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The differences between service desk managers and team leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a service desk manager, becoming a team leader takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a service desk manager has an average salary of $101,229, which is higher than the $68,817 average annual salary of a team leader.
The top three skills for a service desk manager include customer service, ITIL and ITSM. The most important skills for a team leader are customer service, ladders, and patients.
| Service Desk Manager | Team Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $101,229 | $68,817 |
| Hourly rate | $48.67 | $33.09 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 69,990 | 197,336 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 47 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 6 |
In the information technology industry, a service desk manager resolves technical issues and concerns, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically focus on addressing systems and application errors, troubleshooting problems, providing step-by-step solutions, or referring clients to other services. They may also provide administrative support to offices by managing schedules, preparing and processing documents, and providing technical support. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Team leaders are responsible for managing a team for a specific project or work component. They primarily guide the team members and ensure that they are still working towards the set goals. Team leaders create strategies to reach goals, cascade the goals and strategies to team members, assign tasks, conduct periodic check-ups on the roadmap towards the goals, foster an engaging work environment, motivate and coach team members, monitor team performance, evaluate the strategies and come up with mitigating plans as needed. They are also responsible for reporting the team's progress to higher management.
Service desk managers and team leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Desk Manager | Team Leader | |
| Average salary | $101,229 | $68,817 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $141,000 | Between $37,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | Carson City, NV | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | CLEAResult | Ropes & Gray |
| Best paying industry | Finance | - |
There are a few differences between a service desk manager and a team leader in terms of educational background:
| Service Desk Manager | Team Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi |
Here are the differences between service desk managers' and team leaders' demographics:
| Service Desk Manager | Team Leader | |
| Average age | 47 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.2% Female, 35.8% | Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 9% |