azM goes under the knife

Is your organisation facing a large change in the near future? In this article you can read about the course the Academic Hospital Maastricht (azM) has taken. Ninety of its employees are going to try something completely different.

Upgrade at the azM

The management team of azM’s IT department has ambitious plans. The services are being ‘upgraded’, which means a fundamental improvement of the interaction between various crucial elements, namely the employees, the work processes and the IT infrastructure. TOPdesk Enterprise will be used to support the service desk and enhance the organisation of the processes. And while they’re at it, they are also going to renew their entire IT infrastructure. The people in the organisation are expected to ‘upgrade’ also. The groups in which the employees will be operating will change, and in some cases they will even have to start doing other jobs. A positive attitude towards these changes is crucial; the employees are somewhat sceptical about large-scale reorganisations, since in the past not all projects have gone as planned. The management team has therefore resolved to make the improvement of internal communication an important part of the upgrade project.

To suit the action to the word, a kick-off party was organised on the eve of the first day of the TOPdesk implementation trajectory. As a location, the Marl caves of Kanne were chosen, just across the border in Belgium. The head of the management team Marc Maessen, together with Dennis Roozemond (project coordinator from TOPdesk) and Jordi Recasens (TOPdesk consultant) each gave a presentation, in which the goals of the entire upgrade project and the implementation of TOPdesk were announced. The presentations all conveyed one important message: the upgrade of the IT department can succeed when all employees communicate openly and honestly with each other, and work towards the desired end goal in small, surveyable steps.

What exactly is in store for the IT technician?

The IT and telecom organisation of azM comprises about ninety people. Management operates in a new formation, under the direction of Marc Maessen. The main aim is to set up a modern IT service centre, and train and guide people for their new tasks. AzM aspires to strategically determine and channel their services and activities. Furthermore, the management team strives to gain the confidence of all employees – confidence in their targets, in the management team and in themselves.

Reorganising the IT department will not result in outsourcing. The new setup offers place for everyone. To make work more enjoyable, the teams will comprise fewer employees – from 30 to about 10 or 15 people. This means that everyone will be given new tasks and more responsibility. The management team therefore intends to provide their colleagues with the proper ‘equipment’ to reach these new targets. A completely renewed infrastructure, as well as the switch to the new service management application TOPdesk, requires proper training and coaching. Yet the employees are also encouraged to change their mentality. Transparency and participation are the key words. Additionally, management wants to provide the new situation with structure, support and a pleasant work environment.

When you want to introduce transparency’ and ‘participation’ as new cultural elements, you first need to practice what you preach, Maessen found. Together with amongst others project manager Ben Sollet, he started to preparing for the upgrade a few months ago, informing people and instigating various processes. He found that transparancy invites a load of responses, both positive and negative. But Maessen wants to hear it all, especially the doubts and insecurities. He hopes that by listening closely and answering honestly, everyone will know where they stand, which he feels is crucial when you want to steer a group of ninety people in the same direction.

Working process-based

AzM switched from HP Openview to TOPdesk Enterprise. One of the wishes that Dennis and Jordi kept hearing was that they wanted to get rid of the constantly recurring bespoke work that was needed to comply with the demands of the services they provide. Another one of their wishes is to thoroughly carry through the best practices of ITIL.

The implementation of TOPdesk Enterprise in azM will be carried out in three phases. The final goal is to improve their services. To consolidate this abstract goal, azM, assisted by Dennis and Jordi, have subdivided it into three sub goals. First, it is important to make the customer the centre of attention when it comes to providing service. By setting up a Self Service Desk and putting down agreements in SLAs, the service level management should improve. Second, the management team wants to have a ‘skilled service desk’; service desk employees have therefore to be trained to better use TOPdesk Enterprise, so they can resolve a large number of the incidents and problems themselves. The third sub target is to streamline all IT processes. AzM will make use of almost all ITIL processes. In order to optimally profit from this, a good design of the processes and organisation of TOPdesk is essential. Jordi and Dennis will therefore cooperate with Project manager Ben Sollet to pass through these three steps in about seventy days, finishing the implementation project in October this year.

Transition processes

There are various challenges ahead for azM in this transition process, such as mastering new technology and work methods, and changing the mentality of the employees. And it is this last element that is often overlooked in transition processes, or skipped due to lack of time. Marc Maessen and his team of managers and project managers always keep in mind the questions of their employees, such as: How does this change affect my job content and job enthusiasm? What do I gain by this change? Am I even prepared to change? Both the employees and the executives need to find answers to these questions. This takes time and open-mindedness – the two elementary ingredients for a successful transition process.

In the next few months the editors of TOPdesk magazine will closely follow the developments of azM, to see how their transition process has progressed since the kick-off on March 13th. You will be kept up to date on developments and the final result in one of the following issues of TOPdesk magazine.