Creating a fast, efficient and high quality IT Service Desk for an international Law Firm

The Challenge

Facing upwards of 220 calls per day, the IT Service Desk at international law firm DAC Beachcroft had a challenge on its hands: managing incoming call demand plus workload generated through other channels.

Experiencing long delays in contacting the Service Desk, colleagues resorted to other channels, resulting in delays and a developing backlog of work. The team answered fewer than half their call demand inside the desired timescales, and nearly 1500 jobs existed in the overdue queue of work.

Leaders implemented various strategies, including using additional resources and revising priorities, but with limited success. They required a longer-term, more sustainable solution.

The Goal

Having worked with DAC Beachcroft before, including the successful deployment of new software, Curium was asked to help.

Transforming operations and contact centre specialist Mark Turner provided operational management expertise to manage the service desk, improve service delivery across all channels, and coach and support the existing team supervisors.

This approach would ensure the DAC Beachcroft staff had the necessary skills and capability to embed and maintain all improvements.

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Our Solution

  • Establish improved controls over the daily schedules for Service Desk analysts, ensuring that maximum resource capacity is available during peaks of incoming call demand.
  • Demonstrate the importance of real-time management activities and how they complement and enhance forecasting outputs.
  • Refine the approach towards ownership, prioritisation and allocating of, non-telephony tasks.
  • Implement a process to capture and understand the reasons behind the call demand into the Service Desk.
  • Develop simple reporting disciplines to enable managers to easily identify positive performance alongside opportunities where coaching and support may be required.
  • Introduce a daily meeting to review performance and agree smart actions to improve
    performance.
  • Provide daily coaching and mentoring to supervisors and managers, alongside regular ‘one
    to one’ meetings, to embed the Curium methodology for operational management.
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Results

  • The percentage of calls answered in less than 30 seconds improved from 32% and 44% in the two previous months to 73% following Curium’s intervention.
  • The average speed of answer improved from 206 seconds to 38 seconds, improving the customer experience.
  • Centralising the ownership and allocation of non-phone activities had an immediate impact, reducing stress levels and enabling closer and more targeted support. Daily workload clearance targets could be better planned, with the total outstanding reducing from just under 1500 to around 500 in just over four weeks.
  • Call analysis work highlighted a number of opportunities in which specific call reasons could be eliminated or mitigated, reducing unnecessary demand and improving overall team efficiency.

“I could not be happier with the results achieved in such a short timeframe. Control of the incoming calls was achieved within the first week, with just a few changes, like no breaks during peak times, getting the seniors actively managing the staff, providing real time feedback and advice and closer
monitoring.”

Diane Bryant, Head of IT Operations

“To this day I feel privileged that my team was chosen to work with Curium as this was not just an operational excellence project, this was an experience that has changed my career.”
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Jo's Story
“I can’t sing Curium’s praises enough. In just a week we saw major improvements in our service levels and, in three months, we were performing 100% better than before. Not only that, but they helped show me how to lead a team and get the best out of everyone, and I’ve been given a promotion as a result.”
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Will’s Story

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James Farrow
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Director & Co-founder
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Director & Co-founder