IBM - Q2C Operations Team
Name of Organization / Company: IBM, Singapore
Category: Award for the Innovative Use of Technology in Customer Service > Computer Industries
Entry Title: IBM Q2C Operations Team: Q2C TSS ANZ Team "Pushing Boundaries of Innovation"
Essay
In recent years, there have been a number of work movements from Malaysia to Philippines and one of those is the TSS ANZ process. The Manila team created to support this process was composed of a mix of current and new IBMers with various backgrounds. And as TSS has complex process, the knowledge transfer and continuity of work posed a challenge to both the KL trainers and the new team. Aside from the learning curve, the team has to endure months of clean-up and process workaround to ensure that they uphold IBM’s high regard for client experience.
This predicament became the foundation that pushed the team to think outside the box and come up with ways to better serve our customers. Measuring the metrics and addressing the detractors have been the core of every innovative ideas that the team had presented in TSS’s first year in Manila.
Though it may seem that the team was rock bottom metrics-wise due to their constant three-digit total cycle time, the team saw this as an opportunity to prove that their situation has no other way but up.
Through continuous cross skilling and collaboration with their stakeholders, the team were able to pull their cycle time down from three-digit to two-digit results in less than a year. And as a cherry on top, the team also made a good impression on their stakeholders as they feel that TSS ANZ Manila is now owning the process and taking initiatives to improve their service to clients.
As the team matures and becomes more familiar with their process, they are now able to focus on key areas where they can improve by shortening the processing time without sacrificing accuracy.
The TSS VALIDATOR and TSS PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT are the 2 major projects that cut the number of process steps thru semi hands-free automation and has saved almost 7,000 hours in a year. This opened the doors for the team to be chosen as the ANZ representative to the AP Kaizen tournament showcasing the TSS End to End Process Automation.
The saved hours opened new opportunities for the team to take on new work; namely, VLD, Solution Design Pricing and SWS Extension. These work movements have posed another challenge to the Manila team; but due to the teamwork and knowledge on the basic process, they, again, have received recognition from their stakeholders.
As 2018 draws to a close, the team is still in the momentum as they receive commendations left and right, which only shows that all their hard work have not been in vain.
Looking back, it was not an easy feat. It was never a walk in the park. The team have proven not just to STS, but to IBM, that the Manila TSS ANZ team is a force to be reckoned with. The team may be young in years, but their wealth of knowledge and ability to rise above the flames have brought them to where they are today. But this success is not the end, in fact, it’s just the beginning. The team will continue to push for innovation to better serve our clients, which, after all, is the heart and the very reason of IBM’s existence.
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