hdi kcs fundamentals participant handbook

HDI®

KCS Fundamentals release 5.3.0

PARTICIPANT HANDBOOK

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Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) Fundamentals Course

Participant Handbook

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AcknowledgementsMany thanks to the following people and companies for their time and assistance maintaining the Knowledge Management Foundations: KCS Principles certi�cation course:

Ingrid Bradford, Sr. Instructional Designer, HDI

John Custy, Founder & Principal Consultant, JPC Group

Rick Joslin, Executive Director of Certi�cation and Training, HDI

Katherine Lord, President, Lord Consulting

Version 5.3 Copyright © 2013 UBM LLC All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 978-1-57125-084-1

HDI 121 S. Tejon Street • Suite 1100 Colorado Springs, CO • 80903 • US US and Canada: (800) 248-5667 www.�inkHDI.com

HDI assumes no liability for error or omission.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of HDI, with the exception of trade publications reporting on the data. In such cases, credit must be given to HDI.

HDI is a registered trademark of UBM LLC. HDI is a part of UBM TechWeb, a division of UBM LLC.

Portions of this document include information based on the ITIL and IT Infrastructure Library publications of the UK O�ce of Government Commerce. ITIL is a registered community trademark of the O�ce of Government Commerce, and is registered in the US Patent and Trademark O�ce.

Portions of this document include information based on the Knowledge-Centered Support publications of the Consortium for Service Innovation. KCS is a registered service mark of the Consortium for Service Innovation.

All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2013 ITpreneurs. All rights reserved.

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Welcome to HDI®.Thank you for selecting HDI for your professional development needs. By participating in this course, you will learn knowledge and skills based on the IT service and technical support industry’s best practices, frameworks, and methodologies with the guidance of industry experts and practitioners from the HDI community. HDI is the world’s largest membership association for IT service and technical support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry. This course has also been designed to assist you in preparing for the related HDI certification exam.

In response to the needs of the industry, HDI and the Consortium for Service Innovation jointly developed the first Knowledge Foundations: KCS Principles course in 2003 in order to promote and share the KCS methodology. Working with members of the Consortium for Service Innovation, HDI developed the first Knowledge-Centered Support Principles Certification Standard in 2006. This standard summarizes the core range of knowledge an individual is expected to know based on KCS version 5.1, which was released in August of 2011. In 2007, HDI released the Knowledge-Centered Support Principles Certification Exam as a means to test and then recognize individuals that demonstrate their comprehension of KCS.

Why is industry certification important? It demonstrates that you—and your staff—are equipped with the knowledge and skills required to provide best-in-class support. Achieving HDI certification speaks to your personal commitment to excellence and your desire for continual growth. I challenge you to get HDI Certified and to promote yourself as a certified support professional.

HDI’s membership association is built by industry professionals like you. Guided by an international panel of industry experts and practitioners, HDI is the leading resource for support center emerging trends and best practices. HDI offers a vast repository of resources to our members. Through our online community, you can connect with your peers and industry experts, access publications and information to help you with your support center processes and goals. If you are not a member, I personally invite you to join our community.

If you have suggestions on how to improve our offerings, or if you would like to become an active member in our community, please call us at 1-800-248-5667.

Best of luck in your journey to support excellence!

Regards,

Rick Joslin, HDI Executive Director of Certification and Training

WELCOME Letter

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K C S F u n d a m e n t a l s

C o p y r i g h t © 2 0 1 3 H D I , V e r s i o n 5 . 3

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INTROductionINTROduction

Introduction: Getting Started

Course ObjectivesOrganizations that leverage knowledge and manage it effectively can reduce costly mistakes, accelerate the absorption and distribution of new ideas, and eliminate redundant work. A thriving knowledge management program, one that successfully captures, structures, and reuses information, is a vital component of top performing companies and often provides them with a competitive advantage.

The Knowledge-Centered Support Fundamentals course provides support center supervisors, managers, and directors with an awareness of knowledge management best practices. Additionally, participants are introduced to fundamental concepts of the Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) methodology. This course can also be used to build internal support for a new knowledge management initiative.

In this course, you will learn:

• Knowledge management best practices

• Knowledge-Centered Support concepts and methodology

• The value and benefits of adopting Knowledge-Centered Support

Course Outline

Session/Unit 1: What is Knowledge-Centered Support and Why Do We Need It?

• The History of Knowledge-Centered Support• Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) Concepts• Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) Benefits• Proactive versus Reactive Knowledge Management

Session/Unit 2: The Knowledge-Centered Support Model

• The Double Loop Process Model• Capture in the Workflow• Structure for Reuse• Searching is Creating• Just-in-time Solution Quality• Workflow• Content Vitality

Session/Unit 3: Wrapping Up the Knowledge-Centered Support Methodology

• Aligning Business Goals and Objectives• Providing Value with Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS)• Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) Return on Investment


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KCS Fundamentals

About HDIHDI is the leading professional association and certification body for technical service and support professionals. Facilitating collaboration and networking, HDI hosts industry conferences and events, produces comprehensive publications and research, and connects solution providers with practitioners, while certifying and training thousands of professionals each year. HDI serves a community of over 110,000 members, followers, customers, solution providers, and contributors throughout the service industry, supporting sixty local chapters across North America. Guided by an international panel of industry experts and practitioners, HDI is the community’s premiere resource for best practices and emerging trends.

