Running an Effective Help Desk (EHD)

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New Course! - 'Use Case for Business Requirements'.

GETTING THE MOST FROM THE HELP DESK

The help desk is the key contact point between IT and the user group.  Its prime mission is to deal with user enquiries and problems concerning IT services.  It’s quality will be measured by how efficiently and effectively it satisfies that mission.
Without a good help desk, users fail to exploit the features, advantages and benefits of their systems and the cost of support is increased.
Using a series of case studies and simulators, this practical 3-day workshop provides delegates with the ‘best practice’ techniques and methods required to maintain a low cost, high quality, problem solving help desk service.

WHO WILL THE COURSE BENEFIT?

Staff who actively participate in the running of a help desk; typically staff responsible for providing a first level business systems support service, and requiring day to day contact between IT division and user groups.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To enable delegates to develop the skills required to promote, participate in and enhance the services provided by a help desk.

WHAT SKILLS WILL THE DELEGATE GAIN FROM THIS TRAINING?
This course will enable delegates to:

  1. Identify the different types of help desk and state how they fit into an overall IT infrastructure.

  2. Determine the key objectives expected from a help desk.

  3. Identify the specific contribution of "Incident Control" to problem management and describe the associated procedures and software tools.

  4. Diagnose simple problems using a variety of problem solving and questioning techniques.

  5. Maintain excellent communications between the help desk and its customers such as IT, users, operations and external suppliers.

  6. Ensure the help desk provides a good customer care programme.

  7. Defuse awkward situations and enhance the help desk’s image by promoting mutually acceptable solutions.

WHAT METHODS ARE USED TO IMPART THESE SKILLS?

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Lectures supported by visual aids.

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Class examples with student involvement.

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Syndicate case study work.

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Small group experiments, with analysis.

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Presentation of syndicate findings, with critique.

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Comprehensive student manual.

                       COURSE STRUCTURE BY DAY  

Day 1.

Purpose of the Help Desk:
What it is, different types, IT Infrastructure and the help desk. Scope of the help desk. Objectives associated with incident control, user/IT interface, business operations support and management information.

Problem Management:
Incident control, problem control, error control.  Reporting and
alerting incidents.  Prioritisation and categorising incidents.
Managing the service levels.

Day 2.

Customer Care:
Customer care and a successful care programme.  Sources of
frustration and opportunity.  Enhancing relationships.  Promoting
solutions and services.  Procedures and statistics associated with
care, including service level agreements.

Communicating:
Basic communication techniques and how they can be used to
respond to different people in different situations.  Active listening and questioning.

Problem Solving:
Rapid incident investigation, diagnosis and resolution using: basic levelling techniques, provlem determination scripts and '4x2D' questions. Expert systems. User provlem solving via coaching methods
levelling techniques, problem determination scripts and ‘4x2D’
questions.  Expert systems.  User problem solving via coaching methods.

Coaching:
Basic coaching skills.  How coaching is best used so that users solve many of their own problems and queries.

Dy 3. 

The Awkward Customer:
Techniques for managing difficult situations including questioning visualising, proposing and asserting. 

Telephone Techniques:
How to keep the user satisfied, dealing with complaints. Standards and procedures for answering calls.

Promoting the Help Desk:
Making the help desk more pro-active and a solution centre.
Automation of functions, promoting inventory management,
configuration graphics, electronic information bulletins, database
enquiry, report generation facilities, expert systems and case base
reasoning.  
 

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