It is common knowledge that ITIL is a framework for service management. However, several organizations tend to ignore the importance of people when it comes to implementing ITIL. The role of people is as important as processes and technology when implementing ITIL. This problem arises mainly because ITIL is driven as an IT program and not as a holistic philosophy with a key role performed by the people.
This is where communications come into the picture. IT communications play a significant role in the people fulfilling their responsibilities and working in sync which eventually results in benefits being realized.
How Communications helps ITIL Implementation
Even though most service organizations have an ITIL communications plan, they tend to commit the common mistake of implementing it just before the technology is released. This helps the people in no way and results in the implementation not being successful. To make the most of the communications plan, it must be initiated immediately after the business case is approved.
It is indispensable for the people involved to know what is happening in the organization and be updated on all the latest developments. Visibility is a key factor that will help effective process adoption. There are certain things your communication needs to fulfill to enable ITIL implementation.
Enabling ITIL
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- The first communication needs to be that of the buy-in from the top management. The people need to be aware of the fact that there is executive support for the implementation of ITIL in the organization.
- The strategy behind the ITIL implementation exercises highlights the resulting benefits to the organization and its customers.
- Other collateral ranges from internal communications to marketing collateral and sales support material such as newsletters, emails, intranet, press releases, and others.
However, ITIL communications are at their most effective when individuals involved in different stages of the service lifecycle are targeted with tailored communications. Each stage of the lifecycle demands a different set of skills and qualities and hence these individuals possess different personality traits associated with their roles and responsibilities. Additionally, the communications to each of these types of individuals need to be in such a way that they strike a chord with them to enable them to respond and act accordingly.
Also read the blog on 7 cs of communication with examples that can help you create an effective ITIL communication strategy.
ITIL Individuals
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Service Strategy Individuals:
These individuals perform high-level strategic roles. They have a long-term vision and operate in theory. They manage the service portfolio and deal with management activities.
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Service Design Individuals:
These individuals have an understanding of the vision and still are design-oriented and analytical. While establishing service levels, they design services incorporating the details of technology in accordance with the strategic vision of the organization.
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Service Transition Individuals:
These individuals are mainly analytical since they are mostly involved with transition and change management. However, interpersonal may also come into play since change management and releases involve human interaction.
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Service Operation Individuals:
The service operation staff is the most diverse of all. They are analytical, detailed, and interpersonal.
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Continual Service Improvement Individuals:
These individuals are mainly analytical since they are predominantly involved in monitoring processes, implementing improvements, and then measuring the effectiveness and further analyzing gaps.
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Your organization’s IT communications plans need to cater to all these types of individuals and ensure that the entire IT staff is kept informed on changes and developments on a consistent basis and in a way that creates value for each of the teams.
Though technology and processes are the key pillars of ITIL implementation, communication plays an equally significant role since it facilitates the functioning of people to their full potential and eventually helps to deliver IT services with minimum interruption and of the highest quality while meeting and exceeding the expectations of customers.
