A pandemic is identified as a rapidly spreading infectious disease that poses a global threat. The result? Decelerated economic growth and social chaos.
The COVID-19 outbreak is taking the world by storm. On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared it as a pandemic due to more than 20,000 confirmed cases back then. The count has only surged now!
According to industry analysts, the ongoing pandemic is undoing business operations by disrupting the supply chain and causing high absenteeism.
Like a domino effect, this impedes the ability of a business to deliver products and services to the customers. This is particularly true for IT support industries, where support agents regularly need to communicate with customers.
The high absenteeism of support agents due to panic and fear and asynchronous activity between the rest of the members widen the demand-supply gap. The number of tickets raised to unsolved ratio gradually witness an upward curve.
Managing the threats posed by this pandemic is necessary for a business to survive, especially for IT help desks, where customer satisfaction is the key. A concrete business continuity plan is, therefore, the need of the hour. It should have a detailed business risk management strategy and business impact analysis. It shall also clearly describe the business’s response to such events and a detailed recovery plan and policies for managing staff and communication.
Undeniably, the COVID-19 has brought the world to a halt.
Companies belonging to the IT sector are setting an example by establishing business continuity procedures during the pandemic. Here are some of the measures you could bring to your workplace and be prepared for similar events in the future.
The foundation of ITSM is the belief that IT should be delivered as a service. Typically, customers submit their requests through a portal, filling out a ticket with relevant information. Going forward, the ticket lands up in the IT helpdesk, where the issue is addressed by IT ServiceDesk agents according to importance.
ITSM teams are tasked with designing, creating, delivering, supporting and managing the lifecycle of IT services. To put it simply, they are responsible for the end-to-end management of these services.
As the absenteeism rate is shooting up, ITSM teams are constantly facing the heat of service delivery. In other words, the burden on ITSM teams is calibrating at a significant rate. They may find it difficult to address every query of the user and solve their issues.
Remote working is a great idea to overcome the hurdles of service delivery in the current scenario. To understand why it is the need of the hour, it’s essential to have a clear idea of what it is and how the COVID-19 turned out to be a pandemic.
Remote working refers to a working style that allows professionals to work outside the office. It is based on the concept that work does not need to be done in a specific place in order to be executed successfully.
With governments deciding to lock down entire regions to control the pandemic, remote working is the only option to keep the business cycle spinning. To top it all, this is indeed a great idea to prevent countries from proceeding to a further adverse situation.
Working remotely helps maintain social distancing, and it goes without any doubt that social distancing is one of the best strategies to overcome this global threat
Several studies backed by concrete evidence suggests that social distancing effectively curtails the spread of this virus. Without any second thought, IT helpdesk agents, who are required to work in teams, are at maximum risk. The spread cannot be controlled with so many service desk agents working and interacting with each other. However, on the other hand, working remotely can help break the chain as all will be compelled to work from their home.
It is essential for you to take necessary steps to ensure a hassle-free remote working for your service desk agents, especially in the current scenario. Here’s what you can do –
Tasks that can be automated should be automated. By leveraging the power of automation, ensure your service desk agents can focus on issues that require attention and critical thinking.
Workativ Assistant seamlessly allows creating guided conversations between AI and end-users, using AI.
Ensure hassle-free remote working for your employees so that the spread of COVID-19 can be controlled. Stay home, stay safe!
If you’re interested in knowing how Workativ Assistant can be a value-add to your IT helpdesk team, we’d be happy to show you. Book a demo with us at a time of your convenience.