SLAs are not Goals

While service level agreements (SLAs) have their place, they are meant for customers to set expectations and measure performance. Make sure to use them to this for this sole purpose. When looking to define, measure and improve on SLAs a different approach should be taken which is more quantifiable and achievable from an internal perspective.

When looking to improve upon SLAs, define those improvements based on goals you can measure, not on improvements external customers will see.

Fuzzy Targets

Goals I have seen in the past around SLAs have focused on meeting or a decrease of a predefined amount for the SLA to improve customer satisfaction. The problem with this approach is you are driving the change from the wrong side. Have you defined improvements you can achieve which will directly reflect a percentage of the SLA goal? Are you able to define for others how you are able to achieve these numbers? These can sometimes be harder to calculate and is it worth the effort?

Define Largest Improvements

Changing the approach here: what are the top processes or impediments impacting your ability to solve problems efficiently? To do this you can use a VSM (value stream map) or process diagram to lay out the points in your process and how long they take. I outline this procedure on other pages in the site. From this research you should be able to come up with a top list of items you can prioritize based on largest time-sinks in your process.

Where to Focus

From here the answer is simple based upon the resources you have available and timeframes. If you are looking for SLA improvements then use your list and tackle the worst 1-5 of them over the next weeks to quarter. This is a commitment you can quantify while having demonstrated results.