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

Do you need a vision for service management implementation? Absolutely! In the last two parts of this article series, you learned why you need both a powerful sponsor and a leading coalition to drive service management transformation. Now we'll take it a step further and talk about the first real action of your ITSM implementation: creating the vision. Read today about why this is important, what aspects you need to consider, and how to communicate your vision.

What is your vision for service management?

Your leadership team starts the organization's implementation journey, in the best case, by developing a vision. This service management vision should demonstrate what the implementation will ultimately gain for the organization. The basis for the vision is a solid understanding of business requirements, key business processes and objectives.

As a rule, the vision stands in contrast to the actual situation of your service management. It forms the formulated impetus for action, the "what for" of your service management implementation. Combined with the formulations of the sense of urgency ("What if we do nothing?"), the vision ("What do we gain?") becomes a powerful tool:

• It shows the way to all those involved in ITSM implementation by acting as a guiding principle and target.
• It motivates employees to take purposeful action and venture out of their comfort zone.
• It helps coordinate the many parties involved.
• It transparently shows the goals of senior management.

Therefore, the vision not only forms the basis for developing a business case that can be used to justify the project and all associated expenditures. The vision can also be used to formulate consistent SMART goals that make the progress of the service management implementation verifiable. SMART is an acronym that stands for "Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound." In other words, it describes the goals of the project in a way that makes any progress formal and objectively verifiable. This helps us justify the project and foresee whether and to what extent the implementation will be successful.

How to communicate the ITSM vision

The content of the vision can be understood as a guiding principle that guides the project. However, a concisely formulated vision is not enough. It must also be aptly explained and communicated. Every stakeholder should be able to understand the vision and pass it on. If the vision is not formulated in such a way that it can be explained in less than five minutes, it is not precise enough and needs to be sharpened. The more clearly the ITSM vision describes what state is to be achieved by the project, the more purposefully you can use it.

Based on the "sense of urgency," the vision should be communicated to all stakeholders through a wide variety of channels and using a wide variety of media. In doing so, communication must be target group-oriented and adapted to the respective medium used. A lot of motivation, inspiration and energy is required for change. A concisely designed, well-communicated vision can strengthen these forces and steer them in the right direction. After all, as mentioned in a previous article, implementing successful service management is a proverbial marathon, not a sprint. To succeed, the transformation must be supported by all stakeholders in the long term. A coordinated communications strategy is also crucial for this, which we will discuss in detail another time.

Personalize the vision for service management

It is important to personalize your organization's service management vision. The long-term goals of different service providers often differ only in nuances. Therefore, it greatly benefits the guiding star function of your vision if you formulate it to fit the culture of your organization and adapt it to your employees. This requires tact, experience and fine-tuning in the formulation. This is the only way to strike the right note and turn your service management goals into a unique vision that will be successful in the long term, instead of just trotting out management phrases. Because you must always remember that it is the people who drive change in your organization. It is therefore crucial to engage your employees and motivate them to follow the vision on their own initiative.

If you have any questions on this topic, please contact us - with over 20 years of consulting experience in ITSM projects, we will be happy to provide you with active support for your service management implementation. Simply arrange a free and non-binding consultation appointment!

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

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

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

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