HDI Certification ProgramsHDI awards certifications to individuals and support centers. HDI certification programs include objectives and criteria for various levels of individual certification and site certification. HDI individual certification exams are based on open international standards developed and maintained by the HDI International Certification Standards Committee, which is made up support industry practitioners, experts and active members of the HDI community from across the world. Our training programs are developed to reinforce the information in the standard and to provide skills building for a variety of experience levels.

HDI Customer Service Representative (HDI-CSR)

This course is recommended for front-line staff in the support center environment who are dedicated to providing outstanding levels of customer service and support. Course participants will be introduced to valuable information and everyday solutions for addressing the attitudes, behaviors, and relationships between customers and the support team. This one-day course will assist participants in preparing for the HDI Customer Service Representative certification exam.

HDI Support Center Analyst (HDI-SCA)

This course focuses on support center processes, tools, and problem-solving techniques, while examining the skills needed for excellent customer support. Using real-world scenarios, analysts learn skills to manage the relationships between customers and their support team, thus improving individual performance and the overall efficiency of the entire support organization. This two-day course will assist participants in preparing for the HDI Support Center Analyst certification exam.

HDI Desktop Support Technician (HDI-DST)

This course is designed specifically for IT professionals who provide support at the customer’s work location or home office. It focuses on support processes that improve overall support operations and the customer’s experience. This two-day course will assist participants in preparing for the HDI Desktop Support Technician certification exam.


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HDI Support Center Team Lead (HDI-SCTL)

This course is designed specifically for support center analysts, team leads, and supervisors that require fundamental management and leadership skills due to current or future increased responsibilities. This skills-building and certification course focuses on best practices for support center operations and how to effectively coach and lead a team. This two-day course will prepare current and future team leads for excellence in their changing roles and assist them in preparing for the HDI Support Center Team Lead certification examination.

HDI Support Center Manager (HDI-SCM)

This course is designed for help desk and support center supervisors, team leads, and managers who are responsible for day-to-day operations and have three to five years of experience. Successful support center managers must effectively manage relationships throughout their organization, while marketing the value of the support operation to the executive team. Knowing how to build and deliver on service level agreements, managing the strategic and tactical aspects of the support center, and building and retaining great teams are what set apart the best managers and leaders. In addition to skills building, this three-day course will assist participants in preparing for the HDI Support Center Manager certification exam.

HDI Desktop Support Manager (HDI-DSM)

This course is designed for desktop support supervisors, team leads, and managers who are responsible for day-to-day desktop support and services and have three to five years of experience. Successful desktop support managers must effectively manage relationships throughout their organization. Knowing how to build and deliver on service level agreements and operational level agreements, managing the strategic and tactical aspects of desktop support, and building and retaining great teams are what set apart the best managers and leaders. In addition to skills building, this three-day course will assist participants in preparing for the HDI Desktop Support Manager certification exam.

HDI Support Center Director (HDI-SCD)

This course is designed for experienced support center managers, directors, and other management positions directly responsible for providing strategic leadership for the support organization. This course is designed to show support center leadership how to use their knowledge and communication skills to align their department with organizational goals; operate under constraints such as budget, resources, and increased expectations; and discover techniques to help market the value of the support center to upper management. This three-day course will assist participants in preparing for the HDI Support Center Director certification exam.


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KCS Fundamentals

HDI Knowledge Management Foundations: KCS Principles

This course is designed for IT support professionals who are responsible for service improvements. Course participants will learn a set of practical steps for capturing, storing, and successfully reusing mission-critical knowledge that will shift your support center from a call-centric model to a knowledge-oriented one. This three-day course will assist participants in preparing for the Knowledge Centered Support Principles certification exam.

HDI Support Center Certification

The HDI Support Center Certification program provides the only globally recognized certification created specifically for support centers. The certification is an award that recognizes a support center’s commitment to excellence, efficiency, and service quality. The certification is based on the HDI Support Center Standard, an industry standard developed by an international standards committee comprised of more than 25 practitioners and experts from around the world. The standard was designed to conform to existing international quality standards, such as the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). It provides a framework for successful leadership, strategic planning, people management, resource and technology optimization, and service delivery that is designed to produce performance and satisfaction results. The standard is organized into eight categories representing five enablers and three results. Each category contains activities with four levels of maturity. In order to qualify as an HDI-Certified Support Center, a center must successfully complete the audit requirements and achieve minimum maturity-level scores in each category and overall as defined by the HDI International Certification Standards Committee.

For a complete list of certification objectives for each certification course, please visit us at www.ThinkHDI.com.


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HDI Membership Provides Unmatched ValueHDI membership brings you a value of belonging to a community bigger than yourself. Including discounts on the HDI Annual Conference & Expo, special events, training and certification, access to industry reports and publications, networking opportunities, online discussion forums, webinars, and more, HDI membership provides you and your organization with innumerable benefits and incredible value.

Here’s just a small sampling of what’s included in an HDI membership:

Local Chapter Membership

Network with professionals in your area when you participate in local chapter meetings and events. There are more than sixty local chapters located throughout the United States and Canada.

SupportWorld Magazine

HDI’s award-winning, service and support industry-leading magazine focuses on the latest strategies, best practices, people management, technologies, tools, and techniques in its six annual issues.

HDI Industry Insider eNewsletter

Distributed bi-weekly to more than 45,000 subscribers, every issue of HDI Industry Insider contains crucial information on trends and developments, as well as tips and information to keep you up to speed in this ever-changing industry.

