I had lunch the other day at a local deli called Bypass 45 Deli. It is an unassuming little place with personal service and opportunities to get to know people around town. Not to mention a satisfaction guarantee. More on that in a minute. This was recommended to me by my customer to check out.
Pulling up to this place, I wasn't sure what to expect. It is not flashy by any means and is right next to a liquor store. Walking in I saw there was not a lot of independent seating and there was also a place to stand and eat if you desired to do so. Bypass 45 Deli makes sandwiches and fresh hamburgers. It's a nice and simple menu. When I attempted to pay, I was told to wait until I was done eating. If I didn't like I wouldn't have to pay. Really!? Great! I'm in! So I got my meal just a few short minutes later.
I must admit, I think I had just had one of the better hamburgers I had ever had. It was juicy, cooked just right, and not too greasy. The seasoning was pretty well spot on. I got curly fries with my meal. These were definitely fully seasoned and tasty. While sitting I was able to meet some local people as the tables were very close together. When I go out to eat on the road I almost always by myself unless my customer goes along with me. In this case I was by myself and was able to have some friendly conversation with some local people of Columbia, TN
When it came time to pay, because I enjoyed my meal, there was a small problem. Their credit card machine was broken and that was all I had. The owner was kind enough to let me go across the street to get some cash and come back to pay. I, of course, came right back and paid for my wonderful meal. Less than $10 for a great hamburger, a ton of fries, and bottle of coke. I'd be glad to it again. Great job Bypass 45 Deli!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Service Desk Manager's Snacks - How to Determine Priority
This is a snack of information about Service Desk Management. Today's snack has to do with prioritizing issues using an ITIL concept of combining impact and urgency to determine priority. One of the core responsibilities as a Service Desk Manager is determining priority of incoming tickets. We all know our customers well. Their problem is the only we need to be looking at, regardless of who else has problems, right? How do you appropriately determine the priority of the issues coming into your ticketing system? I handle this using a combination of two questions. What is the impact? And what is urgency? Together these two fields create the priority. Our customers may not like what it translates into, but that is how we are able to determine where to allocate resources.
So what does impact and urgency mean? What values should you apply to them that makes sense in your environment? How do these really help me determine the priority? Glad you asked. Impact has to do with effect on the customer's ability to perform their job function. Some of the values I typically use for impact are individual, department, building, site, and company wide. Each of these values help me identify the number of resources I can most likely expect to spend on the issue. I typically use none, normal, medium, high, and critical for urgency. Each of these values help me identify the level at which I should respond. Together they tell me how many resources I should expect to use to resolve and work on the issue as well as what quickness do I need to respond.
To create the priority I create a matrix of priority results based on impact and urgency. The combination of impact plus urgency equals priority. I have created an example of what a matrix might look like using the values I provided of Impact and Urgency and making up my own values for priority.
As you can see from the matrix we have an appropriate priority based on the combination of impact and urgency. This design may not fit within your organization or processes so you may have to modify portions of it. The goal of this snack is to help you efficiently prioritize the tickets coming into your service desk so as to keep costs lower resulting in a direct impact on the Service Desk's ability to respond appropriately to the issues it receives. Keeping costs lower through efficient staffing as a result of effective prioritization has a direct and positive impact to the company's bottom line.
I implement service desk and infrastructure management software in many organizations across the country. Part of my job to is to help those organizations improve their service desk processes. This is one of the greatest impacts I see with my customers. They are able to implement it quickly and see immediate results.
So what does impact and urgency mean? What values should you apply to them that makes sense in your environment? How do these really help me determine the priority? Glad you asked. Impact has to do with effect on the customer's ability to perform their job function. Some of the values I typically use for impact are individual, department, building, site, and company wide. Each of these values help me identify the number of resources I can most likely expect to spend on the issue. I typically use none, normal, medium, high, and critical for urgency. Each of these values help me identify the level at which I should respond. Together they tell me how many resources I should expect to use to resolve and work on the issue as well as what quickness do I need to respond.
To create the priority I create a matrix of priority results based on impact and urgency. The combination of impact plus urgency equals priority. I have created an example of what a matrix might look like using the values I provided of Impact and Urgency and making up my own values for priority.
As you can see from the matrix we have an appropriate priority based on the combination of impact and urgency. This design may not fit within your organization or processes so you may have to modify portions of it. The goal of this snack is to help you efficiently prioritize the tickets coming into your service desk so as to keep costs lower resulting in a direct impact on the Service Desk's ability to respond appropriately to the issues it receives. Keeping costs lower through efficient staffing as a result of effective prioritization has a direct and positive impact to the company's bottom line.
I implement service desk and infrastructure management software in many organizations across the country. Part of my job to is to help those organizations improve their service desk processes. This is one of the greatest impacts I see with my customers. They are able to implement it quickly and see immediate results.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Rafferty's in Jackson, TN - Not the Best Place In Town to Eat
I went to Rafferty's in Jackson, TN for lunch today. I had never been there and it was offered as a suggestion by one of the people in our lunch party. The wait for a table at the height of lunch time wasn't bad. They accommodated a party of seven within 10 minutes. Our drink orders were taken pretty promptly, as well. That was where the enjoyment of the ended for me and the enjoyment of the entertainment began for everyone else at the table. I ordered the Cowboy Cut steak, cooked medium, with garlic mashed potatoes. One of the other guys in our lunch party ordered the same thing, but requested his to be cooked medium well. About 15 minutes later lunch arrived.
