itSMF Bulletin itSMF Bulletin May 2018 | Page 4

1. Free up Resources for Value-Adding Activities:

The biggest objection heard about problem management is ‘We are already too busy for this, it is just more work’. This is backwards!

The misconception here is:

•Even if we don’t realise it, we are already putting time into solving problems

• Because the efforts are ad-hoc, not structured, we are not getting the benefits

• We wind up fighting the same fires over and over and

• This slows things down and makes us less agile.

So, the first thing to understand is that putting time into solving problems well is NOT more work. It saves you time overall:

If you put 10% of your time into effective problem management for three months, you will get back at least 20% of the time you currently spend fighting fires, fixing up failures and correcting faults – and probably quicker! Use that dividend for development, design and building, which is why we got involved in technology in the first place, isn’t it?

Bottom Line: A real benefit of managing problems well is the amount of time you save to put into more rewarding activities

4

Value of Problem Management

People say that getting the right level of attention for effective problem management is a hard sell. You may find that by focussing on the outcomes that deliver real value (for customers, staff and the organisation), you can win over stakeholders when other approaches don’t. To give you some ideas, here is my take on six valuable outcomes from embedding a problem management culture in an organisation.

by Michael Hall