If you’re starting a new role as a service desk team leader, you may feel excited yet apprehensive, especially if this is your first leadership role. This article will help you understand what makes a great service desk team leader and how you can become one.
Why being a good service desk team leader matters
Your service desk is a customer-facing department. If run effectively, customer satisfaction levels will likely increase. However, if your service desk doesn’t meet customer expectations, it can negatively impact your brand.
Service desks help customers solve technical problems. In these instances, customers usually need help immediately and want the issue resolved quickly.
Providing fast, reliable, and knowledgeable service is crucial if you want satisfied customers. Happy customers are generally repeat customers, and they won’t hesitate to sing your praises to others.
That’s why your role as service desk team leader is so important. If your team is functioning at an optimal level, your customers will be happy to do business with your company again and again, which has a direct impact on the company’s bottom line.
What makes a team exceptional?
Highly effective teams have specific characteristics that differentiate them from mediocre teams. These include:
- Clear structure and assigned roles
- Collective and individual goals
- Talented individuals
- A sense of belonging
- Motivated team members willing to go the extra mile
- Open communication and trust (between team members and supervisors)
- Positive reinforcement
- Effective systems and processes
- Technical expertise
- Strong leadership
What makes a good leader?
Good leadership builds exceptional teams. Note that we’re talking about leaders, not managers. While many leaders may possess management skills, not all managers have leadership qualities. The first step to becoming a good service desk leader is to see yourself as a leader, not just a supervisor or manager.
So, what are the common attributes of good leaders? Apart from professional knowledge, good leaders display many of the following characteristics.
- They operate with a high level of integrity.
- They are self-aware.
- They have good communication skills.
- They have good listening skills.
- They can inspire others.
- They are empathetic and compassionate towards their team.
- They are resilient.
- They have sharp problem-solving skills.
- They are adaptable.
- They have the desire for continuous learning.
- They are open to feedback.
Moreover, they understand that leading a team is less about instructing team members to do as they say and more about setting an example for team members to follow. Strong evidence shows that servant leadership positively impacts team performance and employee satisfaction more than hierarchical “top-down” leadership.
Good leaders coach their teams rather than manage them. They are constantly seeking ways to serve their team members in a way that brings out the best in them.
How to be an effective service desk team leader
Now that you understand the principles of good team leadership, let’s unpack how you can apply them to build a service desk team that exceeds your customers’ expectations.
1. Define the objectives of the service desk
Service desks differ from help desks in that they focus on IT and technical support. Help desks typically provide a broader spectrum of customer support, whereas service desks focus on IT and technical support.
It is essential to get a clear mandate from the organization’s leadership on the scope of support your service desk will provide. This will influence the resources you’ll need, the employees you hire, and the performance targets you set.
2. Know the business
As a service desk team leader, you need an intimate knowledge of your business. This includes the company’s vision, goals, products, policies, systems, and processes. You should establish processes where other departments and the leadership update you on any shifts in strategy and changes in systems or policies the company implements.
You need to be able to guide your team and answer customer queries they may escalate to you. If you and your team have to spend a lot of time searching for answers, you will need more time to be able to resolve queries quickly.
3. Implement the right technology
Slow response times are a leading cause of frustration for many customers and factor into their decision to leave a brand. According to HubSpot, 90% of customers rate an immediate response as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ when they have a customer support question. ‘Immediate’ for many customers is 10 minutes or less.
The right service desk software can help your team operate more efficiently. Without the best tools to support their job, even the most talented service desk agents will be hard-pressed to deliver exceptional service.
Here’s what to consider when choosing service desk software:
- Is it a user-friendly system? Is it easy to navigate, with a dashboard that provides a quick overview of a customer’s support history?
- Does it feature an intuitive ticketing system with tagging and automated routing capabilities to support faster query resolution?
- Is it AI-enabled with features like AI chatbots that can provide simple troubleshooting support, removing the need for customers to contact an agent?
- Does it have built-in self-service options, like a knowledge base or customer portal? This allows customers quick access to information on commonly asked questions, significantly reducing the number of basic queries directed to agents.
4. Hire the right talent
Working closely with human resources, it’s important to find the right service desk employees.
First, identify the roles you need in your service desk. This should align with the scope and objectives of your service desk function. You may need to hire network engineers, desktop support technicians, and call center agents. If your company dispatches service technicians to customers’ homes, you may also need to hire field support technicians.
Next comes finding the right talent. Work closely with human resources to develop job descriptions, screening and interviewing processes, and onboarding programs. Apart from technical skills, service desk employees also need to be friendly, have excellent communication and conflict-resolution skills, and be able to work under pressure.
5. Build a positive people-centric team culture
Service desk environments can be demanding, with agents managing high-query volumes at times, dealing with difficult customers, and having to meet high-performance standards. This can take its toll on employee morale and well-being. Many agents become burned out and quit.
Customer contact centers have notoriously high employee turnover rates. According to Nextiva, call center turnover rates are between 30-45% annually. Many cite the high-stress environment, demanding performance metrics and a lack of growth opportunities as reasons for leaving.
If a toxic team culture is prevalent when you assume your role as team leader, you have an opportunity to turn this around by adopting an employee-centric approach.
Here’s what you can do to build a positive team culture where the well-being of your employees is a top priority:
- Set reasonable shift hours and performance targets.
- Allow open and honest two-way communication where employees can raise concerns.
- Discuss their aspirations and create employee development plans that include training and upskilling programs to help them advance in the organization.
- Recognize and reward good or improving performance. According to ITSM.tools’ 2019 Future-Readiness Report, 31% of the IT service management professionals polled felt they were not recognized for their work, and 41% felt they didn’t get enough recognition—that’s 72% of respondents who felt undervalued.
As a service desk team leader, regularly ask yourself one important question: How can I make my team members’ lives easier—physically, mentally, and emotionally? When employees do well in these areas, their job performance usually reflects this.
6. Invest in ongoing skills development
Continuous learning is vital for both you and your team. You may wish to hone your leadership skills and become a better communicator, and you should keep pace with industry developments.
Your employees may want to learn how to become better team players or resolve conflict. They will undoubtedly need ongoing training on the latest ITSM trends and technology to continue providing proficient customer support.
7. Review your team’s performance
Conduct regular service desk audits where you analyze your metrics to gauge agent performance and customer sentiment. If you’re using service desk software with data analytics, use it to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses in your service delivery.
Based on the findings, you can eliminate ineffective approaches, implement new strategies, develop employee training programs, and create team incentives.
What to avoid doing in your role as service desk team leader
Will you make mistakes as you grow into your role as service desk team leader? It’s almost certain you will. Here are a few pitfalls to look out for:
- Don’t assume everyone wants to be managed in the same way. Take an individualist approach and adjust your management approach to suit the individual’s needs.
- Don’t assume everyone understands your expectations. Communicate goals, benchmarks, and outcomes clearly so that every team member knows what’s expected of them, and reiterate them at regular intervals.
- Don’t withhold feedback. Your employees must know when they’re performing well and where they fall short. Providing regular feedback, both positive and constructive, is essential to keeping your team motivated and engaged.
- Don’t forget your employees are human. Be empathetic when they are experiencing challenges, both professionally and personally. Empathetic leaders garner the most loyalty from employees.
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Step Into Your Role as Service Desk Team Leader With Confidence
Building confidence as a service desk team leader will take a little time. No one expects you to be the “perfect” leader, but if you are authentic, act with integrity, and put your team first, you’ll quickly gain their respect and trust. Teams with high levels of trust are more robust and tend to achieve greater results—and that’s ultimately the hallmark of a great leader.