Support Center Practices & Salary Survey Report

This essential report for any support manager contains comprehensive research data gathered from support organizations around the world. Providing a first-hand insight on the industry, department structure, personnel, service request profiles, practices, and tools, it takes an in-depth look at compensation levels for the support profession and provides analysis and trending over several years, making it an especially invaluable tool for managers preparing budgets and forecasts.

Desktop Support Practices & Salary Survey Report

HDI is pleased to announce that in addition to our traditional Support Center Practices & Salary Survey, we’ve expanded our research efforts to focus on the desktop support community. The HDI Desktop Support Practices & Salary Report provides insight into current processes, technologies, metrics, staffing models, and salaries within desktop support.


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KCS Fundamentals

HDI Support Center Self-Evaluation

The HDI Support Center Self-Evaluation is an online tool that enables you to compare your support center against the HDI Support Center Standard and learn what your rating might be during an HDI Support Center Certification audit. This tool is available free to HDI members with a gold membership or higher.

White Papers

Read about the latest practices and processes in the industry or become an integral part of the white paper library and share your knowledge through articles, templates, case studies, presentations, and research findings. The HDI white paper library offers information on a wide variety of topics, including SLAs, global support, processes, surveys, and more.

HDIConnect

HDIConnect.com is your direct line to the HDI community. Read and comment on blogs from industry experts and your peers, post questions to the message boards, and get feedback on your current projects or challenges.

Please Note: Membership deliverables vary depending on membership package.

We invite you to join the world’s largest network of technical service and support professionals. To join, call 1.800.248.5667 or visit www.ThinkHDI.com/Join


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HDI is a Member of the IT Certification Council (ITCC)As a member of the IT Certification Council (ITCC), HDI is committed to enhancing the value of certifications for employers, professionals, and IT certification providers. The ITCC, a consortium of industry leaders focused on IT certifications, has recognized the need for a qualified workforce to support the world’s technology needs and is committed to growing professional certifications. The ITCC is a resource for employers, government officials, academia, and individuals seeking information about the many benefits of IT certification. The council establishes industry best practices, markets the value of certification and exam security, and addresses other certification issues.

A partial list of ITCC members includes Certiport, Cisco, Citrix Systems, Inc., EXIN International, HDI, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Kaplan, Linux Professional Institute (LPI), Microsoft, Novell, Prometric, and Pearson VUE—all of whom are recognized industry leaders in IT certifications.

ITCC is developing an international standard for testing ethics and a means for employers to verify that professionals hold the IT certifications they claim on their resumes and transcripts. HDI is proud to be a member of ITCC, collectively we enhance the IT industry.


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KCS v5.3 Fundamentals – Session 1

KCS v5.3 Fundamentals HDI Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved.

Slide 1

Copyright ©2013 HDI® All rights reserved. 1

<name>, HDI Certified Instructor

<EMAIL>@thinkhdi.com

KCS v5.3 Fundamentals Virtual Classroom

Welcome to the KCS 5.3 Fundamentals virtual classroom course. Class will begin shortly. Please do the following before class starts:

• Introduce yourself as you enter into the telephone conference.

• Make sure you see the above slide on your computer screen.

• Have your participant’s course presentation printed and available to you.

The target audience for this course is managers, directors, and project managers who want to learn about Knowledge Management best practices and understand the Knowledge‐Centered Support methodology.


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Slide 2


Course Overview

• By the end of this course you will be able to understand:

–Knowledge management best practices

–The Knowledge‐Centered Support concepts and methodology

–The value and benefits of adopting Knowledge‐Centered Support

This course provides support center supervisors, managers, and directors with an awareness of knowledge management best practices. This course introduces the fundamental concepts of the Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS℠) methodology that will shift your support center from a call‐centric model to a knowledge‐oriented model. KCS, developed by the renowned Consortium for Service Innovation, defines a set of principles and practices proven to allow service and support organizations to significantly:

• Improve service levels to customers • Gain operational efficiencies • Increase the organization’s value to their company

By the end of this course participants will be able to:

• Knowledge management best practices

• The Knowledge‐Centered Support concepts and methodology

• The value and benefits of adopting Knowledge‐Centered Support

Note: This course is not designed to prepare an individual who desires to take the KCS Principles certification exam. The Knowledge Management Foundations: KCS Principles 3‐day workshop is designed to assist a person preparing to take the KCS Principles certification exam, as well as provide information on how to successfully implement KCS within their organization.


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Slide 3


Session Break Outs

Session Topics

1 What is Knowledge‐Centered Support and Why Do We Need It?• The History of Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS)• The Concepts of KCS• The Benefits of KCS• Proactive versus Reactive Knowledge Management

2 The KCS Methodology: The Knowledge‐Centered Support Model• The Double Loop Process• The Solve Loop• The Evolve Loop

3 Wrapping Up the KCS Methodology• Performance Assessment• Leadership• Return on Investment

Course Schedule:

This is a six‐hour virtual course delivered in two‐hour session blocks for three days. One day will cover each session. The table above indicates the topics that will be covered in each session.

Please do your best to arrive on time and actively participate in each course session.

We will be taking a 10‐minute break near the top of the hour, during each session.


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Slide 4


Session One: What is KCS and

Why Do We Need It?

For years, support centers have focused on improving First Contact Resolution, refining processes to grow efficiencies, and increasing customer satisfaction. As organizations evolve, supporting the business needs becomes more challenging; simultaneously, the number of services supported by the support center continues to grow at a fast rate. Even with mature processes, service level agreements, and higher skill sets of analysts, it is difficult to maintain a high quality of support at the same pace as evolving technologies and changing business goals. It is unrealistic to think that analysts can be experts in all areas for the growing number of complex services they support.

