Meet Pete: What does being a Service Delivery Manager mean to you?
Welcome to our latest interview, where we explore the dynamic world of service delivery!
Today, we chat with Peter, one of our amazing Service Delivery Managers who shares insights on maintaining a positive team culture, especially in challenging times. Discover the importance of celebrating every effort, the joy of positive feedback, and the exciting future trends in the industry. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to deepen your knowledge, this interview has something for everyone. Let’s dive in!
How do you foster a positive team culture, especially when dealing with challenging service delivery situations?
Everyone involved in a challenging situation has their own stressors to deal with and relationships to maintain both in and out of the workplace, but we are all working towards the common goal of resolving an issue or completing a task for the betterment of the customer’s business.
Keeping that in mind helps to keep the difficult conversations objective and creates an environment of mutual trust and respect.
Genuine gratitude is also very important. It is great to celebrate the wins with the team members who have successfully completed the work, but what about the extra effort being put in elsewhere to allow that to happen?
For example, while an engineer is working through a high priority incident, others are pulling out all stops to maintain the quality of support our customers have come to expect. The extra effort put in takes many forms, and so does the appreciation.
In your opinion, what’s the most rewarding part of working in managed services?
Positive customer feedback, for sure. It gives you a little bit of a boost, but it is much more impactful than that. The few extra moments it takes to share specifics can change someone’s trajectory.
I started in managed services at Service Desk level some years ago. It was a positive review from a customer who made the recommendation to my supervisor that I should pursue a career in Service Delivery. Needless to say, the feedback was followed up on and taken very seriously.
What advice would you give to someone just starting their career in service delivery?
‘Know enough to know that you don’t know enough’. IT is so broad, so nobody can be an expert in absolutely everything. Always learn as much as you can, but know your limitations and actively listen to people who know more than you do.
Service Delivery can also be challenging as there are competing priorities and deadlines, especially when everything is urgent. The most important thing is to stop and think clearly before making decisions and to communicate well and often.
Looking ahead, what exciting trends or changes do you see shaping the future of service delivery?
I think the relationship development aspect will remain the cornerstone of service delivery, but the technology changes that will take place over the next five years across all industries will be profound.
AI features so heavily in most conversations around IT, but it is no gimmick. Chat GPT launched around this time of the year in 2022. Microsoft Copilot launched only a few months later allowing businesses to use AI while retaining ownership of their data. The momentum that these innovations have gained in a very short time is astounding.
At the moment, still in its infancy, AI decodes language and produces relevant content from text summaries to images and computer code. There is no doubt in my mind that it will continue to surprise us with what it will be able to do as it matures.
But, don’t forget to secure your environment before you use it. It can find anything it has access to.
What feedback have you received from clients that reflects the impact of your service delivery efforts on their business?
Atlantic Digital is passionate about doing the most with what you have. We are often thanked for being open and transparent about the service and for finding solutions within the technology stack that the customer already has.
The other feedback I commonly receive is for our on-site support. Atlantic does a lot to support our customers face to face. There are several members of my team who are supporting businesses in a staff augmentation capacity and others who travel out to site to make things like SharePoint migrations less daunting for the cutover. I receive regular positive feedback about the quality of their work.
We also provide advice and support during audits. I attended one recently where the customer successfully obtained ISO27001 certification. That one speaks for itself, but I did get a gift box too. Thanks for that!
How do you ensure that your team remains agile and responsive to the changing needs of the organization and its clients? (Systematic)
Road mapping and risk management with the customer are the most effective ways to do this.
We gradually work with the customer make their environment more functional and secure to a point where our support becomes proactive and future-facing.
We have continuously improved our systems and processes so that at all levels of Atlantic, there are processes in place to identify opportunities for improvement and risk within the customer environment.
