A Well Defined process

author: Lee Buttolph

I recently had a run in with a computer help desk person.

I happened to see him working on computers so I decided to let him know about some computer issues I had.

He proceeded to get a little upset:

“Did you tell anybody about this?” (other than right now)

“Did you put in a help desk ticket?” (where is the help desk)

“There is a well defined process for getting computers fixed.” (news to me)

It is the last statement that I would like to focus on.

“There is a well defined process for getting computers fixed.”

For whom is this well defined process for? Is it for those that have to fix the problem or is for those that have the problem.

I would argue that the well defined process, in this case, is for those that have to fix the problem. The well defined process for the help desk was to have everyone come to them and put in a ticket at the window. For the help desk they get a central repository where they can check for complaints. They don’t have to spend any extra energy looking for the problem.

What if they built a well defined process that was centered on the person having the problem? It could look something like this:

1. Put a pad and paper next to every computer terminal asking for issues that people have.

2. Walk around, asking people to discuss any problems they are currently having.

3. Use the equipment themselves on a regular basis to proactively see if there are any problems.

This well defined process is much harder on the people that have to fix the problems, but, I would venture to guess they get a lot more issues raised and if solved they will have much happier “customers”.

Does your company have a well defined process? Who is it geared to? The person that fixes the problem or the person that has the problem?

To see an example of a customer centric process check out this post.