Does this mean that the quality of support is destined to decline? No, this simply means that organizations need to find better methods for capturing and sharing knowledge and to help meet the growing demands for effective support. Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS) is a set of best practices for knowledge management that results in enhanced quality of service, improved efficiencies, and higher customer and employee satisfaction.

In this session, you will learn about Knowledge‐Centered Support, how it has evolved into a robust methodology for capturing and leveraging knowledge, and the benefits of implementing the KCS model into your support center.


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Slide 5


Session Topics

• Session Topics

– The History of Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS)

– The Concepts of KCS

– The Benefits of KCS

– Proactive versus Reactive Knowledge Management

This slide provides an overview and introduction to this session and the topics covered.


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Slide 6


Session One Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Explain the history of Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS)

• Explain why Knowledge‐Centered Support was created

• List reasons why support centers need to implement Knowledge‐Centered Support

• Identify the concepts of Knowledge‐Centered Support

• Explain the benefits of Knowledge‐Centered Support

• Explain the difference between proactive and reactive knowledge management

Session One Learning Objectives:


• Explain the history of Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS)

• Explain why Knowledge‐Centered Support was created

• List reasons why support centers need to implement Knowledge‐Centered Support

• Identify the concepts of Knowledge‐Centered Support

• Explain the benefits of Knowledge‐Centered Support

• Explain the difference between reactive and proactive knowledge management

Review the learning objectives for this session. At the end of today you should have a better understanding of what Knowledge‐Centered Support is, how it has evolved into a methodology for capturing and leveraging knowledge, and the benefits of implementing the KCS model into your support center.


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Slide 9


Best Practices & Ditches

• Best Practice:

– A method of accomplishing a job, task, or process that is considered to be superior to all other known methods and is regularly measured over time to ensure its effectiveness.

– Can be repeated consistently to gain positive results

– Not common—not everyone is doing them

• Ditch:

– A practice the leads to poor or inconsistent results.

Knowledge‐Centered Support is a principles‐based, best practice methodology and is implemented in different ways based on the nature of the environment. A best practice is a method of accomplishing a job, task, or process that is considered to be superior to all other known methods and is regularly measured over time to ensure its effectiveness. Best practices can be repeated consistently to gain positive results, and they are not common—not everyone is doing them.

Ditches are a set of practices identified that produced poor results. It is valuable to understand a ditch so that you can navigate away from such a practice or realize you are following a ditch and can move away from it.


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Slide 10


The History of KCS

Proprietor: Consortium for Service Innovation

• Non‐profit alliance of customer service organizations

• KCS principles have evolved from work that began in 1992

• Originated with a simple premise: to capture, structure, and reuse knowledge

• Innovative ideas through collective thinking and experience

• Mission: “Advance the state of the art in customer interactions by developing innovative strategies, models and standards.”

Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS) best practices were created and are maintained by the Consortium for Service Innovation. The Consortium is a non‐profit alliance of customer service organizations that work together to solve industry‐wide challenges. The KCS principles have evolved from work that began in 1992. It was created to capture, structure, and reuse knowledge within the support center, also known as Knowledge Management. They meet regularly to discuss ideas, share experiences, work together to test theories, and explore new ways to enhance service management.

The Consortium for Service Innovation creates innovative ideas through a process of collective thinking and collective experience. The Consortium’s work integrates academic research and emerging business trends with the members’ operational perspectives. The result is innovative operational models that improve the customers’ support experience.

The Consortium program teams produce white papers, business frameworks, specifications, implementation guides, and best practices based on experiences and results from the implementations of its members. The work and results of the program teams are reported at the annual member conference, which is held each year in October. The Consortium also offers executive briefings, opportunity assessments, workshops, and coaching for early adopters of the Consortium’s models. To learn more about The Consortium for Service Innovation, visit their web site at www.serviceinnovation.org.


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Slide 11


• Non‐profit alliance of support organizations

• Board of Directors has included support executives from Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Novell, and Oracle.

Partnership between CSI and HDI

• Partnership in 2003—the world's largest membership association for the service and support industry

• Made knowledge management best practices available through certification and trainingwww.serviceinnovation.org

HDI promotes best practices based on processes, not on technology. The Consortium continues to evolve best practices, while HDI learns from the Consortium and communicates the innovative best practices to the industry.


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Slide 12


What are the goals of your organization?

List one to three goals.

Whiteboard Discussion

Slide 13


What are the inhibitors you face in achieving these goals?

List the top three challenges you face.

Whiteboard Discussion 2


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Slide 14


Critical Challenges Facing Support

The members of the Consortium identified four areas in which the support center was, and still is, continually challenged:

• Decreased budgets—Budget decrease as support centers focus on delivering cost‐effective services to customers and there are fewer resources available to handle more work.

• Increased complexity—Technology changes and continues to become more complex. It is difficult to maintain the pace of change and to be knowledgeable in all areas of support.

• Rising costs—The costs of materials, people, and tools continues to rise although the cost of hardware tends to decrease.

• Increased demand—Customers continue to expect us to support more technologies, such as wireless devices.


