A plan is needed: How to implement ITSM, part 6

In the last issue of our series on implementing service management, we looked at assessments - so at this point, you know the status quo in your company. You know how mature your processes are, which tools you use to support them, what skills your employees have and what management culture is currently in place. Based on these findings and the service management vision, i.e. our objectives, we develop a holistic plan for your service management project. In other words: How do we get from here (current status) to there (vision for the future)?

Make the plan verifiable

In order to move forward in a focused manner, the leadership team works with the project teams to develop planning and design for the subsequent phases of the project. As in the assessment, the planning again considers the four essential areas:

• Processes
• Process-supporting tools
• Employee training
• Management

Clear and unambiguous goals are essential for the success of our major project. Likewise, we cannot do without continuously monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of our measures and reporting on progress. In order to continuously record success here, targets and a corresponding SMART key performance indicator system are the prerequisite.

SMART is an acronym and means concretely

• Specific - specific and unambiguous
• Measurable - measurable
• Achievable - attainable and can be influenced by the person responsible
• Relevant - it contributes to achieving the vision
• Time-related - provided with a clear target date

Quick wins as motivating milestones of success

If the goals you set meet these criteria, they can be used for long-term monitoring of progress. We design this monitoring to be as transparent as possible, because visible benefits are crucial to the success of the project: Due to the expected long duration of the service management implementation, it is enormously important to include steps and measures in the planning that generate visible added value. After all, these short- and medium-term successes help motivate employees for further goals that can only be achieved in the long term. They also maintain management support - because a project in which small and medium milestones are repeatedly achieved heralds visible positive change. At the same time, quick wins help win over skeptics for your project and continuously increase the number of supporters among employees.

Quick wins must be experienced, communicated, and appropriately celebrated and rewarded. This increases motivation on all sides and makes everyone involved aware of what they have already achieved. However, quick small wins are not enough for the overall success of the project in the long term. That's why you need to ensure that after initial successes have been achieved, the momentum and enthusiasm are used to fight for more difficult goals.

Incidentally, your organization will go through the PLAN step described here several times during the service management implementation. It is followed by the DO, CHECK and ACT steps - in a phased project approach to gradually introduce all processes in the project scope and anchor them in the organization. So keep this step in mind!

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Would you like to find out more about implementing service management? Then read the other parts of our series!

Know where you stand: How to implement ITSM, part 5

Empowerment as a game changer: How to implement ITSM, part 4

The vision as a guiding star: How to Implement Service Management, Part 3

The Leading Coalition: How to Implement Service Management, Part 2

Persuasion is everything: How to implement Service Management, Part 1