This is where the entertainment portion of lunch began for everyone else. My first impression of my steak was not exactly a good impression. I asked for medium and it looked like it had passed medium about 20 minutes ago. I looked at the steak the other guy ordered and his looked beautiful. It looked thick and juicy with the just right amount of pink in the middle. It reminded me of how I would cook a steak on the grill at home. Mine, however, could have been folded over and been pretty close to meeting the thickness of his steak. It was pathetic. I think a Nike shoe had more texture than this steak. We discovered at that point that we believe our steaks got switched. The other guy ordered his steak medium well. Although, mine was way past medium well and entering the new territory of over cooked roadkill, there was no way I could have given him this steak. I sent it back to be remade.
While I waited, the rest of the crew finished their lunches. We talked about their past experiences at Rafferty's and most of them had a good story about poor service. One told a story of how he had actually back handed a waitress and laid her out flat on her back. Of course, this was not on purpose, she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ironic part is the waitress he hit was his waitress and he was looking for the manager to talk about her bad service. The story was that he had gotten up to talk to go and find the manager. He was talking to a waiter who pointed him in the direction of the manager. He swung his arm around to gesture in the same direction and his waitress happened to be walking up at that point and caught her right in her face. She went straight down to the ground. She was okay.
My food returned shortly after that story finished. my steak looked much better on the outside. It looked nice and thick and juicy. It felt a little too juicy, though. I cut into it and the steak was raw in the center. It still needed about another 5 minutes on the grill. I sent it back again and decided not to eat there. Everyone else was already done with their food and I wasn't going to make them wait on me. The punch line occurred when the food destined for the table next to us came to our table. We were getting asked who had ordered what. Then one of the plates had the wrong sides on it. They had to send their food back. It was quite the experience to be had.
Finally, the manager informed me that he would comp my meal and that I wouldn't have to pay for anything. The first response that came to mind for the manager was "No, $#!T, Sherlock!", but I didn't say that. Instead, I thanked him and informed him I would just eat lunch somewhere else.
So, this was my first experience at a Rafferty's. I don't think I would hold all Rafferty's locations to this type of experience, but it will certainly make me think twice about what I order at one. I cannot recommend this Rafferty's to anyone, because of the inability to bring out the correct food, let alone cook it correctly. To the waiter's defense, he offered pretty good service, but had some difficulties with his cooking staff and the expediter. His food runner had difficulty keeping track where people were sitting. The fault for this visit lies squarely with the management team of this location.
This is where the entertainment portion of lunch began for everyone else. My first impression of my steak was not exactly a good impression. I asked for medium and it looked like it had passed medium about 20 minutes ago. I looked at the steak the other guy ordered and his looked beautiful. It looked thick and juicy with the just right amount of pink in the middle. It reminded me of how I would cook a steak on the grill at home. Mine, however, could have been folded over and been pretty close to meeting the thickness of his steak. It was pathetic. I think a Nike shoe had more texture than this steak. We discovered at that point that we believe our steaks got switched. The other guy ordered his steak medium well. Although, mine was way past medium well and entering the new territory of over cooked roadkill, there was no way I could have given him this steak. I sent it back to be remade.
While I waited, the rest of the crew finished their lunches. We talked about their past experiences at Rafferty's and most of them had a good story about poor service. One told a story of how he had actually back handed a waitress and laid her out flat on her back. Of course, this was not on purpose, she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ironic part is the waitress he hit was his waitress and he was looking for the manager to talk about her bad service. The story was that he had gotten up to talk to go and find the manager. He was talking to a waiter who pointed him in the direction of the manager. He swung his arm around to gesture in the same direction and his waitress happened to be walking up at that point and caught her right in her face. She went straight down to the ground. She was okay.
My food returned shortly after that story finished. my steak looked much better on the outside. It looked nice and thick and juicy. It felt a little too juicy, though. I cut into it and the steak was raw in the center. It still needed about another 5 minutes on the grill. I sent it back again and decided not to eat there. Everyone else was already done with their food and I wasn't going to make them wait on me. The punch line occurred when the food destined for the table next to us came to our table. We were getting asked who had ordered what. Then one of the plates had the wrong sides on it. They had to send their food back. It was quite the experience to be had.
Finally, the manager informed me that he would comp my meal and that I wouldn't have to pay for anything. The first response that came to mind for the manager was "No, $#!T, Sherlock!", but I didn't say that. Instead, I thanked him and informed him I would just eat lunch somewhere else.
So, this was my first experience at a Rafferty's. I don't think I would hold all Rafferty's locations to this type of experience, but it will certainly make me think twice about what I order at one. I cannot recommend this Rafferty's to anyone, because of the inability to bring out the correct food, let alone cook it correctly. To the waiter's defense, he offered pretty good service, but had some difficulties with his cooking staff and the expediter. His food runner had difficulty keeping track where people were sitting. The fault for this visit lies squarely with the management team of this location.
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