Service level agreements often start as numbers someone wrote into a contract. Teams then spend their days racing the clock instead of solving problems. Good targets work the other way round: they start from what the team can reliably deliver.
Two clocks, not one
- First response: how quickly a person acknowledges the ticket and starts on it.
- Resolution: how quickly the problem is actually solved.
- Keep them separate. A fast reply that solves nothing should not count as good service.
Set targets by priority
Look at the last month of tickets. For each priority, find the time within which most were answered and solved today, then set the target slightly tighter. A target the team misses every day teaches everyone to ignore it.
Decide what pauses the clock
Waiting for the customer to reply is not time the team can use. Put such tickets on hold so the resolution clock stops, and resumes when they come back.
Act before the breach
- Review at-risk tickets at the start of each shift, not breached ones at the end of the month.
- Look at what keeps coming back; repeat tickets are where time is lost.
- Write the resolution down so the next person solves it faster.
In Project Tracker, the operations desk runs both clocks, pauses resolution on hold and filters at-risk work, as part of the Business plan.