ve been a support center manager for more than ten minutes, you’ve probably been faced with the question, “How is your team doing?” Because of the role they play, support organizations are often large and/or highly visible. As a result, senior IT leadership wants to understand the return...
Tag(s): leadership, metrics and measurements, performance management
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
Offshoring—moving jobs to other countries—is a topic that elicits strong reactions from people. Management is frequently in favor of it, for a variety of reasons; workers, on the other hand, can feel threatened, fearing that their jobs are in danger. There are political, economic, and ethical...
Tag(s): outsourcing, support center
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
If you agree with ITIL, successful service management is the result of “an appropriate mix of people, process, and information technology.” While ITIL is touted as a systematic approach that treats all three components equally, in practice it often focuses more heavily on the process side....
Tag(s): ITIL, leadership, process management, people, workforce enablement
Date Published - Last Updated April 19, 2019
Do you feel you reward and/or recognize your team frequently enough? Do you feel you are rewarded and recognized enough? For most people, there’s a big disconnect. So what can we do to reestablish the disconnection?
Tag(s): employee satisfaction, leadership, workforce enablement
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
The IT world is in the midst of dramatic change. With each passing day, the traditional model for remote support becomes increasingly outdated. Today there are 10 billion mobile devices, 50 percent more applications, an infinite amount of unique configurations, and more distributed workers than...
Tag(s): monitoring, remote support tools, service desk, support center, tools
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
In this article, we’ll explore the customer service and communication skills (also known as soft skills) that enable customer support professionals to deliver consistent, high-quality service and support to customers. We’ll also discuss how these skills fit into three overall groups:...
Tag(s): communications skills, customer service
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
The key to trouble-free performance management is regular communication. Take the SIMPLE SMILE approach and you’ll have engaged, empowered, and energized employees who know what’s expected of them and rise to the challenge!
Tag(s): coaching, human resources, leadership, people, workforce enablement
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
The technical support staff is the voice, and often the face, of IT. Over the past couple of years, HDI has conducted several studies on staffing in the technical service and support industry, focusing on topics like hiring, retention, staffing structure, salaries, skills, and the future. By...
Tag(s): staffing, human resources
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016