Written by John Noctor I love a bit of Ted Lasso. It’s funny, warm and relentlessly kind, but underneath all of that, there are some surprisingly useful lessons about leadership. Ted arrives in England to manage a Premier League football club despite barely knowing the game. He isn’t the technical expert, and he doesn’t lead through tactics alone. WhatContinue reading “Be a Goldfish: 8 Leadership Lessons for Service Desk Teams”
Resource Type Archives
Skills every modern service desk manager needs (beyond certification)
An ITIL qualification or vendor certification can provide a valuable foundation, but it does not automatically make someone an effective service desk manager. Modern service desks sit at the intersection of technology, people and business operations, so the strongest managers combine service-management knowledge with leadership, commercial awareness, communication and a continual-improvement mindset. Today’s service desk manager is expected to leadContinue reading “Skills every modern service desk manager needs (beyond certification)”
The Empty Yes – On Burnout, Service Desks, and Metrics
The Gang of Stigma Series Written with the assistance of Claude, Anthropic’s AI. Without the contributions of Sophie Hussey, Alex Harding, Faith Thomas and Danielle Smith, this story would not exist. Series concept by Daniel Breston. Created by Daniel Breston with the assistance of Claude, Anthropic’s AI, and contributions from Sophie Hussey, Alex Harding, Faith Thomas and Danielle Smith. TheContinue reading “The Empty Yes – On Burnout, Service Desks, and Metrics”
Integration Ops: Is This the Missing Piece in Modern Service Management?
By John Noctor, Service Desk Institute One of the advantages of spending far too much time thinking about service management is that every now and then you come across something that makes you wonder whether the way we work is starting to change. Integration Ops is one of those things. My first reaction was probably the same as yours: doContinue reading “Integration Ops: Is This the Missing Piece in Modern Service Management?”
ITSM Automation Tools: Where to Start, What to Automate, and What to Avoid
Automation is now central to how modern service desks improve speed, consistency and experience. Many ITSM platforms include automation capabilities as standard, and newer solutions increasingly add AI-assisted workflows, self-service and orchestration across multiple systems. The opportunity is clear, but so are the challenges. Service desk leaders need to know: What to automate first? How to evaluate the options properly? What are the risks? A goodContinue reading “ITSM Automation Tools: Where to Start, What to Automate, and What to Avoid”
How to Write an XLA From Scratch
Creating an XLA from scratch is a process that’s more about articulating what good IT support should look like than making that into a workable deal that teams can implement daily. Experience Level Agreement provides service desks with a way to go beyond response and resolution times to measure the quality of the support experience. Quality of IT delivery isContinue reading “How to Write an XLA From Scratch”
AI Native Knowledge Management
Your answer to a better knowledge base might be a much smaller one The pitch for agentic AI in the service desk is seductive. Point an agent at your knowledge base, let it resolve tickets, watch the deflection rate climb, go on holiday and let the agents make the money. However, that pitch assumes your knowledge base is ready forContinue reading “AI Native Knowledge Management”
Advanced Incident Management Tools for IT Support Teams: Features to Consider
We’re moving beyond the old days of basic ticket-logging tools. Advanced incident management can now significantly reduce downtime by being fully automated and AI-powered, and with strong integrations with other IT tools. So, what does this all means for IT support engineers and managers? Simply put, now more than ever they need to know which features are most important to select tools that will not only enhance response time, collaboration, and root-cause resolution, butContinue reading “Advanced Incident Management Tools for IT Support Teams: Features to Consider”
Common XLA Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The following is a list of typical XLA errors and some suggestions on how to prevent them. XLAs can be powerful, but only when implemented properly. There are a number of things that many organisations do wrong when implementing Experience Level Agreements, and these can leave them with issues that make them confusing, ineffective or unmanageable. Fortunately, many of theseContinue reading “Common XLA Mistakes and How to Avoid Them”
ITSM Tools for Small Businesses: How to Choose the Right Platform for a 5–50 Person IT Team
Smaller IT teams are often expected to deliver the same level of responsiveness, consistency and visibility as much larger service organisations, but with fewer people, tighter budgets and far less time to manage tooling. That makes choosing the right ITSM platform especially important. The right tool can simplify support, improve service quality and create room for growth. The wrong one can add unnecessary complexity, cost andContinue reading “ITSM Tools for Small Businesses: How to Choose the Right Platform for a 5–50 Person IT Team”