The ITSM Team Of Tomorrow - Part 2

In our last post, we examined how the ITSM Dream Team of tomorrow will look somewhat different than the team of today.  We spent some time looking at the expanding roles and responsibilities that IT teams will face.  We also showed how chemistry between IT, Development, and Operations, is going to the key to successful ITSM in the future.

To add more context to the conversation, we will be hosting a panel discussion on October 22nd with experts from both the Service Management and HR/Recruiting world.  If you ever find yourself managing a team or in a position to hire new talent, you definitely want to check it out!

Planning For Your ITSM Future

One aspect of team management that is often overlooked is the need for comprehensive onboarding and succession planning.  Whether a team member is moving upwards in your organization or you’ve brought in a new hire, you want to make sure there’s a process to get them up to speed.  A solid succession plan provides a level of comfort for your service desk staff during periods of transition.  In addition, a succession plan reduces the chance of a negative impact on your customers.  

Here’s a few basic suggestions for onboarding a new hire:

1. Start before day 1 - The more you’re able to get done ahead of a new hire’s first day, the better their experience will be.  Get logins and email accounts set up for them ahead of time.  Have their desk situation squared away so that they can feel somewhat comfortable on their first day.  Starting a new job is already stressful enough for your new hire so do what you can to limit the chaos.
2. Formalize a buddy system - There are a few schools of thought on the best way to tackle peer to peer learning but no matter which way you go, assign one or more mentors for each new hire and allow that person to get your new hire familiar with the exact demands of their position.
3. If your new team member will need to learn software applications, allocate at least one 90 minute cycle per application in their first week.  If the team member has experience with an application but has been given access to new areas or permissions they haven’t previously used, treat this as a “new” software learning experience for them.
4. Don’t wait 3 months for a review - Even though the first 90 days are critical, your review schedule needs to be much more frequent.  As a rule of thumb, check in with your new hire at the start and end of every day in their first week.  Then check in at the start and end of the week for the rest of their first 90 days.  It may feel redundant but it gives you a chance to set the right tone from the outset.

A succession plan will have a lot of the same core elements to an onboarding program but it’s going to look a bit different in how it’s executed. 

Here’s what you should incorporate into a succession plan:

1. When a team member wants to move up (or move on), leaving a void at their old position - you’ve got to first look at your existing team to see if you have someone that can step right into that role.  If so, gauge their interest and start grooming them if it’s a good fit for everyone.
2. Remember, when promoting an internal candidate, you may be creating a void further down the chain that will also need to be addressed.  Promoting from within and cycling in fresh entry level team members is a great way to establish positive company culture however!
3. Take a step back and get your stakeholders to reflect on the needs of your business.  If you’re bringing in an outside hire for the position, use this is as an opportunity go look for candidates that address any skills gaps within your organization.

In our Webinar we’ll go into more details related to onboarding and succession but these should at least give you a starting point!

Enterprise Service Management

The future of ITSM is going to be less about IT and more about managing services.  Look no further than the expansion of SaaS and IaaS to see what service management may look like in the future.  In the old paradigm, your CIO/CTO was constantly searching for ways to maintain reliability.  Often times that meant an investment of business resources into physical hardware, but things have changed.

With the rise of SaaS and IaaS your C levels can now focus their thinking on business strategy instead of day to day logistics like uptime.  They still have a responsibility for logistics, but it’s going to be centered on managing relationships with your SaaS and IaaS vendors.  Let’s take a look at some other benefits that you can expect from Enterprise Service Management:

• You’ll have fewer service related software applications tied to your budget.
• Consolidating IT and non IT customer requests means that you can craft a single workflow process to teach your staff.
  • Keep in mind that the path of a service request is going to look pretty similar regardless of if it’s a password reset or an HR request.
• Change management will play a larger role as organizations start to adopt lean and agile principles across other areas of the business.  The ITSM Dream Team of tomorrow may include dedicated roles like Change Manager and Chief Storyteller.
• Integration and interdependability are going to be the new norm.  OS and device type will slowly become irrelevant as business apps move to the cloud.

Coming Up Next

In our final post of the series we’re going to present some specific tools and resources you can use for your own personal development as a manager, don't miss it!

As always, connect with us on social media and share your stories and experiences with us!