WEEK THREE Session I - Helpdesk Staff & Service Orientation

8/4/2019 WEEK THREE Session I - Helpdesk Staff & Service Orientation

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WEEK THREE, Session 1

Helpdesk staff and Service

orientation



Helpdesk plays a variety of roles.

• As a front-line service provider

• As helpdesk management personnel

• More indirect customer support

Each role requires a specific set of skills.

What are the specific perspectives of Helpdesk staff involved?

i.e. Customer, technician, administrator, andmanager perspectives

In groups - Discuss and come up with your ideas andrecommendations and a short brief on theseperspectives.

Time: 10 minutes. A group member read the list.

Helpdesk staff and Service orientation



Customer / employee perspective

Ideally wants quick answers andsolutions.

The fastest way to achieve that is toaccess a knowledgebase and get

answers at the customer’s ownconvenience.

Additionally friendly, efficient andcompetent employee makes this a

reality for the customers.



Helpdesk Technician perspective

Want sophisticated facilities to search the KBto solve support inquiries. What happens if the answer does not exist in the knowledgebase?

The helpdesk agent wants a simple way to log in or record the problem at

helpdesk and assign it to a second tier person, who may be located in a distant

facility – decentralized CC or PC or a centrally decentralized location. The

helpdesk agent also needs to be reliable and efficient to keep pace with support

volume



System Administrator perspective

Needs a reliable system thataccommodates real-time access tosupport a broad range of supportinquiries. Why?

The helpdesk is a business critical operation, the systemadministrator is responsible for the consequences of any

delays caused by the overhead of system administration



Helpdesk Manager perspective

Needs top-quality service forcustomers coupled with reasonablecost;

a system that is quickly deployed andeasily used by Helpdesk;

also tools to access current andhistorical activities, trends, and results.

The manager also want a mechanismfor escalation and advancenotification, so that emergency andhigh-level problems get immediateattention



Are these the only staff?

Who else is involved within the core Helpdeskfunctionalities?

The job titles and job responsibilities vary fromone type of helpdesk to another. Examples of jobtitles:

Senior Helpdesk Manager

Helpdesk Manager

Team Leader / SupervisorCall Dispatcher

Level One Analyst

Level One Specialist



Often have titles such as:

1. Helpdesk Analyst

2. Customer Support Analyst

3. Helpdesk Technician4. Customer Service Representative

5. Customer Service Assistant

Role of Specialist?

Often Specialists has titles such as

helpdesk specialists, technical

support specialist, customer

support specialists

A level one specialist researches

complex incidents and develop

solutions that require moreskills



Why do Helpdesks have Analysts and Specialistswithin the level one core functionality?

A combination of different skill sets provide

organizations with THE RIGHT BALANCE

between

- the need to respond quickly to customer

requests, and

- the need to resolve incidents correctly and

permanently



Job Responsibilities

Every Helpdesk member MUST understand his or

her purpose, job responsibilities and professional

responsibilities

Job description outline the specific tasks assigned

to a person and provide managers and theiremployees a clear understanding of the work to

be done.



What is theprimary jobresponsibility?

The primary responsibilities are to provide a single point of contact for all

support services, deliver value to customers, and capture and distribute

information



What is the

professionalresponsibility?Helpdesks acts as focal point for theirorganization or department. Helpdesk team

must conduct themselves at all times in aprofessional and ethical manner.

How do they ensure high standards of ethicaland professional conduct?



How do they ensure high standards of ethical andprofessional conduct?

Examples:

1. Giving customers an honest an accurate estimate of thetime it will take to resolve their incident.

2. Build confidence by keeping customer commitments

3. Communicate in a language of the customer and avoid useof confusing terminology and technical jargon



Required skills The roles and responsibilities of Helpdesk staff reflects helpdesk sizeand structures.

