Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Service Desk Team Leader scoops national award
Feezaan picked up the prestigious prize during the annual IT Service & Support Awards, held by the Service Desk Institute.
Ahead of the award, held at a gala ceremony in Birmingham’s Hilton Metropole, Feezaan told us a bit about his role.
Why did you choose IT Support as a career?
IT was my favourite subject and it was also one that I excelled in throughout my school and sixth form life.
I have always been interested in new technologies, anything from mobile phones to computers to the self-driving vehicles that are no longer science fiction.
I started my official IT career with an apprenticeship and worked my way through to a full-time job as a Technical Support Analyst, to Service desk analyst and to my current role as IT Service Desk Team Leader.
What are your top three tips to make a service desk successful?
I would begin with what I call a ‘one-team nature’. You could call it teamwork, a sense of belonging, respect, the list could be endless, but to me it is the glue that keeps us together.
The understanding that we should support each other and feel confident that support is available if you need it.
No one member of the team should feel responsible for picking up the work everyone else leaves behind - it should be an equal and consistent effort by all.
This does not mean every one of your analysts will be able to do the exact amount of work, but the effort they put in should be equal. What we have at Leeds Beckett is a family culture within and between departments.
A Leader. These can come under many different job titles, service desk analysts, team leaders, managers, etc.
A Leader will always hold the team’s best interests close to their heart and will lead by example.
They will not be afraid to challenge decisions if they believe that it could have a negative impact to their team. This individual will motivate their colleague and consistently stand out as a go-to person.
My last tip is investment. Investing in your staff is crucial. IT is forever changing and your staff need to make sure that they have all the skills necessary to fulfil their responsibilities.
Training can be done internally to reduce costs. In my previous company, I used the senior analysts and second line teams to increase the skills on the service desk.
At Leeds Beckett, we introduced second line shadowing and sent our whole team to complete the Service Desk Analyst training that is run by the Service Desk Institute and ITIL qualification run by QA.
The investment does not have to be financial: recognition from high-level management, which could be a visit once a quarter, really helps to give a sense of belonging.