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Slide 15


Impact of Challenges on Stakeholders

• Customer

– Lacks confidence in support

• Analyst – Burnout and lacks job satisfaction

– Repetitive problem‐solving

– Inability to meet customer’s needs

– Lack of trust in how organization values their worth

• Organization – Resource constraints

– Lack of expertise

– Expectations continue to grow

When the support center cannot meet expectations and continues to work in a “firefighting” mode:

• Customers have little confidence in the analysts’ abilities

• Negative impact on analysts —they don’t feel valued and are not satisfied with their roles. This leads to high turnover and an inability to deliver quality customer service.

• The organization won’t invest in additional resources if the current resources are not working

Unfortunately, these challenges faced by companies in 1992 continue to impact the support center and its stakeholders today. Understanding the critical challenges facing support today and the impact this has on its stakeholders is required in order to successfully implement Knowledge‐Centered Support. Support organizations need to simultaneously:

• Scale services

• Decrease costs

• Enhance its people’s capabilities

Knowledge‐Centered Support breaks through the limitations of current support strategies and enables support organizations to deliver greater value with more efficiency by capitalizing on what they already have—knowledge. This increased value is created and managed by capturing the knowledge that primarily exists in people’s minds, making it reusable, and evolving it to reflect organizational‐level knowledge. This is an ambitious undertaking. Doing all of this, without having to create another entire organization, is an exciting opportunity. Knowledge‐Centered Support doesn’t require another organization, but it does need the existing one to come together as a whole, and to operate as a system.


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Slide 16


Top Ten Reasons Support Centers Need KCS

10. Respond to and resolve issues faster.

9. Provide answers to complex issues.

8. Provide the same answers to the same questions.

7. Support analysts suffering from burnout.

6. Address the lack of time for training.

5. Provide an answer to recurring questions.

4. Identify opportunities to learn from customer’s experiences.

3. Improve First Contact Resolution.

2. Enable self‐service.

1. Lower support costs.

Slide 17


• Knowledge Articles

– Problems & Resolutions

– Questions & Answers

What is a candidate for a knowledge article?

• People Profiles

– Subject Matter Experts

– Their skill sets

• Account Profiles

– Customer Information

• Customer Configuration

– Products and configuration in the customer’s environment

What are Knowledge Assets?

• How To documentation• Error Messages• Standard Operating Procedures• Known Defects• Diagnostic Information• Proper Configuration Settings• Interoperability Issues• And much more…


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Slide 18


The Concepts of KCS

• Knowledge‐Centered Support is a methodology and a set of practices and processes that focuses on knowledge as a key asset of the support organization.

KCS is not something we do in addition to solving problems, KCS becomes the way in which we

solve problems.

Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS) is a methodology and a set of practices and processes that focuses on knowledge as a key asset of the support organization.

KCS is:

• A set of practices that seeks to capture, structure, reuse, and improve knowledge

• NOT something we do in addition to solving problems, but rather KCS becomes the way in which we solve problems

• First and foremost about people and process; technology (tools) are enablers


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Slide 19


The Concepts of KCS

Knowledge‐Centered Support seeks to:

– Create content as a by‐product of solving problems

– Evolve content based on demand and usage

– Develop a knowledge base of our collective experience to‐date

– Reward learning, collaboration, sharing, and improving

Knowledge‐Centered Support is a methodology based on processes and practices, independent of technology. Technology is required as an enabler and does not drive the methodology. The focus on knowledge as a key asset recognizes that knowledge is the product of a support organization. In fact, it is the only product produced by the support organization. Assisted service and self‐service relate to the delivering of that product, which is knowledge. The successful adoption of KCS is dependent on the people’s understanding of, and buy‐in to, the methodology.

Unlike the classic knowledge engineering approach to knowledge management, KCS creates knowledge as a by‐product of the problem‐solving process. Customers contact the support center to request and receive solutions, or to obtain specific knowledge about how their needs can be met. Knowledge articles represent both what the customer needs, and what is gained by the support center as support requests are handled. Leverage is created through a system (i.e., knowledge base) that can capture the solutions generated by the customer support process, and then makes the knowledge article available for reuse throughout the support organization.

Knowledge must be captured by the support analysts who are creating it for customers. Within the KCS framework, not every piece of knowledge is reviewed, thus reducing the investment in knowledge. The knowledge base is a collection of experiences and is not perfect. Instead, as analysts interact with the knowledge in the process of solving problems, they are expected to review the knowledge before delivering it to the customer. Thus the content evolves based on customer demands and usage by the support analyst.

It is important that analysts use their judgment. If during their review they discover something that is incorrect, then they are expected to correct it. A critical component of KCS is ownership. Analysts must see the knowledge as their product and continue to enhance it as they interact with it.


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Slide 20


The Support Demand Curve

Time

Demand

There are two categories of incidents that occur in support environments. The first are those that occur once or periodically, which we will call “infrequent”. The second are those that we call “repeatable” or “frequent”. In most support environments there is a general rule of thumb that 80% of all incidents are generated by 20% of all problems. It is these 80% where knowledge management can have a big impact.

When a new change is implemented into an environment, such as a product release, it is expected that the support center will receive an increase in incidents for a period of time. This period of time is generally thirty to sixty days.

The Support Demand Curve has two axes:

• Demand—the number of incidents received in a given period of time

• Time—frequency of reported incidents

In this graphic, the line starts when the support center receives an incident for the first time. We then begin to see this incident more frequently for a number of days and then the frequency or demand will begin to decline. Ultimately if the problem is not removed from the environment, we will continue to see it reported to the support center on a less frequent period of time. If we map the demand for support for this problem over time we end up with a bell curve.