This means organization’s commitment to customer satisfaction andits willingness to invest in helpdesk influences the roles andopportunities that exist

The most difficult challenge facing help desk managers today isfinding people for front-line positions who has the right mix of skills.

Strong technicians may lack empathy skills or patience required.People-oriented individuals may lack technical skills.

The right skills are required to match with the right position



Required skills



Which skill can be more easily developed?

The technical skills or the interpersonalskills? Why?

Individual views, please



Technical skills can be developed more easily thaninter-personal skills.

Many modern organisations will hire people withgood interpersonal skills and a customer serviceorientation and then provide them the necessarytechnical training

This is not to say that technical and technological skillsare not important

Likewise companies which support highly sophisticatedtechnology hires people with strong technical skills andprovide EXTENSIVE customer service training.



In the contemporary, highlycompetitive market place, customer

service skills take center stage.

A Fortune Magazine article referred totechnical workers with goodinterpersonal skill as “The Worker

Elite”



When hiring helpdesk staff,employers look for good technicaland analytical skills as well asexcellent customer services skill

The specific skills required by anorganisation are determined by jobdescriptions. These skills typicallyfall into 4 main categories.



The specific skills required by an organisation

are determined by job descriptions. These skillstypically fall into 4 main categories.

What are these 4 categories?

In groups - Discuss and come up with your ideas and

recommendations and a short brief on the 4categories.

Time: 10 minutes. A group member read the list.



1. Business skills

2. Technical skills

3. Soft skills4. Self-

management

skills



1. Business Skills

This is the ability to:

-understand and speak the language of business

- the ability to analyze and solve business problems.

Business skills are unique to industry. Business skills also include skills

specific to customer service and support industry, such as understandingthe importance of meeting customer needs and knowing how to managetheir expectations. These skills are called industry knowledge.



Business KnowledgeSome business knowledge is useful regardless of theprofession

Business knowledge grow as you acquire education andexperience, and through observing the activities thatoccur in work area.

Some basic skills needed to acquire business knowledge includes:

1. Understanding and speaking the language of business.2. Analyzing and solving business problems

3. Using helpdesk data to analyze trend and quantify improvementopportunities

4. Understanding the importance of developing cost-effective solutions thatbenefit organisation’s business goals



Business Knowledge

The absence of business knowledge skills may not hinder atechnical profession. The presence of business knowledgeskills will increase the opportunities available to a technicalprofessional and increase his or her speed of careeradvancements

Industry Knowledge

Helpdesks seek to hire people who understand the specificindustry knowledge which the organization is engaged such asmanufacturing, retail, financial or service. Industry

knowledge enables the helpdesk analyst to understandthe customer needs and appreciate the impact on thecustomer’s business when a product or service fails toperform properly



Service Industry Knowledge

When hiring for Analysts or Specialists,Helpdesks require knowledge of CustomerService and Support industry.

The business skills and knowledge

required for helpdesk vary dependingon the company’s market and jobcategories involved (e.g. level oneanalyst or level one specialist)



2. Technical Skills

This is dependent on the customer’s technical needs.

Technical skills are the skills people need to use andsupport the specific product and technologies thehelpdesk support.

The companies least expect people applying for entry level position to be computerliterate – preferably understand popular software packages such as MicrosoftWindows.

For technical industries, often organisations use Web for recruiting purposes. Thisenables them to find job seekers who are comfortable in using the InternetTechnology.



Technical Skills

When interviewing a potential Helpdesk Analyst or

a Specialist, organisations may assess technicalskills in many ways.

This include:

1. Asking questions – check knowledge about a particular subject.

2. Testing – a standardized exam to evaluate a candidate’s abilities 3. Problem solving – present candidates with problems and evaluate

ability to isolate and fix the problem.

4. Certification – looks for completed relevant certification programs.E.g. from Cisco, Microsoft,or Novell



NEXT session

Problem solving and soft skills

Documents

WEEK THREE Session I - Helpdesk Staff & Service Orientation