Planning your workflow

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before you <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266">launch Zendesk Support</a>, take a careful look at your company’s workflow to make sure you create a Zendesk setup that meets your needs. The planning doesn’t have to be elaborate. Basic sketches of each participant type, each ticket type, and general workflow are sufficient. The more planning you do in advance, the better. If you have a large company and you can’t plan it all by yourself, invite other groups to participate.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img alt="" src="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/article_attachments/7856363595546"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To help with your planning, here are some questions you should ask: </span></p>
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<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_groups"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Groups </span></a></p>
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<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you identify a specific purpose for every group in your company that will use Zendesk? </span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">What actions do they perform?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">What workflows do they need?</span></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">What groups can you create to add value in Zendesk?</span></li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_roles"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Roles</span></a></p>
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<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can your agents accomplish what they need to with roles that are currently available?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How many different roles do you need Zendesk?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which roles (if any) are unnecessary?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which roles can you add/modify to improve your workflow? For example, do you need custom roles for agents who perform specialized or repetitive tasks?</span></li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_sched"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Business schedules</span></a></p>
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<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you support your end users 24/7/365?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you have any teams that are only available during specific hours or days?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you have any holidays with reduced hours?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How many different schedules do you need?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_orgs"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Organizations</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you plan to synchronize user or organization information from an external CRM?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What do your organizations represent (companies, departments, classifications, and so on)?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you want to enable your users to belong to multiple organizations? If so, which organization should be the default?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_user_fields"><span style="font-weight: 400;">User fields</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_org_fields"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Organization fields</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">What information needs to be stored in Zendesk (agents, end users, organizations)?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">What information would you like to pass onto the user’s or organization’s requested tickets?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">What information is important to know when routing or prioritizing a user’s tickets?</span></li>
<li>What end-user information is critical to helping agents solve and serve customers?</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_ticket_fields"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ticket fields</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What do I need to know in order to route my tickets?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What do I need to know in order to solve my tickets?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What do I need to know in order to report on my tickets?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which fields need to be end-user facing, and which need to be internal only?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which fields should be required upon end-user submission?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which fields should be required upon agent solve?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you plan to import ticket data from an existing system? If so, which one(s)? </span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_ticket_forms"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ticket forms</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do I need multiple ticket forms, or just one form, for each task and organization? Does my account support multiple ticket forms?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Am I asking for the right information from my end-users? Can predictable, follow-up information be included up front to reduce churn?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Does the flow of my ticket form(s) feel natural? If not, what is out of place?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are my forms named clearly for my end-users? For my agents?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_omnichannel_routing" rel="undefined" target="_self">Omnichannel routing</a> and <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_skills" target="_self">skills-based routing </a></span></p>
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">
<ul>
<li>How do you want agents to receive work? Via an automatic assignment (omnichannel routing) or manual assignment (skills-based routing)?</li>
<li>Do my agents need to balance workloads across multiple channels of work?</li>
<li>Do my agents have highly specialized skills, or can all agents handle any given ticket?</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_triggers"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Triggers</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do your agents live in Zendesk all day or in their email?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which of your agents need email notifications? When do they need to be notified?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When do your end users need to be notified?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which items in your workflow can be automated?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How should your notification triggers be worded?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_auto"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Automations</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Should this workflow situation be a trigger or an automation?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you need the system to notify you or take action when a ticket has gone stale?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How long should a ticket be in the solved status before it is closed?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How should your notification emails be worded?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_SLA"><span style="font-weight: 400;">SLA policies</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are you contractually obligated to meet specific service goals?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you have internal service target goals?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you need multiple policies, or one blanket policy?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you prioritize your tickets?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you have a service goal for the time it takes to solve a ticket?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_views"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Views</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How should your tickets be prioritized?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which tickets should each group see?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you classify your tickets?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836154266#intro_macros"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Macros</span></a></p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What are the most common issues that your end users submit tickets for?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What should your comment text say?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Should your macro leave a public or private comment?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which agents should have access to which macros?</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What’s your process for agents to create and share personal macros?</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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