Measuring and Making the Most of Service Desk Metrics

       There is a common misconception to measure almost everything within a service desk. Tracking the wrong metrics drives wrong behavior among agents. Therefore, it is important to measure metrics that matter. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every business. For example, if the number of tickets resolved is set as a metric, then agents are more focussed on resolving the ticket rather than meaningfully solving customer problems, compromising on the quality of service. Therefore, the first step in the process is to define the goals. Goals lead to the right behavior or action and map each behavior to a metric that measures the effectiveness of the behavior.

        Freshservice published a report along with Service Desk Institute (SDI) on “Measuring and Making the Most of Service Desk Metrics”. This report will explore what organizations are actually reporting on and how often, how they produce reports, and what they do with this data. This will enable us to understand whether the organizations could be reporting more efficiently and focus on how to gain the most value from metrics.

        Part of this report looks at how much value the business places on metrics, as well as how useful service desk professionals believe the metrics they measure are. There should be a good level of communication between the service desk and the business to understand what each party requires in terms of the measurement of metrics and what the service desk’s capabilities are. Measuring and monitoring performance metrics can never be the detriment of the quality of service.

Measuring and making service desk- CTA

Do you monitor service desk performance metrics?

90% of the respondents measure performance metrics whereas 10% do not measure any performance data. Smaller or less mature service desks may struggle to find the time or resources to effectively measure, report, and analyze performance metrics, as they need to focus their efforts on other areas of service. However, it is crucial to measure performance metrics for overall service improvement.  

Measuring & Making the Most of Metrics

Are your performance measurements linked to performance targets?

64% of respondents agreed that they have defined Key Performance Indicators (KPI). However, 13% still do not have any defined performance targets. It is important to note that targets can drive behavior. Service desk staff may be more concerned about ensuring metrics meet target rather focusing on the quality of the service, which could have a negative impact on the customer experience. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure you are measuring the right metrics, and they are balanced to ensure they deliver a great experience.

Measuring & Making the Most of Service Desk Metrics

 

How much time do you spend collating metric reports per month?

Reporting too frequently may not be useful which consumes a lot of time if your service desk does not automate report generation. This is because service desk agents are spending a significant amount of time collating reports rather than performing tasks which could be more valuable to the service desk. Only 13 % of respondents are following an automated process with the help of their service desk tools.

Measuring & Making the Most of Metrics

This report has explored metrics based on what the industry is measuring, how the service desk and the rest of the business use metrics to effect change. One thing which is clear is that some service desks do not report or review all the metrics they measure. Furthermore, without processing the data and reviewing it, there may be underlying issues which are being missed and could present major issues further down the line. It is important to review business-related metrics and report these effectively to the business, so they are better informed on how the organization could change to improve efficiency while also understanding IT’s capabilities and how they can work together to achieve the business goals.

To read the full report, click here.

service-desk-metric-report-download-CTA