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Slide 21


Knowledge Engineering

Time

Demand

X – First Incident

Knowledge Engineering Queue

X –Incident Y

Knowledge is Published

X –Incident ZRedundancy

$ ‐ Investment

$ ‐ Rework

$ ‐ Return

In most environments the time it takes for new knowledge to be processed and then published is measured in days or weeks. By the time the knowledge is published, the opportunity to impact resources will have been missed. The knowledge engineering process is an investment that the organization is making. The return is then collected through the reuse of that knowledge after it is published.

So what is happening while the knowledge is in the queue? When the next incident is reported to the support center, an analyst will search the knowledge base and not find it because it has not been published yet. While this is now a known problem to the organization, the analyst assumes that it is an unknown problem and works to solve the problem. This is actually re‐work which has a cost to the organization.

Once the analyst solves the problem, he or she submits the knowledge to the knowledge engineering queue, not knowing this problem was already submitted. This process continues until the knowledge engineers publish the known problem in the knowledge base. During this time, the knowledge queue is filling up with requests that are only adding to the delay in publishing the new knowledge. As a result, the organization is working inefficiently and the return on investment for knowledge is low.


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Slide 22


Knowledge‐Centered Support

Time

Demand Knowledge is Trusted

1 – First Incident

1. Knowledge immediately available for reuse.

3

3. Compliance review based on demand.

2

2. Validation based on demand.

$ ‐ Investment

$ ‐ Return Rework and redundancy eliminated

Using the same scenario, let’s apply the Knowledge‐Centered Support methodology.

• An incident is reported to the support center and it is an unknown problem. The analyst solves the problem and contributes the new knowledge directly to the knowledge base for reuse by other analysts—the known problem is visible however the knowledge is not validated or verified. The trust level is low; therefore, it will be marked as “Draft”.

• As additional analysts interact with the knowledge that is marked “Draft”, they are responsible for ensuring that the resolution is correct before providing it to a customer. If errors are detected they are responsible for correction. Using this methodology, the customer demand drives the need to review the knowledge just‐in‐time instead of just‐in‐case . The rework for resolving the same problem has been eliminated.

• Once evidence of demand has been established (i.e., three or four reuses of the same knowledge), then the knowledge article warrants additional investment and needs to be identified as trusted by the organization. Depending on the organizations policies, the article may be subject to a technical or compliance review process. Because customer demand is driving the items that are sent to the compliance process, only those problems that are repeatable are receiving the additional investment. If we assume that 80% of issues are a result of 20% of repeat problems, then this means that 80% of the problems are not being reviewed because the demand has not been established and therefore the return will not be there as well. As a result we invest only in articles that will generate a return instead of investing in every knowledge article, as was the case under the knowledge engineering model.


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Once the knowledge article goes through the compliance process, the knowledge article will be marked as either “Approved”—for internal use—or “Published”—the knowledge is available for customer self‐service and analyst use. Both imply that the organization trusts that the knowledge is correct.

Slide 23


Take a 10‐minute break

BREAK

We will be taking a 10‐minute break near the top of the hour, during each session. Use the feedback feature in the top right hand corner of the Microsoft Live Meeting tool, and select the color red to indicate that you are unavailable.

Please do your best to arrive back on time.

When you return, change your color status to green. This indicates to the instructor that you are back and ready to actively participant.


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Slide 24


Benefits to Stakeholders

• Customer – Increased confidence in support– Improved response from support

• Analyst – Personal empowerment and recognition– Improved confidence– Broadened expertise

• Organization– Improved effectiveness/efficiency– Evolving resources and expertise– Improved relevance and loyalty

As we assess the benefits of KCS, it is helpful to understand the impacts on each of the key stakeholders.


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Slide 25


Common benefits of implementing KCS:

• Solve Cases and Close Cases Faster

– 50 ‐ 60% improved time to resolution

– 30 ‐ 50% increase in First Contact Resolution

• Optimize Use of Resources

– 70% improved time to proficiency

– 20 ‐ 35% improved employee retention

– 20 ‐ 40% improvement in employee satisfaction

The Consortium, through their collective experiences, identified both quantifiable and qualitative benefits for adopting KCS. According to the Knowledge‐Centered Support Practices Guide, KCS makes significant improvements in incident resolution and training times, customer satisfaction, and analyst job satisfaction. As a result, there are substantial savings in operating costs and improvements in service levels.

This slide includes the improvements reported by the Consortium.


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Slide 26


Common benefits of implementing KCS:

• Enable eService Strategies

– Improve customer success and use of web self‐service

– Up to 50% case deflection

• Build Organizational Learning

– Actionable information to product development about customer issues

– 10% issue reduction due to root cause removal


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Slide 27


Two Case Study Examples

• Internet security services, high volume environment

– Time to resolve from 7.0 min to 5.5 min (‐28%)

– Customer satisfaction +28%

– Time to proficiency from 3 months to 1 month (‐66%)

• Software Support

– Time to relief ‐50%

– Time to proficiency from 6 month to 1 month (‐83%)

Capitalizing on the knowledge that already exists within your organization allows you to scale and expand your capabilities for support without having to increase staff or budget. The support center can increase efficiencies, which in turn increases its value to the business. This value continues to grow through the capture of collective experiences during the problem‐solving process. Knowledge at the organizational level is captured, time is gained, and business value increases by making knowledge consistent and reusable.


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Slide 28


Who Has Invested in KCS?

