IT End user satisfaction Background, tips and tricks

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Background, tips and tricks

This white paper provides a brief overview of the usefulness of and reasons to measure IT user satisfaction. It indicates what areas you should pay attention to, when and how often you can perform a survey, and what the results can help you achieve. Finally, the top 10 tips & tricks provide an overview of ideas for how

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KPI’s

•••

• First time right

• Lead time of a call

• % system uptime

• Service desk

availability

• TCO

• Etc.

But certainly also:

• End user satisfaction

End user satisfaction:

a crucial KPI

Every (IT) organisation has access to ample information. The question is whether this information is actually used and contributes to improving the (IT) organisation. Examples of information include reports from financial systems or SLA reports from suppliers. What is often lacking is information from end users who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the

company where they work. The IT department should know how end users use and value IT systems.

If done well, an IT end user satisfaction survey can provide the answers. Correct execution is key: the right questions and methods are the only way to obtain the information required to make real improvements. This not only benefits the end user, but the entire IT organisation.

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Wat are the

benefits?

•••

• Productivity

• Innovation

• Better roll-outs

• Better acceptance of

new applications

• Lower costs

What does an IT user satisfaction survey

yield?

Gauging the mood during the use of IT services is an excellent way to ascertain satisfaction with IT services. The enthusiasm of employees about IT is no longer just a ‘nice-to-have’. It is much more than that. Satisfaction with your IT department and services is of enormous value for the organisation.

Productivity

IT satisfaction is directly related to the functioning of the IT department. In turn, the functioning of the IT department has an impact on the organisation’s productivity. Scientific research published in 2012 showed that Dutch employees waste an average of 7.6% of the time spent behind a computer due to poorly functioning IT and a lack of digital skills.

Innovation and better roll-outs

IT end users who are satisfied - or even enthusiastic - about IT are employees who also actively contribute to thinking about improvements and innovation, provide

constructive criticism and can get other employees excited about changes, IT migrations, use of new portals or service catalogues, centralisation of the IT service desk, and so forth.

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Lower costs

Improving the effectiveness of the IT department, for example by avoiding recurring errors and problems, will reduce pressures on the (IT) organisation. Resolving incidents properly the first time directly contributes to lowering costs and

pressure within the IT service organisation. The quality of this organisation can be further increased by focusing attention on structural improvement of

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Do

•••

• ...keep the survey

objective

• ...use proven

methods

• ...make sure the

reports are

meaningful

Important dos and donts in IT end user

surveys

What is true for management information in general also holds for IT satisfaction: ‘garbage in = garbage out’. The value of measuring can be negated by using poorly thought out questionnaires, insufficient preparation and communication, poor methodology and incorrect interpretation. The results are not only worthless, but may even lead to incorrect decisions. Additionally, ensure that any surveys performed by your own IT provider are objective, or there is a risk of ‘the butcher grading his own meat’. If you want to perform the survey yourself, look for proven methods.

One of the most important aspects remains reporting. The results of the study must clearly indicate the priorities for the organisation as a whole, but also per department, location, user group and subject. It is certainly possible that all end users are affected by an understaffed service desk and cannot work

efficiently, but it is equally possible that only the users of the bookkeeping software are running into problems, for example due to the lack of expertise among service desk employees regarding a specific application.

Therefore, priorities may affect the entire organisation or a specific part thereof. The latter in particular

provides the responsible department of project group with very specific opportunities to act and sometimes achieve swift, visible results.

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A few rules of

thumb

•••

• Measure as often as

possible: better

to use compact

or thematic

questionnaires

frequently than

perform a major

survey 1-2x per year.

• If there are more

than 1000

employees, quarterly

or even monthly

samples may be

taken: measure

frequently among

different end users.

• Incident related

(service desk):

Measure daily by

taking a sample.

• Frequent

When and how often to perform end user

surveys

Changes within the (IT) organisation come quickly and frequently: takeovers, mergers, centralisation or decentralisation, IT insourcing or outsourcing, large

migrations, etc. These are typical situations in which it appears measuring IT user satisfaction is impossible. However, it is precisely during such changes that you should want and need to know how the end user views said changes and how he/she continues to do his/her work.

The question should not be whether you will perform an IT user

satisfaction survey, but rather when and how often. In times of change, frequent surveys are a necessity. Changes tend to take days, weeks or months rather than years. As a changing organisation, you will need to respond swiftly and anticipate what will come. How often you perform surveys also depends on the subject of the survey and the degree of detail in the questionnaire. Here are a few rules of thumb:

• If the survey encompasses many topics and the questions are not incident related, perform an annual survey among all IT end users. If there are more than 1000 end-users, it is worth

considering questioning 25% of the total user population every quarter. This allows quarterly trend analysis without surveying

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handling by the service desk, a brief questionnaire sent within 48 hours of handling of the ticket/call is an excellent tool.

Naturally, the frequency of measurements will depend on the topics and the rapidity with which changes can be realised. Additionally, it is important to clearly communicate the intentions of the survey in order to increase acceptance, as well as report on what has been done with the results upon completion. Even a single good, noticeable measure is a solid foundation for future surveys.

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Tips (1-5)

•••

1. Simplicity and open

questions

2. Proven methods

3. Don’t set your goals

too high

4. Attention to

positive feedback

5. Measure regularly

Top 10 tips for activating results

Finally, a few brief tips for acting on the results you obtain :

1. Don’t make it too complicated. Start by measuring IT satisfaction using clear, simple, easy to answer questions. Also ask open questions.

2. Try to use proven scales or concepts that are commonly used in order to allow comparisons with other organisations.

3. View the first measurement (often called a baseline measurement) as a starting point for improvement and setting goals. Don’t aim too high: changes are only observed over time. It is better to take small, focused steps than to set goals not based on evidence, which can lead to frustration if not achieved.

4. Both IT departments and IT end users have a tendency to

consider the glass half empty, and mention everything that is not going well. Pay attention to what is going well. This motivates IT staff and provides a more accurate pITure of the true perception of the IT end user.

5. Try to measure regularly. It

is better to use brief, thematic questionnaires frequently than to

perform a

major survey every 2

years. Measuring frequently allows the IT department to

maintain a firmer grip on what is happening, particularly considering

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Tips (6-10)

•••

6. Communicate the

results

7. Communicate

actions

8. Use the positive

feedback

9. Celebrate

improvements

Start again!

6. Communicate the results with the entire organisation. If available, utilise internal (or external) communication professionals who can share the information with the right target group by creating the right message with the right formatting (e.g. through the use of infographics).

7. Communicate which actions have been taken, both within the IT team and to the end user. Do not create unrealistic expectations, but communicate changes as a continuous improvement process that the IT user survey has contributed to significantly.

8. Use the positive statements or compliments from end users obtained as responses to open questions as evidence for the actions taken.

9. Use improvements and positive feedback to celebrate the improvement with various IT teams, in keeping with the corporate culture.

10. Finally: understand that the cycle of measuring and improving never ends, and that once step 9 is complete, you can start with step 1 again.

This information is offered to you by Yorizon bv Wijnhaven 65 Post Box 61300 3002 HH Rotterdam Telephone: +31-(0)102409088 Fax : +31-(0)104115753 Internet: www.yorizongroup.com

More information: info@yorizongroup.com