What makes a good Service Desk Manager?

• Service Desk

July 17, 2017

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Service Desk are truly the unsung heroes of IT. They speak to everyone, see everything and deal with everything from lost power supplies to Major Incidents. Managing the team of heroes that are the face of IT isn’t a task for the faint hearted so here are our thoughts on what makes a good Service Desk manager.

Inner Zen

It’s not something that’s specifically called out in the ITIL books but the ability to keep calm is key for any effective Service Desk manager. If you panic, you’ll flap, you’ll say or do the wrong things, you’ll stress out your team and things could spiral even further out of control. If you stay calm (or at least act calm!) not only will you take some of the stress out of the situation, but your team will calm down and then you can deal with the matter at hand rather than managing a panicking group of people.

Creative Thinking

Sometimes it’s not how you fix an issue but how you can get the business back up and running again even if the service isn’t perfect. Think about it like this; workarounds are a win – win. Not only are the business able to work again but the pressure if off your team (and onward support teams) so they can focus on fixing the issue properly rather than being distracted with too many calls in the queue. Next time you’re dealing with a failed server, a website being unavailable or network issues ask your support teams if there are any interim measures such as rerouting network traffic, moving users onto an alternative server or using a web based rather than local services. It might not be the most elegant solution but if it reduces adverse impact to the business then it’s worth a shot.

Being able to prioritise

As a Service Desk manager you’ll need to be able to see the wood for the trees. Not sure what I mean by that? To every end user, their issue is the most important, time sensitive fault that needs to be addressed which is all well and good but if everything is a priority one then what do you fix first? Have your team work out the priority of the call by looking at the impact and urgency, in other words, how serious is the issue and how quickly does it need to be fixed? Be there as an escalation point and a sounding board for your team so that you can filter out the noise and ensure the really painful issues get looked at first.

Great communication skills

Being the one in charge means you have to be able to communicate like a pro. Be it calling out a support team at four o’clock in the morning or briefing the CEO of a virus or ransomware attack you need to be comfortable talking to people at all levels. Template as much as you can for written communication; there’s nothing worse than trying to write a really detailed e-mail to a cast of thousands from scratch with half the company looking over your shoulder. When giving updates verbally be direct and to the point. Tell the person you’re briefing what services are affected, what the impact is, which support teams are dealing with it and either an estimated fix time or a time for the next update.

Commanding respect

Lead by example. Phone ringing off the hook? Log in and start taking calls. A customer venting their frustration on one of your team members? Step up for your team. Let the customer know that you want to help and focus on the positive steps that can be taken to resolve the issue. Everyone looking a bit frazzled or stressed out? Fun Fridays be it e-mail jokes, quizzes or even bring some snacks to work. You get the picture, be an advocate for your team and never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t be prepared to do yourself.

Empathy

Being a Service Desk manager puts you in a unique situation – you get to see both sides of the coin; the frustrations from the business and end user community as well as the tech challenges and resourcing constraints of your IT department. Being able to emphase is hugely important. Sometimes you can’t fix everything all at one so look at what you can fix. Make your stakeholders feel listened too and supported. Sometime’s it’s not about having all the answers but it’s about coming up with a plan that’s workable. Actively listen to what’s going on around you and invite your customers into the conversation by asking questions.

 

By Vawns Murphy.