What does a help desk manager do?
A help desk manager oversees and coordinates the daily performance of help desk teams, ensuring clients get to receive optimal support and services. They are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and timelines, performing assessments and inspections, and monitoring the progress of operations, resolving issues or conflicts should any arise. There are also instances when a help desk manager must facilitate the communication between internal and external parties, recruit and train new members of the workforce, and implement policies and procedures to optimize operations.
Help desk manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real help desk manager resumes:
- Provide guidance to help desk and manage third party vendors to insure all SLAs are met.
- Manage SLA, and provide metrics in order to make technical decisions regarding the allocation of technical resources.
- Lead a team of 5 technicians in setting up a separate LAN to support the ship's reactor division.
- Lead and contribute to the configuration and maintenance of all server, desktop and laptop hardware, OS and software.
- Manage and troubleshoot application availability to users through Citrix MetaFrame.
- Manage project to migrate acquire company to HealthcareSource VOIP host phone solution, email and Microsoft active directory environment.
- Negotiate, establish, and continuous achievement of SLAs base on call center and help desk requirements.
- Collaborate with vendors to troubleshoot and fix third-party software applications.
- Perform daily maintenance and repair of DCTC client workstations, printers and scanners.
- Provide assistance with ADL's, companionship, and all other aspects of wellness.
- Implement and report on overall service metrics and key performance indicators (KPI's).
- Analyze and remedy issues involving commercial and proprietary software, hardware malfunctions and basic networking.
- Provide maintenance on workstations by installing latest windows updates, scanning for viruses and spyware.
- Assist in streamlining manual processes via creating SQL DTS packages to import excel spreadsheets into a database.
- Create compliance policies base on OS version, jailbreak status, and security profile status of mobile devices.
Help desk manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Help Desk Managers are proficient in Customer Service, Technical Support, and Help Desk. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Help Desk Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 17%
Created and developed education to resolve complex customer service inquiries and disseminated the information to all levels of management and specialists.
- Technical Support, 7%
Copyright Office s web-based portal for filing electronic copyright applications and providing desk-top and technical support for internal Copyright Office staff.
- Help Desk, 5%
Managed Help Desk/Desktop/VDI projects as well as other internal IT projects while supporting enterprise-wide Help Desk daily operations/desktop computing services.
- Desk Support, 5%
Implemented resolutions based on survey questions/problems response pertaining to Help Desk supported hardware and software applications.
- ITIL, 4%
Created and maintained client-specific process documentation, according to Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) techniques.
- Phone Calls, 4%
Used Peregrine Call Management software to manage call throttling to call center agents and monitor call tickets and phone calls.
"customer service," "technical support," and "help desk" are among the most common skills that help desk managers use at work. You can find even more help desk manager responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a help desk manager to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what help desk managers do because "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Additionally, a help desk manager resume shows how help desk managers use customer-service skills: "designed the processes and procedures to incorporate several independent customer support teams under one umbrella into a coordinated cohesive effective unit. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform help desk manager duties is listening skills. Help desk managers responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Help desk managers also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "communicated client support changes to the help desk team (on-site and remote); incorporated changes into the knowledge base. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for help desk managers to perform their duties. For an example of how help desk manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a help desk manager: "instituted a call tracking data base to capture call types, resolutions and time spent on each call. ".
Speaking skills. For certain help desk manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "speaking skills." The day-to-day duties of a help desk manager rely on this skill, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what help desk managers do: "developed and presented monthly metrics to senior management monthly and weekly for the help desk staff. "
Writing skills. Another crucial skill for a help desk manager to carry out their responsibilities is "writing skills." A big part of what help desk managers relies on this skill, since "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." How this skill relates to help desk manager duties can be seen in an example from a help desk manager resume snippet: "provided superior customer service, increasing sales while adhering to company underwriting procedures. "
The three companies that hire the most help desk managers are:
- Robert Half7 help desk managers jobs
- ICF4 help desk managers jobs
- Stripe4 help desk managers jobs
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Compare different help desk managers
Help desk manager vs. Support lead
A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between help desk managers and support lead. For instance, help desk manager responsibilities require skills such as "help desk," "desk support," "phone calls," and "project management." Whereas a support lead is skilled in "cash management," "sales floor," "payroll," and "infrastructure." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that support leads earn slightly differ from help desk managers. In particular, support leads are 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a help desk manager. Additionally, they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Help desk manager vs. Technician support tier
A technician support tier focuses on providing technical support to clients or employees within a company. Typically working in a team setting, a technician support tier addresses technical problems and troubleshoots to identify the root of the issues and perform necessary corrective measures or repairs. Their responsibilities also revolve around responding to inquiries, answering calls and correspondence, conducting regular maintenance of systems and networks, maintaining records of all transactions, and supporting software and networks. Furthermore, it is essential to coordinate with all team members while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real help desk manager resumes. While help desk manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "help desk," "desk support," "itil," and "customer satisfaction," technician support tiers use skills like "lan wan," "cisco ios," "tier ii," and "lan."
On average, technician support tiers earn a lower salary than help desk managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, technician support tiers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $62,098. Whereas help desk managers have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $93,765.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Technician support tiers tend to reach similar levels of education than help desk managers. In fact, they're 4.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for help desk managers in the next 3-5 years?
Babak Beheshti Ph.D.
Dean, Professor, New York Institute of Technology
-We will be witnessing a more widespread commercial deployment of 5G in 2020. With the implementation of the Standalone 5G devices based on the 3gpp release 16, we should be seeing the more robust mobile broadband deployment of 5G, wider availability of 5G smartphones, and a push towards an all 5G Network in select urban areas around the world.
-Significant growth in AI-based technologies, from face recognition and voice recognition to business intelligence and market predictions. As machines and deep learning algorithms get integrated into many applications, many industries will undergo substantial changes. AI systems will continue to interact with our phones; cars will interpret and analyze their surroundings and intelligently drive themselves. Online vendors will monitor our browsing habits, and Google decides what kind of search results to give us, based on who it thinks we are.
Help desk manager vs. Technical support specialist
A technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a help desk manager is likely to be skilled in "itil," "project management," "level agreements," and "slas," while a typical technical support specialist is skilled in "troubleshoot," "math," "post sales," and "remote desktop."
Technical support specialists earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $60,838. Comparatively, help desk managers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $93,765.technical support specialists typically earn similar educational levels compared to help desk managers. Specifically, they're 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Help desk manager vs. Computer technician
Computer technicians are skilled information technology professionals who handle concerns related to computers. They are responsible for assisting clients in software installations, troubleshooting needs, and repair needs. Computer technicians handle the maintenance and repair of both software and hardware of computers. They should be able to quickly pinpoint the causes of computer problems that the client encounters. They should also be able to answer the clients' computer-related inquiries and provide advice on proper computer handling. Computer technicians should have good analytical skills and decision-making skills.
Types of help desk manager
Updated January 8, 2025
