Improvements in crisis management

Improvements in Crisis ManagementKATRINA CLAY

Importance of Crisis Management

In all facets of business, proper Major Incident or Crisis Management is of the utmost importance.

Major Incidents cause high impact disruptions in services and can seriously impact the reputation and profitability of a company.

OverviewTHE CURRENT SITUATIONKEY SUCCESS FACTORSANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVESSTRATEGIC OPTION

Current Situation

The Service Desk is often overwhelmed and ineffective when presented with a Major Incident, Outage, or other Crisis.

This inefficiency impacts the company in several negative ways including: Loss of revenue Decreased customer satisfaction A measurable drop in employee performance and morale

Areas of Improvement

There are several areas of interest that may yield opportunities for improvement. These facets of the company will be investigated for possible solutions: Service Desk communication with other support groups Quality of Knowledge at the Service Desk Current staffing model Front End Messages Crisis Management skills of existing employees

Key Success Factors

In order to successfully improve the Service Desk’s Crisis Management skills, it will be necessary to Improve training standards Ensure key players understand the proper process Revamp key procedures and processes Change the toolset utilized by the Service Desk Improve communication with other Key Players

Alternatives

Communication• In house communication• Management team

communication• Support Team

communication• Executive level

communication• Documentation/Post Mortem

Toolset Utilization• ServiceNow• Sales Force• Remedy• FEM tool

Additional Training• Six SIGMA• ITIL• Process training• HDI Manager training

Strategic Option

Utilize the Client’s chosen ITIL compatible ITSM tool (ServiceNow) for Crisis Management efforts

Will allow other teams and key players to access information faster, decreasing response time

Provide ITIL foundation training for key management members Gives management team a better understanding of change, configuration, and

problem management items essential to Crisis Management Improve communications with necessary support teams

Creating emergency on call rosters will improve response times Thoroughly define the Crisis Management process

Understanding roles and responsibilities will help the entire team thrive during Crisis

Strategic Option BENEFITS & RISKS

Benefits

ITIL certified management staff are worth more to the company A strong, proven Crisis Management team can be a selling point for

increasing business The up front costs of the plan are negated by the long term benefit Stress will be decreased on the call center floor and employee morale

will improve Customer satisfaction will increase with timely Crisis resolution

Risks

There will be a monetary cost associated with switching toolsets and providing the necessary training

If the employees are not properly motivated, the plan will not succeed regardless of cost

If improvements are not made quickly enough, the contract will be given to a competing company and revenue will decrease

The Crisis Management strategy places heavy emphasis on the management team

Solution FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Improving the Crisis Management skills of the Service Desk will have a positive, measurable impact on the success of the company as a whole. By improving in several key areas including training, process definition, communication, and tool set management the Service Desk team can increase their chances for success exponentially.

References and Additional Info

Smith, D. (2013) Business Continuity Management. A Crisis Management Approach. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 47-48.

Smith D.J. (2012) ‘BCM: How do you measure up?’, Institute of Business Continuity Management, RSA  

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