MSP internal problems

[rustynails87]

Hello all,

I currently work for a MSP and we provide our services to small businesses. Right now we currently have 4 tech's (including me), 1 owner who thinks he's a tech, and an accounting/HR lady who knows nothing about IT.

I'm going to get strait to the main point of this post... The communication within our company is absolutely atrocious! Tickets get missed, clients have to call/email back multiple times, tech's don't fill in their time, some tech's don't even create tickets, etc.

The way our system is set up right now if a client requests help:

- Client emails "cs@" which is a distribution group that emails everyone and automatically creates a ticket within our ticketing software.
- Client emails "service@" which is also a distribution group that emails everyone but does not create a ticket.
- Client picks up the phone and calls in for support.

Usually nobody takes the initiative to hop on a ticket unless its something easy to complete. Nobody wants to pick up the phone to call the client even if they are assigned the ticket. The tech who is "assigned" the problem sometimes just replies to the client and does not copy "service@" to know that the problem is being worked on and/or completed. Bunch of lazy tech's.

The boss is mainly the one who assigns tickets to everyone (if he is around). He is out of the office more and more and he is usually calling into the office 20+ times a day to make sure tickets are being worked on.


Also, we have this one tech who knows EVERYTHING and is the longest tenured tech so the boss will never get rid of him. His communication is extra poor and he does NOT fill in tickets unless he is pressured. If he happens to pick up the phone, he helps the client, but does not create a ticket for it. When he finally gets around to filling in his time for the tickets he was assigned he forgot what he had done. His tickets are always just sitting in the ticketing system (assigned to him) leaving everyone clueless as to if it was completed.

I could go on and on about the poor communication issues with everyone within the company but I will stop at that.

I recently sat with my boss (the owner) and explained all of these issues and more. I told him we need a middleman/director who will assign tickets, be the communicator, and straighten things out. The boss wants me to be assigned this role within the company. He is currently creating a document of my "duties" and will notify everyone of this at our upcoming meeting this week.

My question to you guys is… Have you seen anything like this? What did you do to change it? Any suggestions of input would be greatly helpful.

 

[seedubya]

So this is a good move on his part and yours. Well done for taking the initiative. The key to having this new system work is the senior tech guy. He either needs to get onboard double quick or get fired double quick. If this doesn't happen he'll poison the well and no-one else will fall in line either. I hope your boss understands this.

 

[Kitten Kong]

You ideally need some form of manager tech. Someone who will assign tickets to the techs, look after the time sheets, and possibly arrange for the billing to be completed too.

I agree with @seedubya, well done on taking the initiative here. Now your going to be this manager tech. Take the business to the next level.

If needed, don't hesitate to post some ideas on the forums here, and I'm sure there will be a lot of contributors to give you helpful advice.

 

[Markverhyden]

That's excellent initiative @rustynails87! As @seedubya and @Kraken mentioned one does need to have a team leader on this. Even if there was some automatic assignment system there still needs to be someone who will ride heard. Personally, being that small of a company I'd expect the owner to do it. By hey, if he doesn't then that's more experience for you. I'm sure I don't need to remind that followup is almost as important as assigning. Best of luck!

 

[rustynails87]

I guess I will wait to see what he defines in my list of "duties". Even though I'm the youngest tech there, I am absolutely the best for this type of role. Now I hope when I assign the older techs a ticket I don't get the "I'm the senior" as a response as I do now.

@Markverhyden I'm from Worcester myself. Recently moved to the Cape for this job.

 

[Markverhyden]

I guess I will wait to see what he defines in my list of "duties". Even though I'm the youngest tech there, I am absolutely the best for this type of role. Now I hope when I assign the older techs a ticket I don't get the "I'm the senior" as a response as I do now.

@Markverhyden I'm from Worcester myself. Recently moved to the Cape for this job.

Small world! I'm not originally from here but been here long enough. Still don't talk like a local though so they think I'm an immigrant. LOL!!!

