In this article from Asana about prioritizing employee empowerment, Caeleigh MacNeil writes, “When workers are empowered, they have the tools and trust to make big decisions and figure things out on their own.” Empowering employees has many benefits, from enhancing their productivity and job satisfaction to increasing their engagement. And when employee engagement increases, so does a company’s profitability, as much as 21%.

Self-service IT support refers to tech solutions that enable employees to resolve their own IT-related issues without direct assistance from their IT support team. This approach empowers employees by providing them with the tools and resources necessary to troubleshoot common IT problems independently, such as password resets, access requests, and software issues.

Implementing self-service solutions is essential if your organization is seeking efficiency and enhanced employee experience. In this article we’ll discuss the key features and benefits of self-service IT support tools, as well as how to implement them for your workforce.

Firstly, let’s start with the key benefits of using self-service IT support solutions to empower employees.

Key Benefits of Self-Service IT Support Solutions

The most important benefit to implementing self-service IT support solutions is obviously the empowerment of employees–that is the topic of this article, after all. The benefits of self-service IT solutions don’t stop there, though. Here are key benefits, not only for each employee, but for your entire organization.

Empowerment

Again, self-service IT support solutions foster independence and confidence among employees. They are more in control of their responsibilities and career.

24/7 Availability

Self-service IT support solutions are always on. Troubleshooting IT issues is available 24/7, resulting in less downtime and less of a delay in employee productivity. It also reduces frustration for employees–how annoying are IT issues when we just want to work and not have to wait?

Cost-Effectiveness

Organizations can redirect budget resources toward more complex IT needs, while minimizing operational costs associated with traditional support.

Time Savings

The greatest time savings will be for your IT department. Self-service support solutions can eliminate the countless tier-1 requests that pile up on your IT team’s desks. And because employees in other departments will receive quick responses to their IT support questions, they’ll save time, too.

Resource optimization

Since your IT department will save so much time and headaches by not answering common requests, they’ll gain the ability to focus on complex tasks. With self-service support solutions handling routine inquiries, skilled professionals can dedicate time to strategic initiatives that drive business growth.

Improved Accuracy

Harnessing the power of self-service IT support solutions greatly improves the accuracy of resolving tech issues for your employees. This is especially true with AI-powered IT support solutions like Risotto, which requires no human intervention to assist employees, and therefore, leads to fewer human errors.

Streamlined Onboarding 

Self-service IT support solutions often offer easier and quicker onboarding to their platforms. Risotto has a minimal learning curve, which we’ll discuss in this article’s “5 Steps to Implementing Self-Service IT Support Solutions” section. 

Improved Employee Satisfaction

IT issues are annoying. And waiting for help with those issues is just as annoying. Using self-service IT support solutions not only empowers an employee, but improves employee satisfaction.

Ways to Provide Self-Service IT Support Solutions to Empower Employees

Now that we know why it’s worth implementing self-service IT support solutions like Risotto in your organization, let’s discuss how to do it so you can achieve those benefits.

Knowledge Bases and FAQs

This is a basic way of providing self-service IT support to empower your employees to solve tech issues on their own. Knowledge bases and FAQs are centralized resources where employees can find answers to common issues like password resets, reducing the need for live support from your busy IT department. 

Make certain that all knowledge bases and FAQs are reviewed routinely to ensure up-to-date information. Old information not only causes confusion for employees, it can create more support requests and workload for your IT team.

Instructional Videos and Online Forums

Similarly to knowledge bases and FAQs, instructional videos and forums provide a basic way to empower employees to resolve their IT issues. Visual aids are particularly helpful to guide an employee through common IT problems and solutions.

Company forums are also helpful, allowing workforce discussions that encourage peer support and learning from one another's experiences.

Chatbots for Immediate Assistance

While FAQs, knowledge bases, and forums are great resources of information, it still takes time for an employee to find answers to their IT support questions. That time searching for an answer still delays an employee returning to important work and hinders their productivity.

That’s why AI chatbots like Risotto provide the perfect solution. Risotto truly is “artificial intelligence,” as it’s intelligent enough to learn from your organization’s knowledge base, FAQs, and forums, just like a real employee. Then it takes that information and provides fast and accurate answers to employees’ IT support questions. For instance, an employee, Marissa, needs to know how to share a specific document with a specific department at her company, but not with all employees yet. She opens Slack and messages the Risotto app. Since other employees have had this request before and there is information to resolve it in the FAQs and knowledge base, Risotto already knows the answer and replies instantly, right in Slack. Marissa now knows how to share the document correctly and does it without delay.

To learn more about Risotto’s intelligence and abilities to learn from your company’s knowledge bases and information, please read our article on boosting IT staff efficiency.

5 Steps to Implementing Self-Service IT Support Solutions

As we’ve discussed, knowledge bases, FAQs, and forums are a basic, but important, way to provide your employees with self-service support for IT solutions. However, going farther and implementing more-robust solutions like Risotto instills greater employee empowerment and streamlines IT support.

To assist you in implementing a more-robust self-service IT support solution, here are five steps to take:

1. Assess Organizational Needs

Conduct surveys or interviews to gather insights from employees regarding their IT support needs. Slack offers a great platform to garner thoughts from employees. Use their feedback to specific IT pain points and requirements within your organization. Also gather opinions from your IT team–what common requests distract them from more-important tasks? 

2. Select the Right Software Provider

Evaluate various software providers based on functionality, ease of integration, and feature sets. Consider solutions like Risotto, which offer AI-powered automation and seamless integration with existing tools. Risotto can streamline IT support within Slack by automating ticket management, answering common questions, and handling software requests.

3. Integrate with Existing Systems

As mentioned above, Risotto works right in Slack. For any IT support solution you’re evaluating for your organization, ensure that it integrates smoothly with your company’s current systems. This integration streamlines processes, reduces redundancy, and enhances data accessibility.

4. Train Staff on Using Self-Service Tools

Robust self-service IT support solutions may require you to train staff to get them knowledgeable in using them. Provide comprehensive training for all employees on how to utilize self-service tools effectively. Use hands-on sessions and resources like instructional videos to facilitate understanding.

However, Risotto is both robust and super simple to use. If your team is already using Slack–millions of workers know how to use Slack–all they have to do is ping the Risotto app right in your Slack workspace with a request. Querying Risotto is just like messaging another member of the team. Risotto answers questions and resolves requests right in Slack; it’s truly a seamless integration with almost zero learning curve.

5. Continuous Evaluation and Improvement

Be sure to establish metrics to assess the performance of the self-service solution regularly. Gather feedback from users to identify areas for improvement, ensuring the system evolves with organizational needs. With Risotto, it’s also beneficial to revise and improve your company’s information resources like FAQs, as Risotto’s AI chatbot will continuously evaluate this information to improve itself and its responses to your employees.

Conclusion

Investing in self-service IT support solutions not only makes IT operations run more smoothly, but also creates an environment where all staff members feel empowered. When employees can solve problems on their own, it builds their confidence and increases overall productivity. To stay competitive in the ever-changing world of IT, make self-service strategies a priority.

To empower your employees with a comprehensive self-service IT support solution, book a demo with Risotto.