Psychology in the Service Desk: Firefighting and Burnout

Sami Musleh, Solution Consulting Manager at IFS Assyst, explores the realities of firefighting and burnout within the unpredictable day-to-day responsibilities of service desk agents. The phone could ring at any time, and it could be about all kinds of issues.

It could be a minor issue that is easily solved or a cataclysmic failure of an entire system which is impacting business revenue with every minute that passes. Analysts know that the stakes can be high in their role. In fact, according to Gartner, the average cost of network downtime is $5,600 per minute, yes per minute.

Remaining in a constant state of preparing for an emergency is both mentally and physically draining. Firefighting is not like other kinds of work, for example, creative work or brainstorming. Stress levels can be severely elevated under pressure.

Read the full article from IFS here.