Processes, applications and people

A look at what is cooking in the kitchen

TEXT: JOCHEM BROEKHUIZEN, ARJEN DIRKS & JORDI RECASENS

Simon Walters has been running a restaurant in London for years now. He has employed a chef and two waiters. He has recently noticed a significant decrease in turnover and intends to find out what is causing it. After several conversations with customers he finds out the answer to his question: a couple of new restaurants recently opened in the vicinity, which are not much more expensive, but offer tastier and more diverse meal options. Moreover, they offer better service. Simon thinks that it is time for a change and comes up with a plan to put his own business in a better position. He spent 40,000 pounds on a new kitchen to win back his customer base. Anyone who reads this is well aware that Simons solution is not going to solve all his problems. A new kitchen will not add more diversity to his dishes or make them any tastier, nor will the service improve. Preparing food, on the other hand, will be made easier.

Applications do not solve all problems

Similar situations often occur in the IT market. Service management applications such as TOPdesk are utilized as solutions for inefficient IT departments. Expectations are that, by implementing TOPdesk, the department will operate more efficiently, the motivation of staff will increase and satisfaction of customers will increase. In other words, applications are the answer to everything! Simons new kitchen will undoubtedly tickle the fancy of his chef. However, to find a realistic solution to his problem, he needs to come up with a strategy to improve his entire business plan. He should aim towards satisfying his clientele, ensuring that they leave with a smile on their faces as well as training and motivating his personnel. Processes, applications and personnel need to be harmonised in order for IT departments to operate properly. You might think this is a matter of course... Well, think again.

Processes
Process-oriented work with frameworks such as ITIL, ASL and BiSL receive a lot of attention in the IT world. They provide the foundation on which organizations can build their own specific implementation. Well-arranged processes result in clear working methods. The processes lead to defined working instructions, which mean that employees can take on their specific roles and know their position in the service management chain. Setting up these procedures and working instructions is quite a challenge for many organizations. However, implementing the framework too literally should also be avoided. Doing so usually results in unnecessary steps being taken and an overly complex implementation process. The final results of such configured processes no longer fit into the organizational structure and become unusable. In some cases, an external consultant is hired to provide the procedures. Both methods result in a collection of

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unreadable and incomprehensible documents, which are eventually left to collect dust, leaving the creators as the only people that are actually informed about these procedures. When implementing processes, it is important to create a foundation. One way to do this is to encourage your colleagues to attend introduction courses like ITIL Awareness, and involve them in the development of the processes. After all, they know the hiatuses in the process. Working with them to improve the process can help to increase motivation. Also, work does not stop after the implementation. This is where the proccess coordinators work begins: they maintain and promote the organizational processes. Also, they are the ones to make sure that employees receive training on a regular basis and that new employees get to know these procedures. Furthermore, working conditions may change, in which case procedures (and above all,

working instructions) have to be readjusted.

Usable application
TOPdesk is a well renowned tool used to support IT departments, service and help desks. Because of its versatility, TOPdesk can meet the demands of many different kinds of customers. In order to be able to make the right decisions regarding configuration and needed modules, an organization needs to know what exactly they are going to use TOPdesk for. During the implementation of TOPdesk, two elements are of the utmost importance. First of all, it is important to keep a usable, operational situation in mind. If using TOPdesk results in overly complex work procedures, it is not going to be of much added value. If, however, the configuration adds to the created procedures, TOPdesk will make your work easier. Secondly, there is the provision of tactical information. In order to

retrieve the required information from TOPdesk using reports, correct registration of data in the application is important. In some cases, extensive registration is at the expense of usability. That is why the challenge of configuring TOPdesk lies in uniting these two - sometimes conflicting - needs. Registration is often done for the purpose of reports when, in many cases, it is unclear as to what the registered information will be used for. One example is creating an overview of how much time is spent on different kinds of incidents in TOPdesk by registering this information. If, in reality, only a few reports are generated, registering this information means unnecessary work.

Motivated people
What would services be without people? People are even more crucial for a service than processes and applications. Perhaps it is a little clich, but everyone knows what would happen if the entire IT department was to be unmanned for a few days.

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For any service, it is important that employees are well-trained and that they know enough about their tasks. Because they make a significant contribution to their company targets, it is also important that employees know and understand the organization and the role their tasks play. Once employees truly realise this and become aware of their role, and if they are rightfully appreciated, their attitude will change for the better. They will be able to take on more responsibility and continue to develop, allowing them to enjoy their work more and evolve into motivated, dependable and proactive employees. Appreciation, responsibility, openness and communication are keywords in this matter.

is appreciated, your personnel will improve much faster and develop the right feel for the business. People will be able to enjoy their work to a much greater extent. Last but not least, the kitchen has to fit the type of restaurant that Simon is aiming for. His kitchen requires a different interior than that of a fast-food diner, but also needs to be different than that of an exclusive restaurant.

satisfied customers. Implementing such integrated solutions takes time and often requires taking one small step at a time towards improvement. It means that both those in charge and their employees have to adjust their mindset. After all, it is the organization as a whole that makes the change.

Small steps of improvement

Just like Simons kitchen, the implementation of a service management application can lead to an improved functioning of the IT department. However, to boost the department to a substantially higher level of functioning and service, an integrated approach to process, application and people will have a much bigger impact. This will lead to a department that, even in its learning stage, consistently aims for perfect results, and that is able to enjoy its work even more and serve

Fitting solution
Simons new kitchen is not going to solve his problems. He is going to have to choose an integrated solution, in which not only is his new kitchen (Application) evaluated, but one in which his employees (People) and his work methods (Process) are also reviewed. It is important that the chosen solution also fits the organization. Serving your customers is a process that starts by drawing attention to the restaurant (marketing), ensuring a friendly reception, creating a pleasant ambiance, taking orders efficiently, serving dinner, bringing the bill and ending with helping customers into their coats. As a part of this process, all employees must be aware of their respective roles and communicate with each other. If there is room for taking more responsibility and if it

TOPdesk Consultancy has had the chance to take a look at what is cooking in the kitchen of more than 2500 customers. The consultants have encountered many situations in which the aspects of people, process and application were not optimized as a whole. Fueled by this knowledge, TOPdesk Consultancy helps organizations to improve their service management processes on a daily basis. TOPdesk Consultancy offers several services to support and improve the different aspects of service management. Organizations are able to take both small and large steps to improve their services. Besides implementing the TOPdesk application, the consultants also help organizations by offering TOPdesk training sessions such as customer-oriented work, ITIL Awareness training sessions and coaching courses. If you are interested in the services that TOPdesk Consultancy has to offer, please contact us on +44 20 8846 8516 or visit our website at www.topdesk.com.

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