Another thought for your action plan. Adding responsibilities implies increased compensation, at least in theory. Not sure how you are getting paid, exempt or non-exempt, but you should work on a plan to get an increase for this added responsibility. If it was me I'd work up a plan based on customer service ratings. Figure out a way to get a baseline reading and then work up a compensation plan for this based on increased ratings. Maybe a quarterly or semi-annual thing.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

One other important point I didn't see mentioned above is you need complete buy-in from the owner. He needs to stand behind you and make sure everyone knows that he agrees and the process needs to be followed, otherwise you'll quickly end up right back where you started. It's not enough for him to give you the role. There needs to be consequences for not following the new process.

 

[seashore]

How about telling everyone that the ticketing system will now be the primary way of tracking exactly how much work each tech is actually doing (and optionallly linking pay to performance somehow). They are likely to use the system properly from that point.

 

[Archon Prime]

Every day I get reminded of how nice it is to be my own employee.

 

[mr m]

Every day I get reminded of how nice it is to be my own employee.

I wish I realized that earlier in my career.

Work sucks. But it sucks a whole lot less when you are driving.

 

[neotechnet]

Makes me wonder how they are staying in business? If clients have to call / email multiple times have they lost any?

 

[GTP]

Every day I get reminded of how nice it is to be my own employee.

+1000!

 

[NJW]

Every day I get reminded of how nice it is to be my own employee.

While I agree with you, being the pilot, navigator, flight engineer and rear gunner – occasionally all at the same time – is not everybody's cup of tea.

 

[Archon Prime]

While I agree with you, being the pilot, navigator, flight engineer and rear gunner – occasionally all at the same time – is not everybody's cup of tea.

That's what wives are for

 

[G8racingfool]

@rustynails87 Great job on the initiative and the mini "promotion". One thing that I would absolutely make sure of in your situation now is that you keep the lines of communication as open and as candid as possible with your boss. This ties into what @Slaters Kustum Machines said. Communication is the key and it has to be clear, concise and truthful at all times. Being that your the young guy among a bunch of "oldies" you're not going to have many friends among them for long once you start laying down the law. They may very well start looking for ways to make you look bad to the boss. Clean lines of communication are what is going to keep your boss on your side.

I'm guessing the fellow techs who are working there are a bit older (~40+). If so, that explains everything in your post. From tickets not getting done to the communication being poor. This is even truer if the company you're working for was a break/fix shop before converting to an MSP and retained the same techs, or is doing both break/fix and MSP currently. MSP work isn't just about doing things differently with your customers and getting MRR for it. It's a titanic shift in mindset for the techs involved too and a lot of the guys who "grew up" doing nothing but break/fix for 20+ years are stuck in that old mentality and refuse to change. For them it's "wait until something "big" breaks, then go fix it and bitch about how stupid X, Y or Z thing is" and they're comfortable with that. Forcing them to do anything different will result in push back. Previously that push back would have been against your boss, now it will be against you. That, combined with your lack of seniority is why communication with your boss is important because you need him on your side at all times.

As long as you do that and perform your list of duties, whatever they may be, you'll be just fine.

 

[fencepost]

This whole thread speaks to me in ways that I can't fully express.

Now I hope when I assign the older techs a ticket I don't get the "I'm the senior" as a response as I do now.

"Yep. You're the senior tech. My job is to deal with this admin crap like assigning tickets and following up on them so that we can all get paid. If you'd like to switch from primarily dealing with stuff as a tech and have to ride herd on Bob instead, we can trade."

 

[Abramsgunner]

LOL... OP, I feel your pain. In my experience, G8racingfool is spot-on. Buy-in from the boss will make or break your plan. It sounds much like my current employer.. started as a one man show, added techs and office workers over 35 years, but never changed the seat-of-the-pants work flow. Eventually started offering Managed Services, but the work flow never changed... still worked like break-fix and still very disorganized. If we had in real competition the doors would have closed years ago.

Something to consider... you are essentially building your boss's business for him... so as other's have said, make sure you are compensated for your effort. Getting things running correctly will be good experience for your resume, but if you are not developing any equity in the company... at least get paid for it.