Microsoft

Hewlett-Packard

Nortel Networks

Motorola

3Com

Unisys

Intel

Novell

BMC Software

Oracle

QAD

EMC

Legato

Attachmate

VeriSign

Texas Instruments

CompuCom

Hilton Hotels

Pepsico

JP Morgan Chase

Deutsche Bank

Abbott Labs

Sanofi-Aventis

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

Brigham Young University

Ohio State University Medical Center

Partial list

This slide is important because when building a business case for senior management, you want to show that other companies have successfully adopted this methodology. The names on this list are generally recognizable.

With twenty plus years in development and over $50 million invested, KCS has been tried and tested by early adopters that include 3Com, Oracle, Novell, and VeriSign. KCS has evolved based on the experience(s) of a few innovative companies that felt strongly about these methodologies and were willing to explore and discover how to make them work in their organizations. The methodology is now proven and can be successfully implemented.

Through the collective experience of the Consortium members, we have learned what works and what doesn’t. The members of the Consortium for Service Innovation are willing to try new ideas acknowledging the risk. They take the risk with the goal of finding big returns. Once the benefits and success are realized and repeated, then the risk is reduced and other organizations begin to follow their lead. Companies implementing KCS today have reduced their risk by leveraging the experiences of those that have gone before them, and they have helped to pave the path for those yet to come.


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Slide 29


What are all of the names of

three‐lettered creatures you can

think of?

Record your answers on the whiteboard.

Creatures Whiteboard Exercise

Slide 30


Creatures

• ANT

• APE

• AUK (Bird)

• BAT

• BOA

• BOY

• BUG

• CAT

• COD (Fish)

• COW

• DOG

• DOE

• EEL

• ELK

• EWE

• FLY

• HEN

• HOG

• SNAKE

• JAY (Bird)

• KID

• KOI (Fish)

• MAN

• OWL

• PIG

• RAT

• RAY (Fish)

• ROO

• YAK

• ZHO (cross between a Yak & Cow)


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Slide 31


What is KCS?

Knowledge Articles

CaptureStructure

Reuse

Support Knowledge

KCS is About Support Knowledge

The members of the Consortium for Service Innovation started with a very simple premise “How to Capture, Structure, and Reuse Support Knowledge?” The focus is on knowledge management within the support organization and not the broader definition of knowledge management.

The term used to describe a piece of knowledge is an “article or knowledge article”. Prior to being called Knowledge‐Centered Support, this methodology was referred to as Solution‐Centered Support. To achieve broader acceptance of KCS as best practices in knowledge management, the methodology was renamed “Knowledge‐Centered Support”.


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Slide 32


End Users

Corporate Service Desks

Channels & 3rd-Party Support

Providers

End Users

ProductManufacturing

Questions/Problems Answers/Resolutions

Flow of Support Information

As indicated in the diagram, the scope of KCS is defined by the flow of support information. The flow of information in a support center goes through many channels. The scope of KCS includes end users, corporate service / help desks, third party service providers, and vendors.

The Knowledge‐Centered Support methodology was developed in the customer support environment and has value across the entire demand chain—from customer and end users, through the various parties involved in the support process, to the source of the product or application.


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Slide 33


Goals of the Knowledge‐Centered Organization

Develop knowledge as a by‐product of interaction

“Grow and harvest” articles during the problem‐solving process

Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of assisted service through the reuse of knowledge

Identify opportunities to improve products and services

Provide content for self‐service knowledge

Knowledge‐Centered Support represents a shift in focus for the support organization. The organization changes from being focused on transactions to being focused on knowledge.

A knowledge‐centered organization has the goals to:

• Develop knowledge as a by‐product of interaction

• “Grow and harvest” knowledge articles during the problem‐solving process

• Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of assisted service through the reuse of knowledge

• Identify opportunities to improve products and services

• Provide content for self‐service knowledge

This change is one that is fundamental and synergistic; it represents a change of focus, not a change of direction.

Before we take a closer look at Knowledge‐Centered Support in our next session, it is important to understand that knowledge management can be driven by both proactive and reactive forces.


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Slide 34


What is Proactive Knowledge Management?

• Building knowledge prior to its need

• Useful when a depth of knowledge is needed

• Forecast potential questions and problems before they occur and build a knowledge base of articles in advance

Proactive knowledge management is used to develop a knowledge base based on expected need. Sometimes depth of knowledge is desirable, such as for a new product launch where the questions could vary widely. This is where proactive knowledge management can provide value. The goal is to forecast the potential questions and problems before they occur and build the knowledge base of articles in advance.


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Slide 35


Proactive Knowledge Management

Design• Forecast and research

Develop

• Test the accuracy of the articles—validation

• Enlist a knowledge engineer

Deliver

• Knowledge base is ready to be coordinated with the release of a new product or service

The methodology follows a process similar to that of software development and includes three major phases: design, develop and deliver.

In the design phase, you develop the requirements for the knowledge base and determine how the knowledge will be organized. It is during this phase that you forecast what questions or problems will need to be answered. Researching the type of problems encountered with similar products or previous versions can provide a wealth of questions. Once you start authoring answers to these questions, you are in the development phase.

During the development phase you will test the accuracy of the articles, which is referred to as validation. By enlisting a knowledge engineer in the process, you can ensure that the standards and writing formats can be achieved.

The delivery of the knowledge base can then be coordinated with the release of a new product or service. Imagine that your support center is about to rollout a new release of Microsoft Windows along with a proprietary application. To minimize the impact on the support center, the company has decided to release a knowledge base for both products on the company’s intranet site. Proactive knowledge management will be used to develop the knowledge base. The knowledge engineers will work closely with the software developers, quality assurance analysts and documentation team to design and develop the knowledge base.


