Tag Archives: outcome-based thinking

ESM

Fear of collaboration: A silent killer of ESM initiatives

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Is your Enterprise Service Management (ESM) initiative stuck? Does it feel like no one wants to talk about, much less support, ESM?  Do you feel like you’re on an island?  If these questions resonate with you, your ESM initiative may be a victim of a fear of collaboration.

Collaboration is when two or more people work together to achieve a common goal.  Successful collaboration involves sharing responsibilities, supporting each other, and sharing risks. When people collaborate, they invest in the success of each other, and work as a team to overcome challenges to achieve shared goals.

Successful ESM requires collaboration. But to many, being asked to collaborate is intimidating.  It’s uncomfortable.  In some cases, it is counter to the culture of the organization. In other cases, it’s a threat to an individual’s sense of control, self-worth, or identity.

Collaboration can be downright scary.

Why are people afraid of collaboration?

People are often afraid of collaboration for several reasons.  These reasons range from psychological, cultural, and organizational factors – factors that create obstacles to the effective collaboration needed for successful ESM.

This article from Harvard Business Review discusses the “blind spot” many leaders have when asking their teams to collaborate.  Leaders often overlook the experience teams may have when invited to collaborate, such as when asked to divulge information, break down organizational silos, share resources, sacrifice autonomy, or even relinquish responsibilities that define them as a group.  Rather than embrace the opportunities and successes that come with effective collaboration, some teams take on a defensive posture to protect their team identity, legitimacy, and sense of control.

An ESM initiative may encounter other barriers to collaboration. Some people fear appearing incompetent or weak when admitting gaps in their knowledge, especially in high performing organizations. Others are concerned about being indebted to others or having to reciprocate in the future, which can make collaboration feel transactional rather than mutually beneficial.  In workplaces that highly value individual achievement and self-reliance, people may feel pressure to solve problems on their own. Collaboration can be seen as a weakness, discouraging people from reaching out for help or engaging.

Why good ESM is critical to success in the digital economy

Why is having and practicing good ESM so important for organizations now?

Having reliable and responsive technology solutions is critical for business success in the digital economy.  The digital economy moves at digital speeds.  Understanding the organizational value streams – how work and value flow through an organization – is foundational for reliable, repeatable, and trustworthy digital interactions.  Since technology is a critical factor in underpinning and executing organizational value streams, having a mutual understanding of  the outcomes and value the organization wants to achieve is required.  Good ESM enables and embeds that mutual understanding across the organization.

The customer experience will be significantly influenced by the interactions of customers with technologies provided by the organization.  Those interactions must be frictionless, intuitive, and responsive – and in many cases, will not involve a human from the organization.  Good ESM enables organizations to understand and continually improve how the technologies underpinning organizational value streams that face the customer.

Good ESM requires good collaboration

As I’ve stated before, ESM is not “ITSM for the rest of the organization”.  ESM is holistic, organization-wide approach focused on value delivery, collaboration, and continual improvement, rather than just technology deployment. Good ESM is a strategic initiative that requires proper planning, leadership, and a focus on real business outcomes.

The focus of ESM must be on value streams and business outcomes, not implementing tools. Good ESM is achieved by aligning workflows and processes with organizational value streams and regular engagement among colleagues from across the organization to understand priorities and pain points and identify opportunities for improvement.

Good ESM relies on shared processes, increased collaboration, and improved communication across departments. This holistic approach enables organizations to leverage the full talents and competencies of the entire workforce, leading to better outcomes.[i]

Overcoming the fear of collaboration

While there is no “instant fix”  that results in collaboration, there are some significant steps an organization can take to enable and motivate the collaboration required for ESM.

First, an ESM initiative requires executive sponsorship and a champion.  Since good ESM requires a holistic approach, executive sponsorship is critical for helping tear down organizational silos.  Equally as important is having an ESM champion.  The champion not only represents the initiative at the senior levels of the organization but must also convey the vision for ESM.  It must be emotionally compelling.  Logical arguments alone are insufficient to overcome the deep-rooted emotional responses as discussed earlier.

Leaders must talk openly about the importance of psychological safety and make it an explicit team goal.  Leaders should model  inclusive leadership by actively soliciting input, showing vulnerability, and being approachable about mistakes.  Associates have to feel safe to ask questions, experiment, and make mistakes.

The goals, expectations, and roles of the ESM initiative must be clearly communicated from the start. Leaders must define clear, mutual objectives so that everyone is working toward the same outcome.  Regularly schedule check-ins to clarify any misunderstandings and to maintain alignment as the ESM initiative evolves.

Finally, having the right person lead the ESM initiative – and having the right people engaged –  is key. Build an ESM team environment where team members feel safe to voice ideas and concerns without judgment. Encourage empathy and understanding among team members. Celebrate and reward knowledge sharing, but just as importantly, celebrate the learning that comes from failures.

Move toward a collaborative ESM initiative

Here are some suggestions for overcoming collaboration challenges and getting your ESM initiative moving in the right direction.

  • Establish the shared purpose – Why is ESM so important for the future of the organization? In his book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek wrote “people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” [ii] Without the strong and compelling “why”, ESM efforts will not return the expected benefits.
  • Have a plan – ESM is not just extending the ITSM tool across the enterprise. ESM must be seen as a business strategy, not just a technology or IT initiative.
  • Make collaboration a personal objective – Start actively listening to others’ ideas and perspectives with empathy. This creates a foundation for trust and respect, which will open the door for more meaningful interactions and collaboration.

Effective service management is a key to success in the digital economy. But the future of service management is not within the IT department, but within the enterprise. Good ESM requires good collaboration across an organization to realize success.

