Advice from an experienced IT Service Desk team leader

Shawn_Dark

I need some advice from someone who is an experienced IT support team leader. I'm starting that role soon but it'll be the first time I'm having to help build and implement processes designed to monitor and obtain reports on items such as quality and service. E.g. How well the team are doing, what do our users think of us.

I'm familiar with reporting but generally in the past it was done for me. I would just then tweak it within MS Excel. It's been a while but I also really need to learn how to produce a pivot table!

What I really need is some successfully implemented ideas (i.e. procedures/processes) for reporting and monitoring.

BobQ

Abu_Yoosha wrote: »

I need some advice from someone who is an experienced IT support team leader. I'm starting that role soon but it'll be the first time I'm having to help build and implement processes designed to monitor and obtain reports on items such as quality and service. E.g. How well the team are doing, what do our users think of us.

I'm familiar with reporting but generally in the past it was done for me. I would just then tweak it within MS Excel. It's been a while but I also really need to learn how to produce a pivot table!

What I really need is some successfully implemented ideas (i.e. procedures/processes) for reporting and monitoring.

If you cannot do the job, why did they give it to you?

Shawn_Dark

I can do the job and they're fully aware of what I can and can't do. They are going to train me on reporting. I just want to show that I've done my own study over the few weeks left.

I'd really appreciate it if "only those people who can answer the question" (even be it some quick points) comment only.

agrinnall

Pay to go on a training course before starting if you want to hit the ground running. This is not a free training website or a place to steal other businesses procedures.

74jax

Have you googled how to create pivot tables? I use excel loads but every now and again come across something that 'doesnt work' no matter how hard I try and figure out the error. Google is my friend.

I learnt pivot tables that way as what I was creating didn't reflect what we needed.

Sanne

If it's to be ITIL compliant read up on best practices, this will give you a good idea on where to start and where to go.

In fact, read up on it anyway as there's always something to take from.

Shawn_Dark

74jax wrote: »

Have you googled how to create pivot tables? I use excel loads but every now and again come across something that 'doesnt work' no matter how hard I try and figure out the error. Google is my friend.

I learnt pivot tables that way as what I was creating didn't reflect what we needed.

Morning, yes I'm okay with the pivot tables now, I've been practising a few this morning,. It's just been a while.

Shawn_Dark

Sanne wrote: »

If it's to be ITIL compliant read up on best practices, [this will give you a good idea on where to start and where to go.

In fact, read up on it anyway as there's always something to take from.

Yes I've got a background in ITIL, I've just not had to use it for over five years. I'm finally with a very good company and they're giving us SDI training.

I think I was just panicking a bit yesterday because it's a newly formed team and I only got offered the job the same day. Hence I posted the question on this forum and one other..

The other forum always gives positive responses only. Shame this forum has a few clowns who don't know when to stay quiet.

Thanks coming your way to both.

Have a good day!

robatwork

Abu_Yoosha wrote: »

The other forum always gives positive responses only. Shame this forum has a few clowns who don't know when to stay quiet.

Any forum that has positive responses only must be vetted.

You got some negative replies because your original post did sound like asking someone else to do your job for you. You could have worded it better.

Does this response qualify me as a clown? I pick Pennywise.

xapprenticex

Ive done this stuff in a previous role, its not difficult at all but you can make it sound difficult if you want to use a bunch of business buzzwords.

paddyrg

Just checking, you do have an incident/helpdesk system in place so everything is getting logged with times, dates, severity, priority, assignation, etc? That's step zero if you haven't. There are several excellent open source ones.

Some/most of these will already have reporting functionality, so learn that first, this is a problem that's already been solved 100 times. Learn how to make custom reports maybe as well, so you can adapt them to make some very specific reports for management.

Current fashionable buzzwords are all around DevOps, and the current fashion in using cloud services is committing wholly to one vendor (reducing interoperability problems, but compounding availability ones). Notice I refer to these as fashions - few years ago it was all about the NoSQL, or Agile, or... well suffice it to say there's no one right answer for every company/situation and it's very fashion-led. Indeed the same few ideas get recycled with new labels. If you want to stay up to date with current fashions, Gartner press releases are what higher-ups read. Very little technical value but at least you'll follow along in buzzword bingo games.

Finally, read the BOFH, if you don't already.