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Slide 36


Advantages

• Knowledge is available before first incident

• Resolutions are verified

Disadvantages

• Can be more costly

• Some articles may never get used

• Knowledge is captured in the IT context, not the customer’s

Proactive Knowledge Management


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Slide 37


What is Reactive Knowledge Management?

• Promotes capturing a knowledge article at the time it is created and making the article available

• An articles is created in response to a problem already occurring and being reported to the support center

Reactive knowledge management is also referred to as solution‐centered support or knowledge‐centered support. The Consortium for Service Innovation (www.serviceinnovation.org) first introduced these terms in an attempt to educate support managers on the value of capturing and utilizing knowledge in the contact center. Reactive knowledge management promotes capturing a knowledge article at the time it is created and making that article available to the support center it won’t have to be re‐created. We call this reactive because a knowledge articles is created in response to a problem already occurring and being reported to the support center.

Let’s walk through the process in a little more detail. A customer contacts the support center asking how to insert a table in a Word document. The support analyst is unfamiliar with this feature and does not find an existing article in the knowledge base. After researching the question, the analyst finds the answer, informs the customer and closes the case. Normally the analyst would then be available to take another call. Unfortunately the work—researching and developing a knowledge article—would have been used once and then discarded. In reactive knowledge management, the analyst realizes that they have created a new article—a company asset—and documents the new knowledge. Once the question and knowledge article is documented, it becomes available for other analysts to reuse.


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Slide 38


Advantages

• Lower cost of ownership

• Knowledge is created as part of the support process and is immediately available

• Higher reuse of articles

• Knowledge is created in the customer’s context

Disadvantages

• Knowledge is not available for the first occurrence of an incident

• Quality issues

• Incorrect resolutions

• Redundancy and multiple answers to the same question / problem

Reactive Knowledge Management

The result of pure reactive knowledge management is a knowledge base of knowledge articles to known problems. The articles with the highest reuse are frequently asked questions. The knowledge base will cover a wide variety of topics with very little depth in any given area. These disadvantages can be minimized when analysts take ownership for the knowledge they interact with. If they discover a quality issue, an incorrect knowledge article, or redundancy, then they will address it. The KCS model will continually evolve the quality of the knowledge. With reactive knowledge management, the organization is creating knowledge as a result of demand and integrating it into the support process. The focus of Knowledge‐Centered Support is on reactive knowledge management. This courses focuses on the implementation of the reactive knowledge management process based on KCS. Proactive knowledge management should be evaluated as a possible complimentary process to KCS, but should not be implemented without KCS.


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Slide 39


Conclusion

• In this session, you learned to:

– Explain the history of Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS)

– Explain why Knowledge‐Centered Support was created

– List reasons why support centers need to implement Knowledge‐Centered Support

– Identify the concepts of Knowledge‐Centered Support

– Explain the benefits of Knowledge‐Centered Support

– Explain the difference between proactive and reactive knowledge management

Q/A?

Review the learning objectives covered in this session. Please take a moment to ask the instructor any questions that you may have.


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Slide 1


<name>, HDI Certified Instructor

<EMAIL>@thinkhdi.com

KCS v5.3 Fundamentals Virtual Classroom

Welcome to the KCS 5.3 Fundamentals virtual classroom course, session two. Class will begin shortly. Please do the following before class starts:

• Introduce yourself as you enter into the telephone conference.

• Make sure you see the above slide on your computer screen.

• Have your participant’s course presentation printed and available to you.


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Slide 2


Session Break Outs

Session Topics

1 What is Knowledge‐Centered Support and Why Do We Need It?• The History of Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS)• The Concepts of KCS• The Benefits of KCS• Proactive versus Reactive Knowledge Management

2 The KCS Methodology: The Knowledge‐Centered Support Model• The Double Loop Process• The Solve Loop• The Evolve Loop

3 Wrapping Up the KCS Methodology• Performance Assessment• Leadership• Return on Investment

Course Schedule:

The table above indicates the topics already covered in session one and what we have left to discuss in this session and beyond.

Please do your best to arrive on time and actively participate in each course session.

We will be taking a 10‐minute break near the top of the hour, during each session.


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Slide 9


Session Two:Understanding the KCS Methodology:

The Knowledge‐Centered Support Model

In session one, we learned what Knowledge‐Centered Support (KCS) is, how it has evolved into a robust methodology for capturing and leveraging knowledge, and the benefits of implementing the KCS model into your organization. In this session, we present the KCS Model: the Double Loop process which includes four practices in each of the Solve and Evolve Loops, for a total of eight practices.

This session introduces the concept that Knowledge‐Centered Support is transformational and in order to succeed with KCS there needs to be a change in focus. KCS is not something a support organization does in addition to solving problems, KCS becomes the process for solving problems.


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Slide 10


Session Two Learning Objectives


• List the components that KCS practices are organized into

• Explain the Solve Loop

• Describe the four practices in the Solve Loop

• Explain the concepts of: Capture, Structure, Reuse, and Improve

• Explain the Evolve Loop

• Describe the four practices in the Evolve Loop

• Explain the concepts of: Content Health and Process Integration


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hdi kcs fundamentals participant handbook

Documents

hdi kcs fundamentals

hdi community

consent of hdi

service innovation

kcs principles course

related hdi certification

knowledge foundations

service names