What is Flow Management, and why is it needed alongside ITIL and Experience Management?
85% of sector experts believe capabilities for Flow Management (FM) will be "must-haves" when switching ITSM tool. This 2-minute read explains why it is needed.
So, what is Flow Management?
"Flow Management is a set of tool-based capabilities for IT support workload management - ITIL's missing practice. It brings the Focus Framework's twenty high performance principles to life by continuously guiding teams in the best way possible. Enabled by advanced metrics, it is a modern service system of "true best practice" that covers all operational needs."
Why has support workload management been missing?
Few would disagree that for complex business operations such as IT support, a process is needed that makes sense of the complexity, to guide teams through it as effectively as possible.
ITIL is a framework though, not a methodology. Frameworks cannot be overly prescriptive, so where processes are present, only basic steps are included.
All ITSM tools are built on ITIL processes. This means that by proxy, IT organisations the world-over work in this basic way, limiting how successful an organisation can be.
ITIL processes must be built-upon to make them fit for purpose. Indeed, when moving to a new ITSM tool, this is what a good implementation will do.
But with it not previously being specified in any framework or methodology, good support workload management is neither targeted nor accomplished.
So, this is where you are:
ITXM's biggest challenge?
Other than to bring attention to the problem of frequent slow and failed support, ITXM cannot help much in this area.
In fact, when ageing tickets receive managerial focus, a drive to keep ticket volume down leads to substantially increased service failure where "my ticket was not solved". It's a fact shown in global benchmark data produced by HappySignals.
Equally as striking, HappySignals data shows that timeliness falls short in 10% of all tickets. Assuming those not completed at first response are those mainly affected, it's almost half of this quartile. Half of these then become a bad experience because either the wait is far too long, or "my ticket was not solved".
This level has persisted over the years, so there is just one conclusion to be drawn.
To prevent slow, unresponsive and failed support, an improved way-of-working is necessary, ideally of Flow Management for self-managing teams.
A basic but still highly beneficial form of Flow Management can be introduced to any service management (ITSM) tool. The adjusted way of working is best complemented by a full range of Standard Operating Procedures developed to conform with the Focus Framework's 20 High Performance Principles, freely learnt though our course.
Improved processes to bring timeliness and reliability isn't the only operational necessity. IT organisations target good task-specific procedures and automation too, to minimise time and resource requirements, to elevate the service experience further.
Practices for Flow Management cover this too - a simple means to capture all procedural, knowledge, and other operational improvement needs into a fully integrated Improvement Register, whereby organisations are enabled to mature Knowledge Management and move into the realm of completely lean, optimal support that produces the information required for successful AI.
To get there - to introduce all Flow Management capabilities - it takes just a series of natural small adjustments. It really couldn't be simpler.
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