Leading Service Desk Practices

Leading service desk practices, according to John Sansbury, are techniques generally considered universally beneficial and not mutually exclusive, so they can be used as a checklist of progress. They cover call handling, data quality, measurement, staff management and resilience.

• Own and resolve contacts at first line. Capture all information at the first call so second line need not call back, retain contact ownership at the desk, refer calls made directly to second or third line back to the desk, and minimise routing by training universal analysts.
• Keep data and metrics honest. Validate configuration records using asset tags during calls, log service and information requests separately from incidents, stop the clock only when awaiting a user response, and measure satisfaction on an even 1-4 scale, reporting the distribution rather than an average.
• Manage demand and communication. Have a call reduction strategy for waste such as chase calls, measure latent demand through 'all calls busy' statistics, avoid holds, advise callers of queue position and wait time, and provide status updates.
• Look after analysts. Provide ongoing training, empower them with admin rights and tools, survey staff about stress, avoid 'analyst of the month' incentives in favour of raffle-style rewards, and manage career progression.
• Build resilience and self-service. Test a continuity plan for real, use remote log-in tools, introduce a tracked self-support portal and provide out-of-hours support for vital services.