USM Professional track: Pre-course Assignment

Each participant for the USM Professional track has already taken the USM Foundation training. The participant has also read the USM book.
Based on this knowledge, the candidate does a pre-course assignment for the USM Professional track:

to exercise this knowledge
to prepare for the USM Professional training
to provide material that is used during the USM Professional training

The pre-course assignment is a list of questions (download or view online) used to analyze a client organization. Answer the questions of the assignment and submit these in the form below before the start of the training.

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================= Questions on STRATEGY =================
1. Does the organization have a documented service management strategy?*
2. Has the organization documented its service management principles?*
Are these principles managed explicitly? Are the principles applied consistently?
3. Has the organization documented an enterprise dictionary with definitions?*
4. Assess your organization against the Value Maturity Model: what is the current maturity level?*
Argue your assessment.
5. Does the MT steer on continual improvement?*
Is continual improvement a default agenda item for the MT? Are the operators of the teams involved in the planning of improvements?
6. Does the organization measure its customer satisfaction on a regular base?*
7. What are the standards the organizations needs/wants to comply with?*
================= Questions on SERVICES =================
8. Does the organization apply best practices from frameworks?*
Which frameworks are used? Which practices from these frameworks are actually practiced?
9. Are the services clear?*
Does the organization have a list of its services? Does the organization have a single clear definition of 'service'?
10. Does the organization have a service catalog?*
11. Does the organization have service agreements in place with its stakeholders?*
With external customers? With internal solution teams? With external suppliers? Are all these agreements structured in the same way?
12. Is each service assigned to a service manager?*
13. Can requests for support be submitted to a clear front office?*
14. Does the organization provide service reports for customers?*
================= Questions on ORGANIZATION =================
15. Does the organization apply separation of duties in its task distribution?*
16. Does the organization differentiate between process managers and coordinators?*
Have process managers been trained? Have task profiles been determined? Have workflow and process manager profiles been assigned?
17. Does the organization differentiate between process coordination and team coordination?*
Has the distribution of steering power for the two been defined? Have escalation schemes been defined?
18. Does the organization have a RACI that is available for all staff?*
19. Investigate the service delivery strategy of the organization:*
Is it documented? What are the (explicit) principles that are set in strategy?
20. Is the organizational structure clear to all?*
Does the organization have a list of its customers? Does the organization have a list of its suppliers? Does the organization have a list of its internal solution teams?
================= Questions on PROCESS =================
21. Has the organization specified a process model?*
Do they differentiate processes from practices? Have processes been documented? Have processes been standardized and templated?
22. Does the organization prioritize actions?*
Are prioritization schemes available? Does the organization have one single prioritization table for all activities throughout the organization?
23. Does the organization manage its routines?*
Does the organization apply workflows/workflow techniques? Does the organization differentiate between processes, procedures and work instructions?
24. Has the organization standardized its routines?*
To what level? How many? Give some examples.
25. Does the organization manage its agreements?*
With all customers? With all suppliers? With all internal solution teams?
26. Does the organization manage its changes?*
27. Has the organization specified its managed infrastructure?*
Is there a MIR model agreed? Is there a shared MIR database?
28. Does the organization separate actions that influence the MIR (changes) from actions that do not influence the MIR (service requests)?*
29. Does the organization manage its incidents?*
Does the organization separate incidents from service requests? Does the organization separate risk management from incident management?
30. Does the organization manage its operations?*
Does the organization plan all of its operational activities in an OPS calendar?
31. Does the organization manage its risks?*
Are threats and opportunities captured as improvement options in the risk database?
32. Are projects handled by processes?*
================= Questions on TECHNOLOGY ==================
33. What service delivery coordination tool is used?*
34. Can the tool support templated workflows?*
35. Does the tool differentiate between call types: wishes, change requests, incidents, service requests, and risks?*
36. Does the tool support an integrated planning function of operational activities (OPS calendar)?*
Does the tool have a single database for all call handling?
37. Does the tool have a MIR?*
38. Does the tool support the handling of all support calls?*
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“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein

“The righter we do the wrong thing, the wronger we become.“
Russell Ackoff

“Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean.”
Charlie Munger

“All truth passes through three stages.
First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.“
Arthur Schopenhauer

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.“
Steve Jobs

“At the end of the day, all organizations are service providers, regardless of what they produce.”
Christian Grönroos

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.“
Isaac Newton (1675)

“In the land of the blind, one-eye is king.“
Anon

“…in a turbulent world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.“
Adam Grant, in [Think Again]

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Steve Jobs

USM Professional track: Pre-course Assignment

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