[i] https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/20429/626830

[ii] Sinek, Simon. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. New York: Portfolio, 2009

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ITSM

Start with Reporting first *then* Measurement

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What are some common reasons why IT organizations measure and report metrics? Unfortunately, in my experience, the answers are not always the greatest.

  • “We produce this report / measure this indicator because we always have.”
  • “We measure this indicator because everyone else we know does.”
  • “We produce this measure because our tools enable us to.”
  • “We read/heard about this measure in a magazine/training class, and it sounded like something we should be doing.”
  • “My boss expects to see this report.”

Like I said, not the best reasons that I’ve ever heard.

The purpose of measurement and reporting is to enable fact-based decision making. But if no one is making any kind of decisions from your reports, then you’re not capturing and providing the right measures to the right people in your reports. Perhaps you should apply outcome-based thinking and start with reporting first, then measurement!

Are your measures and reports telling the (right) story?

The fact is that regardless of the quality of your measures and reports, a story is being told. But is it the story that needs to be told?

But what you measure, what you report, and the story that is told within those reports is the difference between enabling valuable insights and actions and just noise and confusion. Here are some common measuring and reporting mistakes:

  • Mistaking outputs for outcomes. Many reports contain measures that confuse activity (outputs) with accomplishments (outcomes). In other words, just because you closed the incident record, or answered the telephone within 60 seconds, doesn’t mean that you’ve accomplished any kind of result.
  • Only focused on the Service Desk. Measures that are meaningful and relevant to the service desk have little to no meaning outside of the service desk. No one outside of the service desk really cares about measures like ASA or utilization.
  • Missing business-oriented measures. In today’s digital enterprise, technology is integrated with business processes – so integrated that businesses cannot function without technology. But IT-produced technology-based measures and reports typically do not reflect the business of the business.
  • The infamous “watermelon SLA” report. The measures that IT reports do not reflect the experience of the consumer. IT hits its (self-defined) targets, pats itself on its back, but then wonders why customers aren’t happy. Well…
  • “Customer satisfaction” isn’t about the customer – part 1. First, many IT organizations conflate the terms “customer” and “user.” Remember, a customer defines the requirements for a service and signs a service level agreement (SLA). Users do not sign SLAs. Yet IT organizations send out satisfaction surveys to users and call that “customer satisfaction.”
  • “Customer satisfaction” isn’t about the customer – part 2. Secondly, the surveys that are being sent out to users are often not returned. And if they are returned, it is typically from people who are not happy with the interaction that they just had with IT. Yes, occasionally you get a response from a happy user. Yes, it’s good to know that users have had a poor experience. But regardless of the response, IT continues to send out the same surveys, containing the same questions, reporting the same measures, and nothing changes– good or bad – about user interactions with IT.

Not having consistent, relevant, and meaningful performance measures and reports damages the reputation and value of IT. What’s worse, measurement and reporting are activities often done as an afterthought.

Start with reports first

Starting with a “reports first” mindset will dramatically improve the usability and impact of your reports. How can you apply outcome-based thinking to measurement and reporting? In other words, how to start with reporting first?

Identify the audiences for your reports. Yes, audiences – plural. At a minimum, your audiences will be consumers, IT management, senior executives, and the service desk team. Keep in mind that each audience will have unique reporting requirements. For example, reports that you may provide to senior executives will be different than reports that you may provide to consumers; reports that you may provide to service desk staff will be different than reports that you may provide to other IT colleagues.

What does each audience want to know? Why do they need to know this information? What will they do with the information? What decisions do they need to make? Do they have performance objectives or targets that rely on this information? How frequently do they need the information?

What do you want your audiences to know? Why do you need them to know this information? What would you like them to do with the information? What decisions do you want them to make?

By identifying what your audiences want to know, as well as what you need to tell them, you’ll identify the specific measures that you will need to capture, monitor, and report…but there’s still more to do.

  • Does the data to develop these reports exist?
  • Can the data for each measure be captured?
  • Is the data coming from a source that can be controlled?

If the answer to the above questions is “yes,” you’re on your way to providing the measures and reports your audiences need – and value. But if the answer is “no,” never fear. This just means that you and your audiences will have to do some more work and negotiate what can be done that will meet your audience’s needs.

Make your reports measure up!

Do your reports measure up (pardon the pun!)? Here are my suggested steps for getting your approach to measurement and reporting up to speed.

  • Audit your current reports. Do you know the audience for each of your reports? Are you “missing” an audience for reporting? Do you know what decisions are made from what is reported?
  • Develop decision maps for each published measure. What decisions are enabled by a published measure? Who makes or should be making decisions based on the measure? What may potentially no longer need to be reported?
  • Compare published measures with the organization’s Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives (MVGO). Are your measures strictly technology or process measures? What measures are needed to relate the activities of your team or department to MVGO?
  • Review your reports with your audiences and gather feedback. Yes, meet with the receiver of each report and walk through your current reports with them. Ask questions about their job function, business contributions, and goals for their team. Ask them to tell you what measures they need to act upon or make decisions. This does a few things for you. One, it helps you understand how reports are being used. Two, it provides you with insight into another area of the organization. Three, it builds and enhances your reputation as a business-focused (not just technology-focused) colleague.

Effective measuring and reporting don’t happen by chance. Starting with reporting first will result in better measures, better decisions, and better value.

Do your reports measure up?  Do you need reporting that drives good decision-making and tells the right story?  Contact Tedder Consulting today for an no-obligation chat about how to tune-up your reporting and measuring!

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