If you’re an IT Service Manager and you missed this, it’s worth a 2-min read.
Service manager peer groups. How can you benefit by joining one?
In a LinkedIn article from 3/8/18, a member of the MSP-Ignite Service Manager Peer Group explains:
Last week on a peer group call one of our members responded to a question from another business owner by saying "My Service Manager discussed this on his MSP-Ignite Service Delivery Peer Group call and resolved this issue" and yesterday another member stated "my Service Manager is a different person since joining an MSP-Ignite Service Delivery Peer Group". Glad to hear that @Stephen D Buyze is doing such a great job. Getting ready to kick off another group for Service Managers. -By Steve Alexander of MSP-Ignite
If you are an IT company service manager consider joining the highest quality peer group specifically designed for service managers.
Here is my personal (Steve Buyze) 2 cents about the benefits of joining the MSP-Ignite Peer Group:
As I was telling a new MSP-Ignite Service Delivery Peer Group member on a welcome to the group call, the benefit of being in a service delivery peer group is when you complete implementing a new initiative and you see the metrics moving in the right direction; rather than telling your spouse this great success, who responds with "that is great honey, what would you like for dinner", the response is yahoo! from a group of people that can appreciate the hard work that went into the implementation and how hard it is to move the metrics in the right direction.If interested in what all the buzz is about, here are some specific key takeaways from the last MSP-Ignite Service Delivery Peer Group conference call:
IT Peer Group Member's Challenge: Time Management
Suggestions from the Peer Group:
Create a list of your Most Vital Priorities (MVP)'s at the end of the day (maybe even after leaving the office)
Block off time first thing in the morning to address the items on your MVP list (maybe even start before the office opens up)
Keep the list in front of you and as the day progresses, focus on your MVP list
Drag and Drop email requests to your calendar and schedule time to do the work
The list should be reasonable on what you can accomplish in a day (if you find you are not completing everything, then make shorter lists until you do
Peer Group Member's Challenge: Hiring Technicians
Suggestions from the Peer Group:(need to hire a remote technician with every new client - takes 142 days on average to hire, new contract calls for support in 60 days)
Look to retail, specifically Geek Squad and Stapes. More than half the group reported great success in hiring these types of technical people
Start the process of hiring when the Opportunity is 60 to 75% probability. There is nothing wrong with posting for a job that does not exist yet. Feel free to go through the screening process. Be honest with the candidate. There is no obligation until an offer is made.
Hire a road warrior who can be parachuted into a new Customer site until the right candidate is hired and on-boarded (the added benefit here is that they do the onboarding and also instill company culture to the remote new hire technician).
Peer Group Member's Challenge: Client Documentation
Suggestions from the Peer Group:
What products really work? IT Glue, Sharepoint, others
What does it take to implement? 4-8 hours per Customer is the general experience
What does it take to maintain? It does take some billable Resource time at no charge to the Customer; at least on a quarterly basis
What information needs to be captured? This was too much for a conference call so it is a parking lot item. The list is being built via email between calls
These are just three examples of the value of a Service Delivery Manager receives from being part of MSP-Ignites Service Deliver Peer Group. For more information please visit https://www.msp-ignite.com/peer/service-managers/ or call Steve Alexander (the person that posted the Linkedin article) at 888.972.0236.Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Happy to help.
Steve Buyze