Knowledge library
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Supplier and Partner ManagementMembers
Supplier Segmentation and Rationalisation
Segmenting suppliers by value, risk and dependency supports proportionate governance and reveals duplication or concentration that may need rationalisation.
Relationship ManagementMembers
Relationship Management as a Sign of Maturity
Mature relationship management moves beyond complaint handling to shared understanding, forward planning, expectation management and value improvement.
Relationship ManagementMembers
The Skills of an Effective Relationship Manager
Relationship managers need business understanding, listening, negotiation, facilitation, judgement and the credibility to connect consumers with delivery teams.
Service Configuration ManagementMembers
Defining Service Components and Configuration Items
A configuration item is any component that must be controlled to deliver or manage a service, and the useful scope is determined by decisions and risk.
Service Configuration ManagementMembers
Starting Service Configuration Management Pragmatically
Configuration management should begin with priority services, decisions and minimum trusted data rather than an attempt to model the entire estate.
Service Configuration ManagementMembers
Linking Configuration Data to Change and Audit
Configuration information creates value when change impact, incident diagnosis and audit feedback continuously test and improve it.
Tools and SourcingMembers
Selecting Service Management Tools the Right Way
Tool selection should follow agreed outcomes, processes, information needs and integration principles rather than vendor demonstrations or feature volume.
Tools and SourcingMembers
Using MoSCoW to Prioritise Tool Requirements
MoSCoW helps protect essential outcomes and manage scope when each requirement is defined, evidenced and governed.
Tools and SourcingMembers
Choosing a Vendor With Outcome-Based Sourcing
A sound vendor decision evaluates capability, fit, implementation risk, total cost, partnership behaviour and evidence against real outcomes.
Integrated PracticeMembers
Learning From the True Cost of Major Incidents
The cost of a major incident includes lost transactions, productivity, recovery, compensation, regulatory exposure, reputation and delayed strategic work.
Integrated PracticeMembers
Designing Complementary Processes as a System
Processes create better outcomes when their triggers, information, authority and feedback loops are designed as a connected system.
Integrated PracticeMembers
The First 90 Days of a Service Excellence Programme
The opening phase should establish purpose, sponsorship, evidence, relationships and a small number of credible actions rather than promise instant transformation.
Integrated PracticeMembers
Building a Sustainable Service Excellence Roadmap
A sustainable roadmap sequences capability, process, data, technology and cultural change around value streams, dependencies and realistic change capacity.
Service StrategyMembers
The Four Dimensions of Service Management and Why Each One Matters
The four dimensions of service management, and why neglecting any one of them undermines service quality. Based on The Journey to Service Excellence.
Change & TransformationMembers
Using Kotter's Eight Steps to Drive a Service Management Transformation
How Kotter's eight-step change model guides a successful service management transformation, drawn from The Journey to Service Excellence.
Stakeholders & EngagementMembers
Stakeholder Mapping: Know Your Customer Before You Chase Value
You cannot focus on value until you know your stakeholders. How to build a stakeholder map, drawn from The Journey to Service Excellence.
Problem ManagementMembers
Incident Prevention Versus Incident Fix
Why proactive operation is harder than it sounds, the four barriers that hold teams back, and how to make the shift from fixing to preventing.
Value StreamsMembers
How Service Management can Transform Your Enterprise
Services, value co-creation, outcomes versus outputs and processes: how service management can transform your enterprise, drawn from The Journey to Service Excellence.
Change & TransformationMembers
Shaping Your Service Management Transformation Programme
How to shape a service management transformation programme: objectives, governance and the five phases, based on The Journey to Service Excellence.
Value StreamsMembers
Value Streams and the Consumer Journey
Why value streams are the key to service excellence: the happy path, mapping failure points and protecting the consumer experience.
Continual ImprovementMembers
Continual Service Improvement: More Than Improving Services
What continual service improvement really means, the CSI model, who should lead it, where to start and how to run a CSI register.
Change & TransformationMembers
Adopting a New Process, Step by Step
A step by step guide to adopting a service management process: commitment, ownership, policy, RACI, KPIs, deployment and optimisation.
ESMMembers
You Cannot AI What You Cannot See
Every university leader is under pressure to show what artificial intelligence will do for the institution. Here is an uncomfortable truth that a recent value stream mapping workshop surfaced, and it has nothing to do with the cleverness…
ESMMembers
Seven People, Seven Different Ways: Why a Map Is Not Enough
A consultant walks into a council housing repairs contact centre. Seven people take calls all day. My roof is leaking, my door is jammed, my toilet is blocked. He asks the manager to describe the procedure for handling these calls. The m…