Overview

This training course is ideal for IT help desk and technical support center supervisors, team leads and those who have just joined the management ranks. The course covers the fundamentals of supervision in a technical support environment. It focuses specifically on the leadership and management challenges faced by the technical support supervisor. The session begins with personal leadership and communication skills, progresses to creating a positive, energized environment for increased productivity, and concludes with the ability to take charge and drive team success. This course equips new and existing technical support supervisors and managers with the skills to perform successfully by motivating others.

Participants will leave with a detailed plan to improve motivation and morale, increase staff productivity, and impact overall support center performance.

What You Will Learn

Participants will learn how to perform each task in the quality management life cycle using proven approaches: how to establish performance goals, monitor incidents, measure performance, develop performance improvement plans, and coach support professionals. Supervisors, team leads, and new managers will also learn methods that can be employed to manage change, diagnose performance problems, and create a team culture.

Who Should Participate

• Service professionals ready to transition to supervisor or team lead positions
• Those new to the support management ranks
• Current supervisors and team leads

Agenda

Module One: Dimensions of Leadership

• Describe leadership as a relationship between managers and leaders and followers
• Learn the dynamic nature of leadership
• Identify four areas that capture a leader’s attention in his or her environment
• Discover 12 key dimensions of leadership traits that may be demonstrated in a support center

Module Two: Communication Skills

• Foster an environment of open, successful communication
• Promote and demonstrate personal accountability
• Apply effective listening skills
• Lead successful meetings

Module Three: Change Management

• Recognize behaviors of change resistance and change support
• Use the process of fairness in communicating and ensuring buy-in to change
• Assess and interpret your own change profile

Module Four: Team Building

• List the stages of team development
• Describe team advantages and disadvantages
• Build cohesiveness of your support team
• Apply strategies for cross-functional teams

Module Five: Motivate for Empowerment

• Effectively apply motivational theory
• Apply recognition strategies and understand its impact on retention within a support organization

Module Six: Coaching

• Describe the differences between positive, negative and neutral feedback
• Apply a structured coaching process
• Discuss and document disciplinary issues of support team members

Module Seven: Staffing and Career Support

• Apply principles of staff planning in a support organization
• Use a systematic process for employee selection
• List the critical elements of a new hire orientation program
• Develop career path or career development programs for support team members
• Identify training as it pertains to performance and a supportive environment
• Describe mentoring benefits and mentoring programs

Module Eight: Escalations

• Proactively follow up with dissatisfied customers
• Work with dissatisfied customers to a resolution and a positive perception during the escalation process

Module Nine: Support Center Operations

• Describe the service product and open system of service delivery
• Monitor and ensure compliance for support center metrics
• Communicate and monitor legal requirements

Module Ten: Decision Making

• Identify the production resources of the support center
• Recognize the impact of risk, bias, past experience and the cultural environment on the decision making process
• Describe the benefits of centralized and decentralized decisions
• Construct decisions based on the Force Field Analysis decision-making model

Module Eleven: Performance Management

• Identify and write individual performance goals
• Monitor progress and results of performance objectives
• Clearly document and communicate performance progress

Module Twelve: Supervisor Strategies

• Identify and apply the four strategies to help navigate the transition from peer to boss

Certification

Certification consists of two parts: the course and an online certification exam.  The exam is administered over the Internet, may be taken following the course from the candidate's home or office, and consists of 100 exam questions which must be completed within a single 2-hour sitting.  The exam is pass/fail, and candidates must achieve at least a 75% score in order to obtain certification. If you do not pass the exam on your first attempt, a second administration can be scheduled for a $79 retake fee.  You will receive more exam information on site during the class.

Successful candidates will receive a Certified Support Supervisor certificate from the internationally-recognized Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards board.  SCP Standard-certified career professionals are recognized and coveted throughout world, serving in internal and external customer support operations of the world's leading software companies, technology organizations, internal IT departments, and consulting firms.

Learn more about Service Capability & Performance Standards-based professional certification

Registration Fees

The per student registration fee for this seminar is $2,295, and includes the seminar, course materials, online pre-exam prep course, certification exam, and continental breakfast and refreshments each day. Class begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. each day. Please arrive at 8:00 a.m. the first day to sign in. Dress is business casual.  Virtual class consists of five 4-hour sessions.

Register securely online with confidence or please call (708) 246-0320.

Seminar Schedule

Nov 12-14, 19-21, 2024	12:00 PM-4:00 PM ET	Virtual Classroom
Feb 4-6, 11-13, 2025	12:00 PM-4:00 PM ET	Virtual Classroom
May 13-15, 20-22, 2025	12:00 PM-4:00 PM ET	Virtual Classroom
Aug 12-14, 19-21, 2025	12:00 PM-4:00 PM ET	Virtual Classroom
Nov 4-6, 11-13, 2025	12:00 PM-4:00 PM ET	Virtual Classroom

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