This document provides tips for effective problem management. It emphasizes that problem management is about people and outcomes rather than just processes. It recommends starting with identifying some initial successes, clarifying goals, and using customer experience to drive improvements. Key tips include defining the problem manager role, asking questions to understand issues, increasing visibility of problems, maintaining a top 10 problems list, reviewing problem codes, and using the CSI triangle of identifying, solving, and measuring issues to improve service. The overall message is that problem management requires focus on communication, escalation, and resolution of real issues to improve customer experience and business outcomes.

1. Barclay Rae
Having technical trouble? Contact BrightTalk directly at www.brighttalk.com
Tweeting today? Please include #itsmfweb
Questions? Submit them via the question box on your screen
Problem Management not
Problem Adminstration

2. Problem
Management
not
Problem
Administration
itSMF USA
Webinar

3. Agenda
 Management and Administration
 Problem Management challenges
 CSI triangle
 Problem Management tips

4. 4

5. Problem management
Successful problem management will start to turn things
around
Why isn’t this working for so many orgnaisations?

6. Management and Admin
Management Admin
Driving Doing
Outcomes Activity
Results Processes, documentation,
work
Acting on information, making
decisions
Producing reports and analysis

7. Problem Management and Admin
Problem mgmnt Problem admin
Driving problem resolutions and
change
Processing problems, incidents
Outcomes – e.g. reduced incidents Activity – trends analysis, reports,
produce problem lists for action
Communicating, facilitating action Processes, documentation, work
Acting on information – getting
problems and risks prioritised. ROI
etc.
Producing reports and analysis,
managing priority lists, arranging
meetings

8. Problem management
Successful problem management will start to turn things
around
Why isn’t this working for so many orgnaisations?
Not enough focus on role and skills/attributes rather than
process
Too often seen as administrative/low level
The exact nature of the work and tasks required for PM is often
not fully understood

9. CSI Triangle

10. ITSM Geometry
Service Desk
ITSM engine
Service
Catalogue
CSI

11. CSI Triangle
Solving /
managing
issues
Re-using
work +
know how
Identifying
issues /
trends
Measuring
progress /
success

12. Metric ‘Bundles’
Metric What Threshold Weighting
Telephony ABR/AHT/ATR ABR<5%
AHT<5 min
ATR<2 min
20%
Incident logging SLA Key apps – HR +
Payroll apps+ Email
99.8% Service
Hours
20%
Incident resolution SLA Weekly review Target 90% 20%
Agent efficiency Weekly review Target 90% 10%
Customer satisfaction Month end billing 100%
availability
20%
Efficiency/scheduling Internal metrics % targets 10%
SERVICE DESK
98%

13. Metric What Threshold Weighting
SLA Incident/fix <5 per week 20%
Availability Key apps – ERP +
Email
99.6% Service
Hours
15%
Customer Satisfaction Weekly review Target 85% 25%
NPS/KCI Weekly review Target 75% 10%
Key Metric – Moment of
truth
Key time availability 100%
availability
30%
CUSTOMER - SERVICE A
100%
Metric ‘Bundles’

14. 94%

15. Problem
Management
Tips
itSMF USA
Webinar

16. Problem Management tips
 Where to start?
 Problem Management role
 Questions
 Visibility
 Top 10
 Codes and categories
 Customer / Service Experience principles
 CSI – knowledge/metrics

17. Where to start?
• Benchmark
• Identify and promote some individual
successes
• Clarify goals and objectives for PM
• Use customer experience to drive
improvements
• Build an initial problem list + CSI Register

18. Problem Mgmnt role
 More about ownership + people than just a
process
 Problem Management – part analyst,
investigator, mostly project manager
 Need to clearly define role and objectives

19. Questions
• How are we doing?
• How can we improve?
• Why is this happening?
• Why does it keep happening?
• How can we stop it ?
• What’s the impact/cost/benefit
• Why breaches – ‘Watermelon SLAs’ and reports?
• Why do we use this model/do it this way?

20. Visibility
• Open up your problems to a wide audience –
to speed up resolution

21. Top 10
• Develop process for building and maintaining
an agreed list of top 5/10 problems – for the
department.
• Ask management – what are they doing about
the top 10?

22. Review codes and Categories
• Separate logging and closing categories, Cause
codes, Reason for Failure
• Review and rationalise codes/tables, inputs
• Think outputs

23. Customer / Service Experience
Use Customer experience (mapping, touch
points, moments of truth, outcomes) to drive
improvements
Define and use targeted initiatives – e.g. like
‘shift left’ for focus
See SITS/Cherwell/SDI CX paper

24. Shift Left
The ‘no brainer’
Faster
Cheaper
Easier
Just a better customer experience
1 2 3
$10 $100 $300

25. CSI Triangle
Solving /
managing
issues
Re-using
work +
know how
Identifying
issues /
trends
Measuring
progress /
success

26. 26

27. Problem Management tips
 Where to start?
 Problem Management role
 Questions
 Visibility
 Top 10
 Codes and categories
 Customer / Service Experience
 CSI – knowledge/metrics

28. Summary
Ultimately, problem management is about
digging out the real issues
and
finding effective ways to get them
communicated, escalated and resolved

29. Summary
• Think person/people and role over process
• Outcome over activity
• Driving delivery over doing stuff
• This process won’t happen by itself
• Use customer and business focus to drive
action
• Build on initial successes – however small

30. Thank you for
listening!
barclayrae.com
Itsmgoodness.com
BrightTALK CH 9885
#itsmgoodness
@barclayrae

31. Thank You
For Attending!
 Please “Rate This” webinar
― Include any comments to help us build quality events for you
 Please plan to join us for our next event
 Want to share this with others?
― Recorded version of it will be available shortly at:
http://www.itsmfusa.org/the-forum-on-line-conferences-webcasts