OPS09-BP03 Review operations metrics and prioritize improvement
Setting aside dedicated time and resources for reviewing the state of operations ensures that serving the day-to-day line of business remains a priority. Pull together operations leaders and stakeholders to regularly review metrics, reaffirm or modify goals and objectives, and prioritize improvements.
Desired outcome:
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Operations leaders and staff regularly meet to review metrics over a given reporting period. Challenges are communicated, wins are celebrated, and lessons learned are shared.
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Stakeholders and business leaders are regularly briefed on the state of operations and solicited for input regarding goals, KPIs, and future initiatives. Tradeoffs between service delivery, operations, and maintenance are discussed and placed into context.
Common anti-patterns:
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A new product is launched, but the Tier 1 and Tier 2 operations teams are not adequately trained to support or given additional staff. Metrics that show the decrease in ticket resolution times and increase in incident volumes are not seen by leaders. Action is taken weeks later when subscription numbers start to fall as discontent users move off the platform.
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A manual process for performing maintenance on a workload has been in place for a long time. While a desire to automate has been present, this was a low priority given the low importance of the system. Over time however, the system has grown in importance and now these manual processes consume a majority of operations' time. No resources are scheduled for providing increased tooling to operations, leading to staff burnout as workloads increase. Leadership becomes aware once it's reported that staff are leaving for other competitors.
Benefits of establishing this best practice: In some organizations, it can become a challenge to allocate the same time and attention that is afforded to service delivery and new products or offerings. When this occurs, the line of business can suffer as the level of service expected slowly deteriorates. This is because operations does not change and evolve with the growing business, and can soon be left behind. Without regular review into the insights operations collects, the risk to the business may become visible only when it's too late. By allocating time to review metrics and procedures both among the operations staff and with leadership, the crucial role operations plays remains visible, and risks can be identified long before they reach critical levels. Operations teams get better insight into impending business changes and initiatives, allowing for proactive efforts to be undertaken. Leadership visibility into operations metrics showcases the role that these teams play in customer satisfaction, both internal and external, and let them better weigh choices for priorities, or ensure that operations has the time and resources to change and evolve with new business and workload initiatives.
Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Medium
Implementation guidance
Dedicate time to review operations metrics between stakeholders and operations teams and review report data. Place these reports in the contexts of the organizations goals and objectives to determine if they're being met. Identify sources of ambiguity where goals are not clear, or where there may be conflicts between what is asked for and what is given.
Identify where time, people, and tools can aid in operations outcomes. Determine which KPIs this would impact and what targets for success should be. Revisit regularly to ensure operations is resourced sufficiently to support the line of business.
Resources
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