Presented by Michael Bachman Assistant Director Office of Technology Services (Direct Line) EDUCAUSE Southeast Regional Conference Atlanta, Georgia June 19, 2006 Copyright Michael Bachman This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author. 3353 TSRs (Technology Support Requests) from 8/28/05 to 6/16/06 Average 350 Faculty/Staff Help Center calls per week Reduced call hold time by 400 percent Replaced weekend faculty/staff Help Center service with an outsourced lifeline Great relationships with deans, associate deans, department chairs in the eight colleges Equally strong relationships with areas or the university Solid quality of service metrics and feedback that shows things are working 1. Stop-Look-Listen 2. Define-Design 3. Sell It-Tell It 4. Buy It-Fly It Stop and take time to address core questions: Why did we reorganize in the first place? What got us to this point? What can we control...and what cant we? What matters right now? Short-term action meant choosing a few things that mattered the most. Objectives: Establish a communications infrastructure Regain some semblance of routine Re-invoke openness to re-build trust Take small, reasonable, yet decisive steps Keep the ship from sinking further, but steer it forward Action and outcomes: Started weekly staff meetings Launched the war onCo-located Help Center and Client Services Formed three idea teams and set them in motion Issued lots of pink slips Realized reorganization was warranted Look around for answers and youll find more questions: Examined hard data (Magic incident history, ACD volume, etc.) Dusted off old surveys, reports, self- studies; theres probably a history Looked to staff and students for possible solutions; engage them Discoveries with few surprises: A proven history of not communicating Weak or non-existent business processes Excessive reliance on, talking Inability to execute: being right was more important than being effective Paralysis by analysis Numerous overt and covert battles Listen to your clients: they have the real answers: No need for more surveys Relationships are built on listening, trust, understanding, empathy What IT thinks is important may not be: the light-bulb and who changes it Share what you learn Six months and counting (spring and summer semesters). What to do? The three idea teams were charged with coming up with three distinct models each: highly centralized, highly decentralized, and moderate Managers stayed out of the way Nine options emerged Look for commonalities: Excellent thought was put into the exercise by each group All models had pros and cons, but all were possible (i.e., not off the wall) Common patterns emerged In leading the staff, the process was almost as important as the result Factors that came into play: Location and distribution of clients and issues Triage and dispatch Tracking Staffing and load balancing Management and supervision Factors that came into play: Escalation and advanced support Communications with clientele Communications within OTS organization itself And of course cost and space Synthesize: Of the nine models, four distinct patterns emerged We tried a matrix (the traditional analytical style); it was ineffective in achieving the dialog needed to start the discussions to make a decision So we just named it Four named options emerged: Headquarters Franchise Precinct Independent Agent Engage; narrow choices; rule things out: Headquarters Franchise Precinct Independent Agent Engage; narrow choices; rule things out: Franchise Precinct Engage; narrow choices; rule things out: Precinct With the precinct model as the winner, we: Filled in the details Engaged the campus; talk with people (especially clients); listen Showcased successes; staff did great work and were on board; let people know that Aimed for no surprises in final communications Precinct model objectives: Split student from faculty/staff support Build strong working relationships Collaborate, cooperate, coordinate, and communicate Provide timely response to problems Strong, ongoing communications emphasis (formal and informal) Precinct model objectives: Prevent problems through a proactive approach Identify needs and broker other OTS services Assist with planning, needs analysis Precinct model priorities (common): Formal client satisfaction and quality assurance process Clear priority-based triage system with defined dispatch procedures Trend analysis report to campus: top problems, how to prevent them, etc. (shared responsibility) Precinct model priorities (common): A 1 hour/4 hour response model (1 hour max for assignment; 4 hour max for client contact) Cost-effective, outsourced after-hours emergency lifeline Closer alignment between client needs and training/self-help resources Precinct model priorities (common): Strong staff cross training Increased understanding of department- specific applications Expanded Knowledge Center Campus Technology Coalition Precinct model priorities (Mac): Develop a virtual service team: three-four Field Support staff members with in-depth Mac skills Institute a Mac support registry (online web form) Conduct two users group meetings per semester Precinct model priorities (Mac): Build a web presence within OTS site; provide information and resources Publish a bi-monthly newsletter Provide a mandatory Mac orientation and training program for all Field Support staff (four to six hours) Two broad roles in our relationship with campus: Liaison role: communication, needs analysis, planning assistance, technology leadership Issue resolution role: service and support for specific issues or problems Precinct model liaison role: Each manager (3 of us) assigned as primary point of contact to specific colleges (8 of them) Attend college meetings (department chairs, technology councils, faculty, etc.) Precinct model liaison role: Build strong working relationships with deans, associate deans, directors Serve as the primary point of administrative contact Conduct formal and informal needs analysis Precinct model liaison role: Collaborate, coordinate, cooperate, and communicate with local IT staff, including lab managers Prepare Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) Manage large-scale projects Broker other OTS services Monitor quality Precinct model issue resolution role: Based in precinct offices Work is primarily self-managed Accountability ensured through client follow-up Rotate in and out of call center May rotate in and out of Operations Center Precinct model issue resolution role: Daily rounds to departments in precinct (shared between full time and student staff) Troubleshooting OS and application problem resolution Hardware problem identification Precinct model issue resolution role: Resource to lab managers Client-side networking issues Appointment-based desk-side consultation and assistance Precinct model issue resolution role: Trend analysis and reporting Documentation development Knowledge Center and website maintenance Campus buy-in was easy; within the department was the big challenge: Staff (direct reporting lines) Staff (other areas of the department) Management (direct reporting lines) Management (other OTS units) Student workers Lessons learned: Technical and engineering staff want to know the how Be sensitive, but continue the message: why we are changing and what we are changing Trust counts; we were asking the staff to take a leap of faith Lessons learned: Focus on relationship building, not the technical factors Not all decisions will be popular, but if people remember the what or why the decisions may have a chance of being respected Lessons learned: Deal with the why and what and the how will follow There will always be those who disagree Remember who youre working for (students) and they need faculty and staff who can do their jobs Technology just gotta work Actions taken: Emphasized accountability: building and maintaining relationships requires communications, on-time performance, and follow-through Pushed reports of outstanding TSRs (not tickets) to managers (Crystal Enterprise) Instituted a triage/central dispatch model Actions taken: Revised all job descriptions Instituted active monitoring programs focusing on the clients perspective Moved to Blackboard as a communications tool/intranet Kept communications flowing Next steps: Moving from a weakness-based management style to a strength-based leadership style Finding new ways to remind people its working; moving back is compelling Smoothing things out Instituting true information management Next steps: Applying some of the things we learned to classrooms Working on labs: XP SP2, Ghost Console, user policies Growing to meet the next challenge: Advanced Technology Integration Services (we already named it: ATIS) Next steps: Building a proactive wellness program (checkups, good practices, personal responsibility) Preventing oversizing Starting all over: continuous change, improvement, and reinventing ourselves and our services