Announcing New Solutions Delivery Service Level Commitments!

-- Gray Carper (gcarper@med.umich.edu)

Over three years ago, the Solutions Center minted Service Level Expectations for Incidents and Service Requests. They describe Service Level commitments, but we didn’t actively monitor them, and nothing happened if we met or missed them. They served as an important starting point, but now it’s time for them to evolve. Over the past 6 months, Performance & Improvement Management has worked with everyone in Solutions Delivery to shape customer and staff feedback collection, team capacity measures, and service levels we can all get behind using data trends in Zendesk and your collective feedback. On behalf of everyone involved in the project team, we are pleased to reveal new Incident, Task, and Question Service Level Commitments and their associated follow-up processes.

SLE? SLA? SLC? What’s the Difference?

Here’s what we mean when we toss these terms around inside MSIS...

• Service Level Expectations (SLE): Expectations we set for our service levels, internally, without making them public.
• Service Level Agreement (SLA): A signed contract, between ourselves and one or more specific customers, defining exactly what levels of service that customer will receive.
• Service Level Commitments (SLC): A public document wherein we make a formal pledge to our customers that we will maintain and be accountable for specific levels of service.

Are We Really Going Public?

We're quietly launching these Service Level Commitments at first, as we know we'll need to learn and adjust as we start. Once our performance around these commitments stabilizes, however, we will share them with our customers. That likely won't happen until the fall at the earliest, but we expect them to see improvement in our services before then and wonder why we're getting stronger and more consistent.  

Why Do We Need Service Level Commitments?

These commitments all support providing a high level of customer service. They give us a shared definition of what’s reasonable, focus us around common aims, and prompt actions that keep us accountable. When we don't meet them, setting the bar high for ourselves gives us focus in our improvement efforts.  

Who Do The Commitments Apply To?

Only members of Solutions Delivery under Jack Kufahl are currently accountable to the levels and their associated follow-ups. If you’re interested in having your area of MSIS participate, please contact Performance & Improvement Management.

Where Can I See These Commitments?

Each individual commitment is described in our Incident, Task, and Question Service Level Commitment documents. You can also see how well we’re meeting them by visiting our Service Level Commitments Dashboards.

What Happens When We Miss a Target?

We celebrate the red! Missing a target shows us where we can get better - it's something to appreciate, not be afraid of. When it happens, new processes are triggered to bring support to the area in need.

When Are These Commitments Active?

They are being actively monitored right now, but we won’t begin rolling out automated alerts for missed targets until July 1st. On that day, we’ll only activate alerts for the Questions and Tasks Subsequent Update Interval commitment and gradually roll others out every other week, adjusting our processes as we go. See the related training decks to help you prepare.

Questions?

Interested to learn more about our Service Level Commitments or have suggestions for improvement? Just send a note to msis-pim-questions@umich.edu.

Thank You!

Developing these Commitments, and the supporting framework underneath them, could not have be possible without the help of an extraordinarily diverse and talented group of people, including (but not limited to!) Dave Berrie, Connie Bridges, Nick Chrumka, Tom Cook, Dave Cuevas, Shiow-Hwa Gau, April Jefferson Grider, Lydia Grider, Chris Goosman, Jonathan Greenberg, Nancy Gross, Laurie Harvey, Mary Hill, Michele Huang, Charlotta Jared, Jamie Keeley, Jack Kufahl, Steve Lambert, Rob Levitt, Fusen Li, Tony Markel, Len Merritt, Jonathan Mills, Buzz Nau, Caleb Newman, Steve Sarrica, Eric Smith, Susan Topol, Jay Walsh, Michael Warden, Monica Webster, Eric Weimer, and Erik Zempel.