theartofservice

Trying to get your staff to stop and think before pulling that plug? How do you convince someone that Change Management and ITIL practices matter?

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… I have a secret….

Much to the disgust and horror of many of my participants, I AM A MAC FAN!  So much so that my work AND home laptops are macs, my HDD/ wireless router is a mac, I have Apple tv, 3 ipods and yes – I HAVE AN iPHONE…..

And WHY??? – maybe because of the functionality of all products, maybe because of the ease and integration, and maybe even due to its aesthetic appearance… but really even I am aware that the only reason I got into Apple was because of its marketing!!!!!

My first Mac was sold to me via ads of Utopia!  I knew that I could buy a PC with the same functionality, and maybe it might even come in an aluminium casing… but could a PC make me feel good???

Seriously speaking – it was the perception of the value of the product that made me believe how good it was…  sure there are flaws in all the products I won – and I can honestly say that frustrations levels rise at times re them…. BUT  I accept it, and at times condone it… BECAUSE its an APPLE

As ITSM providers – the perception of our service can greatly affect the value….  It may not matter how excellent your service provision is – if its not perceived as worthwhile – you will always get complaints!

So – my advice… package it so it’s aesthetically pleasing…. Market your services like their life is less without it….. – even make it WHITE!!!!!

If they think they are getting a great deal – they will appreciate it more! – (the saying about ice to Eskimos seems relevant here…)

Hmmm….

As for me…. When asked about how my iPhone is going…. “I’m still getting use to it”…..is my usual response… (but we all know the real answer….) maybe another blog…

Till next time

Cheers

From The Team at The Art of Service

Michael

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The Anger Management workshop facilitates significant insight into anger and how it effects both the individual and their surroundings. Understanding your own and other people’s anger allows you to manage the emotion, rather than the emotions managing you.

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Professional Development is a GOOD THING!

Yesterday, half of our staff attended a seminar by Verne Harnish.  His focus is about how to improve the calibre and growth of your business.

Shining through his seminar was a very clear message about ensuring that you are listening to your customer, and valuing them as … YOUR customer.  As he spoke he made reference to having enough in your “Portfolio” to ensure you can continue to provide a range of services to guarantee sustainability.

The more he spoke the more I was relating and comparing it to ITIL.  Although his message was very clearly business focused, it smacked a lot like Service Strategy.  This was a great clarifying moment for me, even as someone who has a good understanding of Service Strategy.  His message is exactly what Service Strategy is about – know you, know  - your customer!

He promotes his 1 page strategic plan, which if I had to relate to ITIL and Service Strategy, asks you to do your SWOT analysis, identify capabilities, resources, your priorities, goals/vision, as well as your future plans. (sounds a bit like a service Portfolio)

His seminar was far more than just strategy, but the customer comes first concept resonated.

For those interested in finding out more about Verne Harnish goto www.verneharnish.com

Till next time

Cheers from the team from The Art of Service

Michael

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The Building Self-Esteem and Assertive Skills workshop recognises the importance of self-confidence and assertion and discusses a number of techniques to increase feelings of self-worth.

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A recipe for success

I was trying to explain to a (non IT) friend the other day what a CMDB was (don’t ask why.. but), and the best way I could was by relating it to his profession – a chef. So today, I thought I would share my metaphor:

• As a chef, he was responsible for developing the menu  - service catalog.
• Within the menu are individual dishes – services
• As a chef he is responsible for creating the recipe for each menu item – process (loose, but it worked)
• When creating his menu, he considered what other menu items and the similar ingredients used to maximise resources - reuse of service assets, shared resources such as common networks, servers etc

So far – so good – he was understanding…. – now the CMDB…

• To ensure you are maximizing your resources in your kitchen, eg stoves, oven, pots, bowls, moulds, knives, you would be able to a) list all of these and know where they are stored, and more importantly b) know what resources you need to make your menu item  - the relationship between your menu item (service) and your components (CI’s)
• He agreed and said that he has a recipe register that not only lists the recipe, it also lists the utensils and machinery required (CMDB).

He was getting the picture… to test it – a question was asked: Q: if a customer ordered a souffle and it came out flat – how would you know the reason why? A:  Easy – I know every utensil that is used to make the souffle – its in my recipe register – it could be either, the beater was faulty, or the wrong bowl was used.

I then explained that IT organizations need a very accurate and up to date “recipe register” so if a souffle goes down, we can quickly identify what components were used that may be faulty and remake (restore) the souffle asap to the customer.

He got it!

Till next time Cheers from The Art of Service

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Jackie continues to examine our Personal Development and Management programs and looks this week at the Advanced Writing Skills workshop and the techniques it offers to making a good writer a GREAT writer.

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The Art of Service News meets with the Research & Development team to discuss the release of the latest Foundation materials and the exciting news about the upcoming APMG Foundation Syllabus review.

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The itSMF conference in Canberra came and went… The Art of Service and its clients had an amazing time and we uploaded some of our photos and videos onto our youtube account ( http://www.youtube.com/user/blokdijk ). As we didn’t want you to miss out on it, we also added it to our podcast site:

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As part of an upcoming series of interviews, Michael is interviewing various “people” who work within the ITIL Framework… the ITIL Familiy!!!!!!

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