Process and Tools - The Argument Continues

This blog follows on from the recent post from Phyllis Drucker and stems from my recent experience delivering Service management tools training for Service desk professionals.

I recently delivered this  foundation training on Service Desk tools for Process owners. The course outline and prerequisites were communicated well in advance and when I stepped in for the first day, I had a great surprise. 80 % of the candidates did not have a formal ITIL foundation certificate and were sitting on a class that talks about service management tools aligned with ITIL process. When I enquired why they did not get themselves ITIL trained, the simple answer was we did not have time. We have scheduled a course in 2 weeks time.

I then spent half of my day 1 to just get them familiarized with the ITIL concepts and also managed to cover the rest of topic and lab exercises.

I was curious to understand how they planned to use the tools and the team leader mentioned that they were building a Service Mgmt COE and needed all service desk guys trained and on various SM toolset.
I see this issue mainly in countries like India where there is keen interest on tools and technology while the process aspect is always expected to be a freebie and is normally ignored.
Tailoring of tools or heavy customization is done by consultants within the client environment basically because they expect the tool to behave in a certain way and are not bothered about the actual need and rationale to customize.

Also I would have to say that  I have hardly ever  seen organisations leveraging more than 50 % of the features and capabilities shipped out of the box (OOB)
So in my opinion if the situation needs to improve there are 5 things that needs attention.

1. Understanding the true need of the organization or customer business requirements
2. Identifying the key ITIL processes that are applicable and help people understand the rationale behind usage
3. Identify an appropriate Service Management tool that fits to the purpose and objective
4. Enable meaningful business reporting to measure results and customer satisfaction
5. Ensure that the whole approach is communicated throughout organization and business units supported by training and soliciting feedback for ongoing service improvement
What has been your experience in addressing such gaps? Would love to hear your feedback and insights

This post was published at Shift on 03rd July 2014 

Why Should You Sign Up for a Mentor-Mentee Program?

As part of leading HP service management profession mentoring committee, I would like to register my thoughts as to why joining mentoring program would be a great value add and rewarding experience to enhance your career.

Most of us are busy in our existing roles delivering engagements or projects at a utilization of over 70 – 80 % that leaves us very little time for learning, exchanging views and developing new skills. We do not have the luxury to experiment on areas that we are interested and get exposure to people who have done that well in the past. So the aspirational area of our interest and passion is at the mercy of some miracle happening, to get us move closer to our goals.

Here is where I think organization should embark on Service Management mentoring program that can be handy and of immense value provided if you know your exact needs.

Here are my 8 Tips to make the Mentor-Mentee program effective once you get yourself signed.

1. Clear articulated requirements of mentee

Like every project, as a mentee ensure you have clear articulated requirements of what you would like to learn, what skill you would like to develop and outcomes expected after the tenure. I see some extract information like become expert on ITSM, ISO/IEC 20000. There is no clarity as to what your current level of knowledge expertise is and what you would like to achieve in the areas mentioned [Certification, Practitioner approach etc]

2. Develop overall plan, milestone and outcomes

In consensus with the mentor, mentee should develop and overall plan with milestone and outcomes expected. Mentee has to do the homework and ensure that mentor`s time is judiciously used while executing the plan. It is best to have at least once a month connected of 1 hour with planned agenda, experience sharing and resources that could be leveraged for further learning.

3. Commit time and frequency with Mentor

As a mentee, it is essential to commit time and agree on a definite frequency of synch up with the mentor to discuss on areas subjected to learning and development. Identify what time slot and date works better accommodating to the appropriate time zone. I don't like it when people don`t turn up on agreed date and time waste valuable time.

4. Adopt multiple channels of communication

While face-to-face is always recommended because we are globally diversified, phone calls and virtual rooms also work. In addition use email, chat and discussion forums to enhance your interaction with your mentors and community. This could make it quite a memorable experience.

5. Set up mutually beneficial agreement

Mentoring is a two way process in which both the mentor and mentee both needs to get benefitted. This means that every mentee should see how he/she can give back something for the mentor to get benefitted. This could be a different area where the mentee is expert at or provide aspects of support that would be needed for the mentor

6. Mentors stand to gain the most!

I have been a mentor myself for several years mentoring people from different geographies, skill set and experience. I have personally had a great learning experience culturally and also improved my people management and consulting skills. So if you are a mentor, be assured that this exercise will help you gain in all dimensions of overall development

Rewarding relationships with mentor and mentee happens when it is dealt with openness and absolute transparency. It is absolutely ok to say, I would not be able to help or share those information instead of beating around the bushes. Similarly, after a few conversations if the mentee feels that there is a disconnect with the way things operate, it is worthwhile to clarify and terminate with mutual consensus

8. Cash in on key lessons at your work

The best way to remember concepts is to put them to judicial use in your own work environment. So cash in on your key lessons and find ways to create value in your existing work. This ascertains value of this program to your manager.

These 8 steps have helped me and people I know gain immensely during a mentoring relationship. If you have had your experience, do share us your best practices that we all can imbibe in our future engagements.

This post was published at HDI Connect on June 23, 2014 

The Human Element of IT

Today, we are so used to a virtualized world that the whole of IT somehow has forgotten the human element of IT.
Processes, tools and technology are all great aids to bring about transformation of IT and business outcomes. However, the simple fact that human beings are instrumental in making things happen is getting lost somewhere in our race to be the fastest.
Value to human beings as well as their own importance is losing its shine because, we have become more commoditized.

It is time we re-examine this, and give the people due recognition and empathy.

Photo credit: iStock
So where do we start?
1. Acknowledge people as real assets
Leadership has always been associated with people who lead from the front and enable followers to join hands and make things a reality. There are ample instances in history to confirm that many ordinary people have delivered extraordinary results because of their vision and dedication. Within organizations, human resource management has been entrusted to retain the talent pool amid "churn" or personnel turnover.
2. Use the power of collaboration
Even with the sophisticated technology in place, considerable work needs to be done by professionals coordinating across geographies and make technology work for IT. Strong collaboration among single-minded people with a purpose has huge benefits to the organization and can accomplish great goals.
3. Recognize contributions
As an organization, we must define specific tasks on regular basis and roll all of them up to deliver superior service to the end user or customer. Recognizing individual contributions by employees can make the Total Customer Experience (TCE) a memorable one. This will gain their commitment to work with interest and engagement to achieve big things.
4. Attitude makes the difference
It has been said that attitude measures one's altitude. Organizations are spending considerable time and effort to hire the candidates with the right attitude so that they contribute to the value chain and make a difference.
5. Help people win and enjoy the synergy
The greatest of accomplishments in this world have been possible because of the collective efforts of people to win together for higher purpose. Help them understand how the win will create a difference for each one of them and for the organization at large. This helps to gain synergy and total participation.
There is so much of history that tells us that with the power of people and their synergy, we have made a world of difference. So let’s not forget the human element of IT.
After all, the human being is the most fascinating creature in this whole universe!