Jira Service Management is traditionally viewed as a tool for IT teams. But the reality is that JSM is silently gaining steam to become a go-to system for the HR, facilities, finance, legal, and other non-IT departments in organizations seeking to standardize service delivery across teams without losing service flexibility.
India is one place where the demand for a service desk that scales beyond IT is only increasing as many mid to large enterprises and shared service centres continue to operate in a hybrid set-up. Here is more on the capabilities of JSM.
HR: Managing Employee Requests
Interminable email threads, ad-hoc WhatsApp broadcasts, and missed follow-ups are nightmares for HR when it comes to managing requests related to on boarding, payroll, or benefits. JSM creates a streamlined service desk system where employees can raise their requests through a dedicated portal.
Example: The HR team of an IT services company based out of Bengaluru attempted a radical approach. They moved their on boarding checklist and paperwork for new hires onto JSM. Each step is now auto-triggered as part of a workflow: employee ID creation, asset assignment and welcome emails. Requests that would have taken 3–5 days to fulfil manually are now completed in a day with full transparency on progress.
Facilities/Admin Issues: Logging and Resolving with Clear Ownership
Facility issues like broken chairs, Wi-Fi downtime, pantry supplies etc. generally disappear without being tracked. But with JSM, the facilities team can get a little creative with request types like “Fix a Workstation,” “Book a Meeting Room,” or “Report a Maintenance Issue.”
Real-World use: Maintenance requests are tracked by the co-working space in Pune by JSM. Both staff and members use the JSM portal or the mobile app to raise an issue. At the backend, requests are automatically assigned to the correct vendor or team member, with SLAs guaranteeing a response within 2 hours. This has helped cut repeated complaints by 40%.
Finance: Structured and Traceable Internal Requests
Finance teams generally get a lot of repeated unstructured questions like “When will my expense be reimbursed?” or “Can I get a GST invoice for this vendor?” Such unstructured queries generated by JSM can be organized.
How it helps: This JSM application by a mid-sized Hyderabad-based tech company handles employee expense claims and vendor payment tracking. The finance department created workflows that allow employees to submit requests with documentation routed to the correct approver. The requesters then get automatic status updates and this reduces follow-ups through emails.
Why a JSM instead of just email or forms?
- Visibility: Requesters can measure the growth of their issues instead of following a line of emails from one person to another.
- Accountability: Requests are automatically assigned to the specific people or teams.
- SLAs: Non-IT teams can set time limits for requests so that they can be ensured to be resolved in time.
- Integration: JSM has integration with confluence that allows HR or Finance to insert knowledgebase articles (e.g., “How to file a reimbursement”) right into request forms.
Tips for implementing JSM for a Non-IT Team
- Start Small: Pick one team (HR or Admin) and set it up with 3-5 common request types.
- Use Templates: JSM has out-of-the-box templates available, such as “General Service Management” or “Facilities Management.”
- Train End-Users: Keep request forms easy to use; end-users should be able to fill requests right on their mobile phones without any technical jargon.
- Review Monthly: When trends start to show results – use the data to improve workflows.
