Coffee and email. The cornerstones of a Service Manager's morning. I put a pot of coffee on and open my laptop. I start the day by going through my emails, and picking out those that need immediate action. Once the coffee pot has been emptied and the urgent emails have been dealt with, it’s time to move on to the first client meeting of the day.

Client meetings and ensuring that work progresses smoothly

I spend the rest of the morning with my client in a workshop. We are starting an integration project where we will be involved in implementing project integrations on the Frends integration platform. During the morning, we go through the interfaces and interface descriptions, and prioritize our implementation plans in relation to the project schedule. As a Service Manager, I ensure that the practicalities are taken care of so that the team can move forward smoothly with their work.

After saying goodbye to my previous client after lunch, I get to meet a new client for the first time in the afternoon. A long development project has been completed, and the account has now been transferred to a service manager.

The client and I go through common practices to make everyday life as smooth as possible for both of us. We agree on service desk practices and incident management processes and jointly plan our reporting needs and the agenda for future service meetings. Finally, of course, we also plan for the future; we have collected many great development ideas in our backlog, and they are waiting to be put to work.

Project resourcing and management

At the end of the day, I set up my mobile camp at the Espoo office. In the afternoon, I reserve enough time to attend an internal resourcing meeting. 

As a Service Manager, I ensure that there are enough people to meet each client’s development needs and that tasks are completed within the agreed timeframe. In resourcing, we go through the needs of each project and client, allocating the right tasks to the right people. 

Finally, I catch up with the other Service Managers and ensure the clients’ days are running smoothly; a quick glance at the clients’ Jira boards tells the Service Manager what’s going on. Before the day is over, I check my calendar to see what tomorrow's schedule includes and if there are any last-minute changes. 

Read more about the role from our other blog.