Incident management is one of the most important IT service management processes for any organization. An important incident can cause great commercial damage, since it might involves an increase in customer inquiries and complaints. For that reason, most organizations are aware of the importance of having an incident management process in place to minimize the negative impact of any unexpected event and to maintain the quality and availability of the services offered by the company.
Efficient incident management tools
One of the greatest incident management tools are workflows that allow you to create customized alert systems in case of any inconvenience. By doing this you will be able to define in advance the actions to be carried out in case of any incident.
How to improve incident management?
A good communication is essential to improve incident management, so it is important to constantly optimize it. Here we have listed 5 tips that will help you improve accident management by 50%.
1) Establish formal communication channels to report incidents
The ideal is to have multiple channels available to ensure that everyone involved in the processes get the information at the right time.
These communication channels may include:
- Interruption banners
- Text messages
- Interactive voice response systems
- Phone calls
2) Create internal communication templates to improve efficiency
Incident management is a stressful task that takes a lot of organization to avoid creating unnecessary tensions between all the teams and people involved. Trying to write an effective incident report from scratch can be complicated especially if you don’t have much time. To avoid this, it is advisable to create incident templates in advance. Ideally you can have several templates for different types of incidents. Once the templates are created, all you have to do is open it, insert any variable that cannot be written previously and click on a button to send the report.
3) Communicate constantly throughout an incident
Most of the time, sending an initial report is not enough. To keep anybody well informed about all the details, it is necessary to communicate throughout the incident. In order to avoid setbacks and maintain a fluid communication it is advisable to have a plan easy to carry out that can provide effective outcome. This strategy should include various communication methods and channels from the time the incident arises until it is resolved.
4) Communication channels should be easy to use
It is important to emphasize that communications within your organization must be easy simple and easy to understand. Additionally, it is paramount to keep all the people involved well informed. When the problem has been resolved, stakeholders should analyze what happened and why it occurred in order to take the right steps being to prevent it from happening again.
5) Invest in a service management solution
Process automation and a well organized database are essential elements not only for incident management but also for other processes within the company. A service management solution can help you lighten your work and allow you to get easy access to all the information you need in one centralized interface.
These are our 5 tips to improve your incident management procedures. Bear in mind that good incident management will help your company to improve communication with your workers and customers and could avoid future incidents. Do you have other tips that have not been included here? Please let us know in the comments.
DataScope is a platform which allows various industries to streamline, organize and evaluate the work of their field staffs thanks to online forms which provide real time indicators 100% adaptable to any field.
