SDI® - Service Desk Manager
3 Day Course (Virtual Training)

Topics

This course covers the key areas of the SDI Service Desk Manager Professional Standard, including:

Policy and Strategy

• The purpose and value of the service desk
• Requirements for a successful service desk
• Service desk best practice
• Managing different service desk models, including global, virtual, remote, hybrid, local, centralised and distributed service desks
• Service ethics and codes of conduct
• Environmental, Social and Governance considerations
• Developing an effective service desk strategy
• Vision, mission, values and critical success factors
• Building relationships and influencing stakeholders
• Strategic, tactical and operational management
• Sourcing models, including Service Integration and Management
• Financial management and commercial awareness

Leadership and Management

• The difference between leadership and management
• Characteristics of an effective manager and effective leader
• The role and responsibilities of the Service Desk Manager
• Essential SDM skills, including planning, communication, influencing, coaching, mentoring, prioritisation and conflict management
• Servant leadership
• Inclusive leadership and support for neurodiverse team members
• Organisational knowledge and strategic awareness
• Organisational change management
• Teamwork in physical, virtual and distributed environments
• Challenger safety
• Communication, listening and information-gathering skills
• Negotiation and conflict management
• Time management
• Reducing digital friction in the workplace

People Management

• Recruitment and selection for service desk roles
• Staff induction and onboarding
• Training and development
• Coaching and mentoring
• Performance management
• Staff motivation and engagement
• Delegation and empowerment
• Managing capability and performance issues
• Building a positive and supportive service desk culture

Managing the Employee Experience

• Factors that influence the employee experience
• Well-being in a service desk environment
• Work-life balance
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
• Challenger safety
• Emotional resilience and stress management
• Supporting staff motivation, engagement and retention

Resources

• Service desk resourcing and workforce planning
• Skills, competencies and capability planning
• Service desk tools and technologies
• Self-service, knowledge management and collaboration tools
• Omni-channel support
• Automation and adaptive automation
• Supplier and vendor considerations
• Ensuring the service desk has the resources, tools and information needed to achieve its objectives

Artificial Intelligence

• The role of AI in IT service management
• AI chatbots and virtual agents
• Intelligent ticket classification and routing
• Incident prediction and root cause analysis
• Using AI to support knowledge, reporting and decision-making
• Benefits, limitations and management considerations when introducing AI into the service desk

Practices, Processes and Procedures

• The difference between practices, processes and procedures
• Incident management
• Major incident management
• Service request management
• Problem management
• Change enablement
• Release management
• Service level management
• Knowledge management
• Information security management
• Smart shifting and escalation
• Process ownership, review and continual improvement

Managing the Customer Experience

• Customer experience principles
• Understanding and managing customer expectations
• Customer feedback and satisfaction
• Customer experience metrics and surveys
• Voice of the Customer
• Improving customer journeys and reducing effort
• Aligning service desk performance with customer value

Management Information and Performance Results

• The purpose of management information
• Service desk metrics, reporting and dashboards
• Performance targets and measurement
• Critical success factors and key performance indicators
• Analysing trends and identifying improvement opportunities
• Using data to support decision-making
• Demonstrating the value of the service desk to stakeholders

Pre-Requisites

There are no formal prerequisites for attending the course, although delegates should ideally have practical experience in a service desk or IT support environment.

This course is particularly suitable for delegates with at least three years’ experience in a service desk environment, or those moving into a supervisory, team leader or management role.

Delegates preparing for the SDI Service Desk Manager exam should have:

• A working knowledge of the IT service and support industry
• An understanding of the demands placed on a service desk
• Awareness of standard support processes and operational requirements
• Familiarity with the technology available to service desk staff
• A practical understanding of the Service Desk Manager Professional Standard
• A strong desire to progress within the IT service and support industry

Examination

The course supports preparation for the SDI Service Desk Manager qualification exam.

• 80 multiple-choice questions
• 90 minutes
• Closed book
• The pass mark - 52 correct questions (65%)
• Higher Mastery – 70 correct question (87%)

The SDI Service Desk Manager qualification recognises an individual’s knowledge of the competency requirements and skills needed to manage a service desk effectively.

The v9.0 qualification structure is weighted as follows:

• Policy and Strategy — 10%
• Leadership and Management — 10%
• People Management — 15%
• Managing the Employee Experience — 10%
• Resources — 10%
• Artificial Intelligence — 5%
• Practices, Processes and Procedures — 20%
• Managing the Customer Experience — 10%
• Management Information and Performance Results — 10%

The exam is independently administered and proctored by PeopleCert.

Delegates who pass the exam can be expected to demonstrate the skills needed to develop and deliver service desk strategies, apply key leadership and management competencies, interface the service desk effectively with other IT departments and processes, and support the delivery of exceptional customer value.

Who are the SDI?

The Service Desk Institute, known as SDI, produces internationally recognised standards for service desk and IT support professionals. These standards define key service desk roles, including the Service Desk Analyst and Service Desk Manager, and form the basis of SDI’s professional training courses and exams.

SDI’s standards are created by industry experts from around the world and are designed to support professional development, consistent service delivery, and the improvement of IT service and support.

SDI also produces the Global Best Practice Standard for Service Desk, a recognised quality reference model created specifically for service desks. This standard helps organisations assess service desk maturity, improve effectiveness, and demonstrate the value of the service desk to the wider organisation.

Dates For SDI® - Service Desk Manager

VIRTUAL training

• 29 September - 1 October 2026
• 15 - 17 December 2026