By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology 1 User Support Management Beisse

by Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology 1

User Support Management

Beisse


Objectives In this chapter you will learn: The mission of a support group and the parts of a mission statement The steps in staffing a support position The contents of a training program for support staff How to manage a user support project Which software tools help with project management tasks The industry certifications that are available to support professionals About professional help desk and user support associations Ethical principles that guide the professional behavior of support workers


Managing Concerns:Mission, Performance, Staffing, and Training1. User Support Mission

List of guiding principles that communicate support goals and objectives to staff, users and management

Quality, usability, effectiveness, satisfaction Example of user support group mission statement :

“Your satisfaction is our priority”

2. User Support Performance and Justification Performance statistics – objective summary information about the user support or

help desk operation For example – if a helpdesk’s mission statement sets a goal of responding to 90%

of telephone calls received within 60 seconds, then a statistic shows only 88%, then the helpdesk doesn’t meet the mission

Example of Performance measure of helpdesk performance Wait time – average time to respond to incident Abandonment rate – percentage of incident that were abandoned (user hung up or gave up) Average resolution time for each incident User satisfaction survey – a questionnaires that measure user satisfaction level Web based survey


Managing Concerns:Mission, Performance, Staffing, and Training

3. Staffing the helpdesk Managers have to determine how many helpdesk are needed to meet

the service levels Erlang unit – is a unit of traffic (user calls) processed in a given period

of time This calculation is used in a situation for example for client waiting time

for paying groceries Other analysis used is the KSA analysis

Hardware, operating systems, and applications software Technical skills, Network experience and skills Troubleshooting and problem-solving skills

A knowledge and skills test – test that measure prospective workers‘ knowledge and problem solving abilities

A scenario question – where specific problem (real case) is given to the applicant. Such as answering telephone calls.


Managing Concerns:Mission, Performance, Staffing, and Training

4. User Support staff Training The support staff training includes both new employee

orientation and ongoing training for staff to upgrade their skills. It includes; Orientation to the organization Payroll and employee benefit information Specific job skill training Support group policies and procedures Performance appraisal criteria and procedures

Performance appraisal – is a process to evaluate a user support worker according to established criteria


Managing a User Support Project Project * (Install network server or system wide software) Project Management Steps

Project Management – step-by-step work plan and process designed to reach a specific goal. It includes;

Step 1 - Project definitionStep 2 - Project planningStep 3 - Project implementationStep 4 - Project monitoringStep 5 - Project termination


Managing a User Support Project Step 1 > Project definition

Define the scope of the project, including goals, start & end date, budget, participant Project goal – specific measurable result that is the target of the project Example – Evaluate, select, install and implement a helpdesk management software

package

Step 2 > Project Planning Project planning activities includes dividing a project into specific tasks, estimating a

duration for each task, the people needed and cost for each task A project task - specific action that must be performed to meet the project goal A project plan – pulls together all project tasks into a document Project’s risk factor – analysis and assessment of the problems that can arise during the

life of a project. This includes the estimation of cost, resources and incident that occurs during the project.

Step 3 > Project Implementation During this step, the support staff member perform the task according to the schedule in the

project plan


Managing a User Support Project Step 4 > Project Monitoring

This step involves assessing the status of all project tasks, such as “ How much work has been completed”

Scope creep – tendency of a project to change in unexpected way that increase the cost and resources

Step 5 > Project Termination Upon completion of the project, report is prepared and the performance of the project and

participants is evaluated

Project Management Tools (Microsoft Project) Gantt Chart Critical Path

* Assignment

Managing a User Support Project

Project Management Tools (Microsoft Project) Gantt Chart – project

planning tool that shows the basic information about each task in a project as a horizontal bar on a graph

Predecessor task – an activity that must be completed before another task can begin

Critical Path – sequence of project tasks that must be completed on time to meet the project’s completion time



User Support Certification Certification – an assessment process to measure and document employee

knowledge and skills in a specialized area in IT field. Example of certification Formal education which results in a certificate, diploma, or degree Vendor-specific product knowledge and skill certification Industry-standard knowledge and skill certification in a specific area,

such as hardware, networking, or support Certification that measures the fitness of a support group against

industry-standard criteria Examples: Microsoft certificates –

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/default.aspx Best practices – support industry procedure, tools, and methods that are used

by support group


User Support Certification Benefit of Certification

Recognized benchmark of minimum level job skill and expertise in the area covered by certification

A justification for receiving higher pay, as new or experience worker An opportunity for promotion and career advancement A way to document for employees‘ effort in keeping up to date in

computer field Feeling of pride of accomplishment and increased job satisfaction

Crash courses – or boot camps are intensive classes to prepare participants in a short time ( days or weeks) to take a certification exam.

Adaptive test – a test or questions taken from a test database that try to estimate the test takers’ ability quickly


User Support as a Profession Association of Support Professionals

www.asponline.com Network and system Professional Association

www.naspa.com

Service Support Professional Association http://www.thesspa.com/

Documents

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology 1 User Support Management Beisse