1.6. Getting Started

Although you may want a ticketing system because it will make handling and tracking tasks so much easier, the first step is to persuade the right people. You need enthusiasm for the solution across the organization.

1.6.1. Selling It to Management

The people who pay for it come first management has to have an interest. They need to see the benefits for their business, their customers, and their bottom line.

Any of the points described in the section "Ticketing Helps Everybody" might help convince a manager that his workforce could be more productive with less resources. A ticketing system can help handle multiple requirements to ensure a smooth operation, save time, avoid missing tasks, prevent less critical work from impeding the important work, and make the entire workflow more efficient.

Last, implementing a ticketing system is an inexpensive solution with many rewards throughout an organization. It enables managers to track activity in a complex environment knowledge is power.

1.6.2. Selling It to Staff

An enthusiastic manager is not enough, an excited staff is essential to the new process, too. One of the many reasons for individual members of a team to be keen on having a ticketing system in place is that they no longer need to inform a whole tree of people of the status of a particular chunk of work.

The familiar cries of: "Let me know when you've finished," "Don't interrupt me now, can't you see I'm busy, . . ., and "When you've done X, I'll tell you what to do next" need never be heard again. Once a ticketing system is in place, anyone in the team can pick up an outstanding piece of work with the highest priority and deal with it. They know no one else is going to start work on the task at the same time, because they are the owner of the task. No one needs to ask about progress, because everyone knows it is finished when the status is changed on the team web site. There may even be a customizable email to all interested parties. No more treading on each other's toes.

A ticketing system empowers the members of a team to handle discrete tasks with much less overhead and enables them to manage their own time more effieciently. Higher efficiency means less stress, less stress means happier staff, happy staff means a job well done, and we all go home early.

1.6.3. Getting People to Use the Ticketing System

Having a ticketing system is not enough you need to use it! There are many ways to motivate people. Many implementors may think that the only choices are the carrot and the stick. An example of the carrot might be: "If you close more than 10 tickets a day, you can go home early." An example of the stick might be: "Unless you close more than 10 tickets a day, you're fired!"

Neither approach is ideal both involve some authority figure who will either punish or reward performance. The carrot may even be an appropriate solution in some environments, but the danger is that it may promote unproductive competition between your team members. They may pick the easy-to-close tickets rather than the highest priority ones.

An alternative approach might be to educate the users of the ticketing system to appreciate the benefits of the improved workflow. This information does not need to focus solely on immediate improvements to the process, but it also might demonstrate how it will positively effect the provision of service, improve the confidence of the customer, and expand the bottom line of the firm. These lead to future expansion, more and better jobs, and perhaps world peace.

All of this depends on the nature of your work and your business model. You need to implement whatever solution works best for you. Each group may have to decide how to use the new tool to it's best advantage. Each situation will have its own best practice solution for local problems.