Delivering Service Excellence and Cultivating Relationships with SLA Guru, Joe Caruso



A Director in Education & Consulting Services in The Cullen Group.
A former CIO in Contract Management.
An expert in providing Sourcing, SLA, and Contract Management Advices.
Trained over 5,000 professionals on Outsourcing, Strategic Contract Management & Governance.
Developer & Publisher of the outsourcingtoolset™
 

 Testimonials: 

“The trainer had depth of knowledge and provided adequate examples to facilitate understanding. The business requirement and benefits is the main strength of the event.”
Rajesh Bangera – Supply Chain Manager, Service Delivery, Emirates Airlines

“The trainer is well knowledgeable as the material used was easy to grasp and the exercises distributed the contents of the course.”
Saad M. Nujaim – General Manager, Cost Management – Airline Maintenance, Saudi Arabian Airlines

“Joe is very interesting and delivered a very interactive masterclass. The main strength of the event was the constant interaction between the speaker and participants. Materials provided were also very helpful. Overall an excellent choice.”
Sylvian Champonet – Service Delivery Manager, Technip Geoproduction, APAC

“Joe was very energetic and well acquainted about the training contents. The training was well organized and structured. The main strength of the training was that there was a lot of interactive group exercises that made the whole training experience amazing."
Salha Al Jasmi – IT Manager, Daman

“Joe is very passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience with participants, He made the learning effective through holistic approach covering the entire process thoroughly.”
Asia Al Marzouqi - Manager For Planning and Customer, ENOC

“The duration of the course (3 days) is good and the workshops and location is one of the main strengths of this event.”
Abdullah Khallaf – Director of Training, King Abdullah Medical City

“Joe is a good trainer. The main strength of the event for me was the exercises, trainer and the information gained.”
Sari Al Kadi - Director, Logistics & Contracts, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs

“The trainer is very knowledgeable and confident about the topic. He has a very easy way of giving the information. The structure of the topics is well designed, especially the practicing and group discussions and this is the main strength of the course.”
Amr Shebata – Snr Manager, Service Recovery, Etisalat

“Excellent trainer and material. The whole content is required but we also need real SLAs and checklists to be used as tools.”
Ali Hassan Ebrahim – IT & Service Desk Manager, Gulf International Bank

Joe Caruso's Past Clients:

• Emirates Airlines
• Celcom Axiata Berhad
• TNB Energy Services
• Saudi Arabian Airlines
• Fuji Xerox
• Mitsubitshi Corp
• BHP Billiton
• Australian Taxation Office
• Coles
• Calibre Global
• Mendigo and Adelaide Bank
• Methanex
• Mighty River Power
• Telstra Communications
• Toll Logistics
• Townsville City Council
• Woodside Energy
   

What Will You Learn From Attending This Event:

• Examine issues in Service Level Agreements (SLA)
• Plan and develop SLA strategically
• Effectively analyze the costs and benefits of SLAs
• Identify the key stakeholder in SLA
• Establish SLA governance framework to manage it effectively
• Design practical and effective SLA communication
• Learn about the best practices in outsourcing, contracts, and supplier evaluation
   

3-Day Program Agenda

Overview of Day 1 - Constructing Your SLA – Planning and Writing the SLA

Introduction and Overview of Training

• Course design layout – walkthrough what you will learn
• Meeting individual objectives – discuss your goals
   

Strategic Elements of the SLA – things you need to know before you begin

• Understand the relationship of the SLA to the contract and other governing documents – they all serve different purposes
• Key objectives of SLAs – what SLAs need to accomplish to be successful
• Establish advantages and disadvantages of SLAs – ensure it is the right tool for you
• Plan and ensure your successful SLA – get the right strategy and approach

Section 1: Setting the context of your SLA

• Determine what is in and out of the scope of your SLA – set the extent of your agreement
• Distinguish who is responsible for what - establishing the responsibility matrix
• Identifying the stakeholders to understand their benefi­ts and objectives
• SLA formats and options

Section 2: Setting the boundaries by defining the scope and accountabilities of your SLA

• De­fine the in-scope services in a commercial manner – minimise misinterpretations
• Identify critical success factors of each service – to ensure success will be achieved
• Avoid common misinterpretations – you know what you mean, but will the other party?

Section 3: Developing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure performance

• Get a holistic report card – applying the Balanced Scorecard to SLAs
• 6 Steps for setting KPIs that matter - all the techniques and issues
• KPI options – during/after normal hours, geographic or business unit distinctions, weighting

Section 4: “Incentivising” the SLA to keep your service providers motivated

• Financial and non-financial means of getting the right behaviour – it isn’t just money that can motivate a service provider
• Use of positive and negative incentives – select the “carrots” and “sticks”
• Explore different techniques to apply incentives – percents, fi­xed amounts and points
• Investigate KPI strati­fications – different KPIs for different situations

Section 5: Reporting – proven techniques in getting the right information

• Assess the different types of reports common in SLAs
• Design your reporting needs for optimal results – what you need to know to manage and keep track of the service
• Exploring the various reports desired at different periods
• Ensure reports can reflect the trends and analyses - keep the SLA aligned to and informing the business needs

Section 6: SLA Governance and Management

• Activities required for successful SLA management – ensure you are ready
• Setting the roles of each party – get the right interparty relationships mapped out
• Dynamic team roles – is your SLA management team well represented?
• Meetings – frequent forms of different interaction is critical
• Evaluations, reviews and audits and reviews – frequent assessment ensures success
• Benchmarking – make certain of ongoing value for money
• Issue, variation and dispute management - staged approach to resolution

Recap and Case Study “What is wrong with this SLA?” – diagnose an ineffectual SLA

Overview of Day 2 - Making Your SLA Work in Commercial Operations

Section 7: Service Contracts - drive a watertight Contract

• Explore key contract planning issues – who prepares it, length, extensions, etc
• Examine the key clauses relating to the SLA – ensure the contract supports the SLA, not clashes with
• How SLA operations can make contracts ineffective

• Explore the pros/cons of various pricing models – avoid the traps of the inexperienced
• Identify how price models impact on managing the SLA – danger in every corner

• Architect Phase – preparing the strategies and designing the future
• Engagement Phase – selecting the supplier and making the transition
• Governance Phase – managing the arrangement and planning for the next generation
• Plan your SLA lifecycle

• The breadth of skills to manage the SLA through an outsourcing lifecycle
• Targeting the skills your SLA needs

• Ways SLAs end – “natural” and “unnatural”…be prepared for all
• Planning the next “wave” SLA options and issues
• Disengagement, handover and post termination assistance – ensure you don’t impede your options
• Assessments to consider – well before the end of a SLA

Overview of Day 3 - Mastering the Core Skills of Relationship Management, Communication & Negotiation

• Forms of relationships from power based to partnering
• Planning a successful relationship
   

• Set your communication goals – informing, gaining commitment or action
• Target who you need to communication with and why – one technique won’t serve for all
• Profile your targets – determine the right approach
• Ensure your communication will be effective – identify your targets’ stage of commitment
• Kick off a communication plan for your SLA

• Determine how often you may renegotiate your SLA
• Assess how you manage conflict
• Be able to identify negotiation styles and how they impact reaching agreement
• Role playing session – put it in practice negotiating KPI penalties and rewards
• Negotiation tactics, tips and strategies
• Prepare a negotiation plan

Applying best practice for your organisation

• Steps for best practice SLA development and management – tips from nearly two decades of hindsight with over 75 organisations
• Attributes of a best practice SLA - know what characteristics you want to ensure your SLA has
   

Who Should Attend: