20 PROCESS AND PRACTICE

Text: Milou Snaterse

Shared Service Management is extensive
collaboration between supporting
departments. This gradual process starts
with supporting departments that are
currently sharing nothing and start working
in one tool. The next step is a shared service
desk, and eventually shared processes. A joint
collaboration saves money but the customer
also experiences higher quality of services.
When you decide to work together, you may
face a number of challenges.
CHALLENGES OF THE TOOL
Screen information
With Shared Service Management, you work
towards a shared set-up. This makes it easy
to share information. However, when you
are working you only want to see your own
and your departments calls, not the entire
organizations calls. In this case you can use
the category flter to flter the drop-down
list. Adjust your Task Board so it only shows
your own calls. This way, you can directly view
relevant calls while other calls remain visible
in the background. When there is a need to
screen information from the database, for
example with private documents, you can
easily do this on the basis of operator or
categorization.
Find common ground
When you are working towards a shared
TOPdesk set-up, sharing drop-down lists and
felds can be challenging. It is important to
look for common ground. Work out where the
different departments can meet in the middle.
However, stay critical of the set-up. If there is
no common ground to be found regarding a
certain point, such as a calls duration, use a
prefx to indicate what time belongs to which
department. This is a temporary solution
to bridge the period between the different
processes in TOPdesk. In the end, a complete
shared set-up is the goal.
Use the same email template
All your customers have the same needs.
Whether they are being helped by IT, FM or
HR, after they have logged a call, they all
want to know When will my call be solved?
This is why you should use the same email
moments and structure in each department.
Use a note or optional feld on for example
an Operator Group card to automatically add
department-specifc signatures. You can refer
to that feld in the email, ensuring that the
correct signature is displayed.
CHALLENGES OF THE
MANAGEMENT
Divide functional and technical
management
It is advisable to divide the management
of TOPdesk into functional and technical
management. IT is usually in charge of
the technical management and deals
with updates and backups. The functional
management, which is focused on setting
up TOPdesk, can be sourced to several
departments. You can choose to also
assign functional management to the IT
department. Another option is to task
different departments with management
tasks. This is useful if a certain department
is the only one to use a module. A fnal
option is to give the functional management
SHARE YOUR
SERVICES
Your organization is probably already aware of Shared Service
Management. Perhaps the IT department already uses TOPdesk
and your FM and HR department are joining; maybe all supporting
departments are currently working with separate tools and they
want to work together in TOPdesk. Read on to nd out which
challenges you may face and nd out how to deal with them.
Shared Service Management in practice
to an independent department, such as
Information Management. Once TOPdesk
is used in multiple departments it becomes
an organization-wide application. It is then
logical that an independent department is
responsible for the management.
Appoint key users
Once you have decided who manages what, it
is also good to think about how you manage
TOPdesk. It is advisable to appoint key users
to help you. These key users know the process,
the methods and TOPdesk well and that is why
they can easily make the shift from What is
my colleague asking? to What can I do with
it in TOPdesk? They function as a vestibule for
the application manager, making sure that he
does not have to constantly answer practical
questions. Plan regular meetings between the
key users and the application manager so they
can tell each other what issues are important
and what changes need to be implemented
in the organization.
Record management and
set-up choices
Finally, documentation is an important point
of interest when it comes to managing
TOPdesk. Record set-up choices in an
implementation report; this makes it easier to
determine the impact when you divert from
the set-up. In a management agreement you
record who manages what. This does not have
to be a long document: it is only to make clear
what falls under whose responsibility.
CHALLENGES OF A SHARED
SERVICE DESK
Choose skilled or non-skilled
When taking the frst step towards a shared
service desk, one of your frst questions is: do
we want a skilled or non-skilled service desk?
You probably want your customers to be able
to fnd the service desk and keep returning
because of good experiences with the service
desk employees. In this case, select a skilled
service desk. In practice, this is easier said
than done. Service desk employees in many
organizations dont have multidisciplinary
knowledge and not much knowledge is shared.
An important frst step here is to document
knowledge. Formulate issue scripts and
standard answers, and set these up as Standard
Solutions. Dont forget to create an escalation
form in which you describe what should be
done with complex or urgent matters.
All departments represented
The ideal situation would be that every
department is represented in a shared service
desk. This makes sharing knowledge easier.
However, if a lot of knowledge is documented
and certain services are standardized, it is not
necessary to represent every department.
The service desk employees work with
recorded knowledge and an escalation plan is
at hand should things become complex. You
should still plan regular meetings with all
departments to keep everyone up-to-date on
new developments.
Single point of contact
One single contact point for all your
customers can go a long way in your pursuit
of higher customer satisfaction. Do you
also want to let your back offce directly
communicate with the caller, for example
when there is an additional question or when
they want to try a possible solution? Have
them communicate from the service desk.
This enables you to send a clear signal to
your customers: contact the service desk.
Using the Self Service Desk is a good
extension of the shared service desk. It is
useful to clearly set up the portal. Group
different calls with general names such as
Calls, Requests and Information and
FAQs. Your customer then does not have to
choose between IT, FM and HR, but he can
choose the category that is applicable.
Working towards shared services
Collaborating on services presents many
challenges. Are you planning on working in
one tool? Look for common ground. Try to
agree, even if you do not yet share the same
methods. Make clear agreements about
management: determine who manages
what. This provides an overview should any
questions arise. Finally: give the service desk a
clear role within the organization. Make sure
that they have enough knowledge to help
your customers and to make sure customers
keep returning because of good experiences
with your service desk employees.
PROCESS AND PRACTICE 21
Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn
Nienke Best, TOPdesk consultant, presented
during TOPdesk on Tour
Want to know more?
This article is based on the Shared Service
Management in practice presentation
from TOPdesk on Tour 2014. Would you
like to re-watch the presentation? Please
go to www.slideshare.net/topdesk