Resolve Leverage the Workflow Distribution Report in 2024
Greetings Autotask Warriors! I hope your January has started off profitably and with less stressful than 2023. A new year often inspires me to think about the past as I plan out the next 12 months…what about you?
When we first started rolling out the Operational Foundational Improvement program, Carol asked, “Where do we begin?” My response was, “Let’s start at the beginning of our Clients’ Customer Journey and guide the improvements from the cradle to the grave (meaning new to complete)”
This approach turned out to be more profound than we imagined and has the potential to rock your world (in an awesome way). By focusing on the intake process, the majority of the Operational Chaos organically disappeared. In other words, if an MSP focuses on Categorizing all Client Requests into different Workflows, then we can focus on optimizing each Workflow and thereby Fully Optimizing the Operation.
We recommend leveraging 5 Advanced Autotask Live Reports to track and monitor the Service Coordinator’s effectiveness and use them as a tool for coaching/mentoring conversations.
One of these is the Workflow Distribution report, and our KPI for monitoring the Categorizing of Client Requests during the Triage process. The Workflow Distribution Report informs the Service Manager if the Service Coordinator understands and is using all the Workflows via Priority Field available in Autotask.
It is important for both the Techs and Autotask PSAutomation software to know which Workflow a ticket has been triaged into. Therefore, it is critically important for all Client Requests (Tickets) to be properly Triaged, and the correct Workflow identified and called out.
A typical Workflow Distribution is a double-humped bell curve with:
Medium being the highest peak, with about 35% of the Tickets.
Quick Hits the second hump, with about 20% of the Tickets.
Both Critical and Projects should be less than 10% of the tickets. If the curve a Service Manager is looking at in the Workflow Distribution Report does not reasonably match this curve, then either the MSP is not typical, or the Service Coordinator is not doing their job.
Great, now we know what to look for, but how do we improve the KPI? While monitoring the Triage process enables us to spot the problem, it takes analyzing the completed tickets to know where the Intake Person is dropping the ball.
By creating a post intake ticket report, one can review the list of tickets under any one workflow that is out of tolerance and see if they agree that the Client Request is assigned the right Workflow. Want to get the most bang for your buck? We recommend reviewing the list of tickets in the largest out of tolerance workflow first.
Note: this may not be the largest group of tickets - just the percentage (%) of the group of tickets that is the largest when subtracting the expected percentage (%) of the group. For example, we expect Medium at 35% to be the largest group, with Quick Hits at 20%, the second largest group. If standard is more than either of these percentages, it will be the group to focus on. Here is a link to a video on how to analyze the Workflow Distribution Report: Workflow_Distribution_Report_Analysis.mp4
Once the group of tickets most out of tolerance has been identified, sit down with the Intake Person and review their thought process as they were Triaging the Client Requests. Be prepared to find that the problem is these tickets are flowing around the Intake Person and going straight to the Techs. In this case, the fix is easy: re-route them to Triage.
In the case of Alerts, they should be reviewed by a Technical Person first, and only the ones that need remediation should flow to the Triage queue. Utilizing a separate queue for alerts to enter Autotask will make this easier for both the Service Coordinator and the Tech.
Once a workflow starts performing within tolerances, move to the next most out of tolerance workflow and continue the process until all workflows are within tolerance, which means the Intake Person fully understands how to leverage the Categorization of Client Requests.
Hint: this review process can be a daily, weekly, or monthly review. Once in tolerance, relax to a monthly monitoring and maintaining review. Once tolerances are achieved, you only need to monitor the tolerances. Then the need to review a group of tickets is not necessary until the monthly monitoring falls out of tolerance. At this point, you need to step in to maintain the quality of the Triage process.
The benefit of making sure that all Client Requests are properly categorized is that the journey from cradle to grave is more efficient. The Techs pick up the request within a timeframe that allows them to meet Client Expectations based on the next SLA Event Due Date assigned based on the Workflow the Client Request is in. If the Client Request is not in the correct Workflow, when the Tech picks up the request, they will see that it does not fit in the worklist as assigned and most likely send it back to Triage.
Sending it back to Triage causes:
Rework
Delay in the engagement, which leads to missed Client Expectations and poor Client Experience
Chaos as the Client Request does not flow easily from Cradle to Grave
Why Improving the Workflow Distribution Makes Sense
What is the bottom-line negative impact value that makes investing in improving the Workflow Distribution worthwhile? Every 1% is worth $3,120 USD per Tech per Year. If you have six Techs, that adds up to $18,720 per Year, not to mention the cost of frustrated Clients.
Yes, this is only one step in driving continuous improvement. But over the course of 2024, focusing on Operational Improvements will lead to the Techs working in a Zen environment where every request flows from cradle to grave without disruption, disappointment, or management intervention. Driving towards full optimization is worth half a million dollars PER YEAR for a 6 Tech shop. Wow, right?
So, now that we are three weeks into 2024 and have broken all our resolutions, we can get serious with Making Your MSP Soar in ’24.
Time to roll up your sleeves and get going! I’ll be with you every step of the way. We start with a personalized evaluation for your MSP. All it takes is a quick email to Info@AGMSPCoaching.com with the words “Half a Million” in the subject.
PS. I know some of you are still wondering what the 5 Advanced Live Reports I mentioned above are. I won’t leave you guessing:
Scheduled Tickets with no Future Service Calls
The Backlog List of Tickets
Workflow Distribution Report
Service Delivery Forecast Report
SLA Performance Report
If you do not have these reports, it means there is more of the Autotask software you could be using to your advantage. Send an email to Info@AGMSPCoaching.com asking about the Service Delivery Foundational Improvement program.
Disclaimer:
Advanced Global’s mission is to Help MSPs to Thrive
Advanced Global is the Autotask Operational Authority
Not everything we do costs money
Our focus is to be sure the Client’s receive 6-10X ROI
Everything we do starts with a FREE:
Strategy Conversation
Autotask PSA Configuration Evaluation
Operational Self-Survey
Our programs result in Qualitative and Quantitative improvements
The programs have been so successful that we offer Money Back guarantees
Our Free, Low-Cost, and Program offerings address such Operational Areas as:
Making sure techs know what to work on next
Making sure someone is managing all open tickets and driving them to completion
Making sure the staffing levels are correct, and the workload is balanced
Making sure Real-Time Time Entry is a cultural habit
Making sure the customer has a great customer experience
Making sure profit is maximized
Making sure Autotask is being fully leveraged
Finding, benchmarking, tracking, and using the historical data that is in the Autotask software
Making sure the Service Delivery operations can scale
Making sure the company can grow
Making sure MSPs know what they don’t know
Note: We are not philosophers; we are doers with 53+ years of Autotask and Operational Experience, bringing Real Improvements, Changes, Profitability, and Best in Class performance.
For more information on who we are and what we do, scheduling a FREE No-Obligation (not a sales call, I promise) Strategy Conversation by CLICKING HERE.