Service Desk Manager
Managing a service desk is not just about keeping the lights on. It is about leading people, driving strategy and proving your worth at the table where decisions get made. This four-day PeopleCert certified course gives you the skills, the credibility and the qualification to make that leap.
> 65,000
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> 60,000
professionals certified
Experienced consultants
are the trainers
Category
IT Service Management
Certificate
Service Desk Manager v9
Duration
4-days
Ready to Stop Firefighting and Start Leading?
Every service desk has that person. The one who somehow keeps the team calm during a P1 outage, who fights for headcount in budget meetings, who turns a burned-out analyst back into a motivated one. Maybe that is already you. Maybe you want it to be.
Here is the problem. Technical skill alone does not make a manager. Somewhere between “best analyst on the team” and “the person the business trusts to run the service desk,” there is a gap most people never get formal training to close. This course closes it.
Over four intensive days, built around the SDI® Global Best Practice Standard for Service Desk v9, you will work through everything a modern Service Desk Manager actually needs: building a strategy the business believes in, leading teams through change, recruiting and keeping good people, and proving your desk’s value with numbers that matter. You will also get into the conversations most training courses skip, including managing stress in your team and your own, promoting the service desk internally, and using AI and automation without losing the human side of support.
This is not theory for theory’s sake. Every module is built from what actually happens on a working service desk, and every session pushes you to apply it to your own team, your own metrics, your own challenges.
Who This Course Is Built For
- Service desk managers who want a formal, internationally recognised qualification
- Supervisors and team leads ready to step up into management
- Analysts with three-plus years of experience eyeing their next move
- Anyone tired of managing by instinct and ready to manage with a framework
What You Will Walk Away With
- A service desk strategy that actually connects to business goals
- The confidence to build a business case people say yes to
- Sharper communication, presentation and negotiation skills
- A playbook for recruiting, developing and retaining great people
- The difference between managing and leading, and how to do both well
- Tools to build resilience in yourself and your team
- A clear view on where AI and automation genuinely help, and where they do not
- ITIL® practices you can actually apply, not just recite
- A quality assurance approach that improves service instead of policing it
- The KPIs and metrics that prove your desk’s impact
And here is the part most people do not expect. The qualification at the end of this course is not just a certificate for your wall. It is a PeopleCert-accredited credential that shows up in job descriptions, promotion criteria and salary bands across the industry, whether you are angling for your current employer’s next opening or something bigger elsewhere.
So the real question is not whether you are ready for this course. It is whether you are ready for what happens after it.
Check the Training Schedules section below for the next available dates, or Contact Us to lock in your seat.
Course Delivery
Classroom or Virtual Classroom
What’s included
- Service Desk Manager workbook
- Exam voucher
- Free refresher course**
Prerequisites
A minimum of 1–3 years of experience in service desk management is recommended.
About the Examination
- The exam is closed book with 80 multiple-choice questions.
- At least 52 correct answers (52 of 80) are required to pass the examination
- The exam lasts 90 minutes.
- The exam can be taken online.
Exam Body
PeopleCert
** Terms & conditions applied.
HRDC Claimable Training: Invest in Your Future!
Did you know? All our trainings are eligible for HRDC claiming.
What our clients say
Concepts Covered
Defining Strategic Requirements
- Purpose, activities and requirements of an effective service desk, globally
- Benefits of aligning with recognised industry standards
- Ethics within service and support environments
Developing a Strategic Role
- Building a service desk strategy that supports business objectives
- Purpose of vision and mission statements
- Sourcing models: benefits and challenges
- Objectives and activities of financial management
The Role of the Service Desk Manager
- Characteristics, skills and competencies of an effective manager
- Core roles and responsibilities
- Why service desk promotion matters and how to run a campaign
Organisational Change and Project Management
- Elements of successful project management
- Building persuasive, evidence-based business cases
- Purpose and benefits of organisational change
- Opportunities for strategic decision-making and awareness
Teamwork and Communication
- Characteristics of high-performing teams
- Communication skills from a management perspective
- Effective presentation techniques
- Listening, information-gathering and negotiation skills
Staff Recruitment, Retention and Development
- Effective recruitment strategies
- Structured induction, training and development
- Behaviours that support retention and address performance issues
Management and Leadership
- Managers vs. leaders
- Elements of effective planning and coordination
- Building and sustaining motivated teams
Resilience
- Importance of emotional resilience
- Recognising positive and negative stress in yourself and your team
- Practical stress management techniques
Effective Management of Resources
- Support delivery methods and technologies
- Workforce management and resource planning models
- Benefits and challenges of self-service adoption
AI and Automation
- Benefits and challenges of automation within the service desk
- Rules-based AI and neural networks in support operations
IT Service Management
- Objectives of IT Service Management
- Practice vs. process vs. procedure
- Importance of following defined practices and procedures
- Relevant ITIL 4 practices within the service desk
Quality Assurance Activities
- Purpose and objectives of a QA programme
- Common QA practices
- Interaction monitoring and benchmarking
Managing the Customer Experience
- Why a coherent approach to customer experience matters
- Capturing customer feedback
- Applying feedback in decision-making
Management Information and Performance Results
- Relationship between CSFs, KPIs and metrics
- Relevant service desk metrics and success criteria
Training Schedules
Click here to send us a message.
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