So, you’ve just implemented a new self-service platform for your employees. But so far, it’s only been gathering dust as it remains unused. Whether it’s an HR portal or an IT ticketing system, how can you take advantage of these technologies when nobody’s using them?
As part of our ITSM hacks series to help you optimize your ITSM processes, we’re looking at the importance of driving self-service adoption and practical tips you can implement in your organization.
Why is self-service adoption important?
Successful self-service adoption of your ITSM tool is a win on all sides. When it comes to IT services, everyone can benefit from self-service functionalities, from the employees to the service desk agents and the overall business.
For employees
A self-service IT portal enables employees to just log in and do IT-related activities in one place: requesting a service, logging an incident, looking up information, etc. This empowers them to find solutions to their issues, without a massive disruption to their usual workflow. Having to constantly chase up IT-related issues through emails or phone calls that you can easily lose track of can be a frustrating experience, especially when it hinders them from doing their jobs. With a portal that is accessible anywhere at any time, your employees can stay productive and do things on their own.
For service desk agents
Likewise, your service desk agents can greatly benefit from having the organization adopt self-service. This means a lot of the repetitive and common calls that fall on them can be diverted or reduced with the help of a comprehensive self-service IT portal. By reducing service desk calls, your service desk teams can shift their time and energy to resolving more complex or critical issues.
For the business
With your workforce equipped with tools that help them resolve their IT issues, less time is spent being in firefighting mode, and instead, they can focus on the strategic or value-adding activities of their roles. Self-service capabilities are also much easier to scale as your business grows compared to traditional service methods, driving down costs without impeding development.
To keep up with ever-changing business demands and expectations, self-service adoption is crucial.
4 tips for driving self-service adoption
But if you’re feeling some resistance within the organization, what can you do to drive self-service adoption and realize all the benefits it offers?
1. Promote the self-service portal effectively
How can people use something that they don’t know exists? If you want the business to successfully adopt your self-service ITSM platform, visibility is key. To do this, the IT department must think like a marketer and the end-users as their clients. This means establishing a clear communication strategy, as well as continuous awareness campaigns that explain what self-service options are available to them, the importance of self-service, its benefits, and how to use it. When putting together the messaging, it’s essential to use the language the end-users will be familiar with. Using technical jargon that only the IT teams understand will only disengage people further.
By making self-service options visible through various communication channels, you can drive that engagement needed for successful adoption.
2. Work with self-service ‘champions’
Which people in your organization can influence the masses? Identify your key end-users you can turn into champions and make sure they have a clear understanding of the benefits of self-service. By getting them on board with your vision and goals, they’ll be able to assist in spreading the word and driving self-service adoption.
Involve them early on in your implementation strategy. Not only can they provide practical insights into the usability of your self-service tool, but identifying areas of improvement will be much easier, whether that’s within the tool itself or if specific employee training is required.
3. Provide an omnichannel experience
To propel quick self-service adoption, offering a path of least resistance is a must. People are hesitant about change, especially if having to reshape their way of doing things. Transitioning to self-service tools can be made easier if it’s on the end-user’s terms. This is possible by providing them an omnichannel experience, where they can access self-service options through the channel that works for them.
For example, IFS assyst’s easy integration with Microsoft Teams means that people cannot only choose to access knowledge base articles directly through the portal but also through Teams, by speaking to the virtual agent there or follow up on the status of an inquiry they’ve previously submitted. Whether they choose one or the other, or even a mixture of both, the omnichannel experience means conversations flow seamlessly. This kind of convenience makes it easier for people to adopt self-service.
4. Gather feedback to spur continuous improvements to your processes
Inviting feedback about your new system from the first day you go live should be a no-brainer. After all, it’s a good way to smooth out any kinks in the processes and ensure it achieves what it’s set out to do for the end-users.
But to truly understand how well your self-service ITSM platform is performing, it’s important to regularly check in on how things are going every so often. It’s common to spot things that you might’ve missed at the beginning of implementation and would become relevant later on as your organization spends more time using the system.
Where possible, ask questions that reflect the pain points you identified when you decided to implement your self-service software. Are your employees finding the information they want faster than before? Are they finding that their issues are being dealt with quicker? Are they spending less time doing admin or checking on incident status updates?
While having smart reporting capabilities is important in any given self-service platform, hearing directly from the end-users is just as crucial if you want to get an understanding of how well it’s serving your people.
Effective self-service adoption greatly relieves the burden on your service desk teams and empowers everyone in your organization to achieve more on their own. By giving time and resources back to your employees, they can focus on delivering value to the business and help you lead the way to innovation and growth.
Want to attain the benefits of self-service with IFS assyst? Get in touch today to learn more.
