Chapter 8

Teams and Team Players in a Service Desk Setting

Successful teams require more than a collection of skilled individuals. They need a shared purpose, strong leadership, trust, positive relationships, and an environment conducive to growth through the stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Teams must work through conflicts and build consensus to reach optimal performance.

Being a team player involves commitment, cooperation, and a willingness to prioritize the team's needs without sacrificing individuality. Team members play unique roles based on their skills and styles—such as challengers, collaborators, communicators, and contributors—all of which are vital at different stages of team growth. Recognizing and leveraging these styles enhances team effectiveness.

Technical support thrives in a team setting because no single individual can possess all the knowledge or meet the vast demands of customers alone. A team consists of individuals working together towards a common goal, and a team player actively contributes through collaboration and open communication.

Key Terms

  • Consensus: Agreement among team members on decisions or plans.

  • Emotional Intelligence: The ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others.

  • First Contact Resolution Rate: The percentage of customer issues resolved during the initial interaction.

  • Team Player: An individual who cooperates and communicates openly to contribute to the team’s success.

  • Wrap-up Time: The time spent completing post-call tasks after a customer interaction.

The service desk's goals and mission guide the team’s role within the organization. Individual and team performance is measured using tools like automatic call distributors (ACD), email response management systems, and incident management systems. Feedback from customer satisfaction surveys and performance monitoring is used to identify areas for improvement.

Effective communication is essential for building strong relationships within the team and achieving success. Feedback must be constructive and humane, and team members must encourage open sharing of information, opinions, and thoughts. Poor communication can harm a team’s dynamics, while effective communication ensures alignment with goals and clear understanding of individual contributions.

The service desk environment can be demanding, but teamwork makes challenges more manageable and rewarding. To thrive in this setting, each team member must contribute actively, as there is no room for passivity in a successful team.