A Service Manager’s to-do list in the new normal

In this crisis situation, the concept of service is changing and so is its focus, as there is a tilt from service level agreements to managing the customer experience and anticipating their needs.

The following should be on the top of a service manager’s to-do list for the new normal:

1. Re-thinking what a major incident is for IT

From a technology perspective, service managers have to understand what provider agreements are in place and customer targets: do they cover the scenario of people working from home? How reliable are the power and internet providers of each employee?

2. The new normal and mental health

The current period and the new normal will affect the mental health of service management teams as the “always on” nature to deliver IT service 24/7 during a period of great uncertainty and extra responsibility (home schooling, dealing with upsetting news cycles) places a great burden on those available all the time.

There is a need to agree when essential maintenance takes place as customers now work outside of office hours. There is also a need to automate manual processes where possible, so service managers are not logged in 24/7 for everything and anything.

3. Strategies for digital technologies and risk

What has been apparent during the pandemic is that few people are getting the right training from their employers to use the digital technologies that are becoming more prevalent, such as video conferencing.

This situation has become a major incident, and so the concept of how you deliver service has to change. Organizations need to recognize what has gone well or not during this time and put together strategies for business continuity, leadership, and risk.

4. ITIL 4 — re-evaluating your value streams

Service managers need to start mapping the value streams that will need to change and how they will adapt service management to the new normal.

Leadership also needs to start acting on this; and to understand the needs of people who could be working from home more permanently while still supporting organizations’ needs for velocity and market disruption.

5. Find ways to collaborate

Humans are social animals, so finding and adapting the right ways to collaborate now are important. Collaborating more digitally as opposed to face-to-face has a sharper learning curve.

Many service managers have doubtless been rapidly deploying new solutions, such as video conferencing. We should be learning every day about how to make the digital experience better and design solutions for user experience, because we can not rely on people to just use software intuitively. We need to deliver solutions so people can be productive more quickly.

6. Meeting demand tomorrow

Normal change and planning cycles for products, services processes, procedures, and the idea of long-term planning are currently consigned to the “dustbin” of history. Now, it is about improving and building services for tomorrow. For example, Covid-19 means it is difficult to predict what your business will look like in three weeks’ time let alone three months. So, recognizing and preparing for another change in direction tomorrow and the day after with adaptable governance and practices makes sense.

7. People qualities: multi-tasking and bravery

Service managers will need to multi-task and have the courage to try new things, even when the situation is borderline chaotic. If they can see that something needs to be done — and that it’s a manageable risk — it might mean tearing up existing processes.

Finally, as the situation has led to everyone to be open to working with new people and having to develop new relationships quickly, Service managers need to learn about interacting with people who have different perspectives, be willing to have an open mind and do things in a different way.