SDI Quality Assurance & Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which metric measures the percentage of incidents resolved without requiring a return visit or follow-up contact from the customer?
- First Contact Resolution (FCR) (Correct answer)
- Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)
- Customer Effort Score (CES)
- Escalation Rate
Correct answer: First Contact Resolution (FCR)
First Contact Resolution (FCR) tracks how often incidents are fully resolved during the initial customer interaction without callbacks or re-opens.
Question 2: In SDI quality frameworks, what is the primary purpose of a 'mystery shopper' program?
- To benchmark pricing against competitors
- To objectively evaluate service quality by simulating real customer interactions (Correct answer)
- To identify training needs through peer review
- To audit IT asset inventories
Correct answer: To objectively evaluate service quality by simulating real customer interactions
A mystery shopper program uses anonymized test calls or contacts to provide an unbiased assessment of the actual service experience delivered.
Question 3: What does a 'balanced scorecard' approach help a service desk achieve in quality management?
- Faster ticket routing through automation
- A multi-dimensional view linking financial, customer, process, and learning metrics (Correct answer)
- Elimination of SLA breaches through prioritization rules
- Standardized escalation paths for all incident types
Correct answer: A multi-dimensional view linking financial, customer, process, and learning metrics
The balanced scorecard aligns operational metrics across four perspectives—financial, customer, internal processes, and learning & growth—to give a holistic quality picture.
Question 4: Which quality improvement approach uses 'voice of the customer' (VoC) data as its central input?
- Six Sigma DMAIC (Correct answer)
- ISO 20000 gap analysis
- Lean waste mapping
- COBIT control framework
Correct answer: Six Sigma DMAIC
Six Sigma DMAIC uses VoC data in its Define phase to establish critical-to-quality requirements that drive the entire improvement project.
Question 5: When an SDI-certified service desk conducts a 'shift-left' initiative, what is the primary quality objective?
- Moving complex incidents to Tier 3 faster
- Resolving more issues at lower support tiers, closer to the customer (Correct answer)
- Scheduling maintenance windows during off-peak hours
- Reducing the number of service desk agents on early shifts
Correct answer: Resolving more issues at lower support tiers, closer to the customer
Shift-left aims to resolve incidents and requests at the lowest-cost, most customer-proximate tier, improving FCR and reducing escalations.
Question 6: In quality monitoring, what is the difference between a 'lagging indicator' and a 'leading indicator'?
- Lagging indicators predict future performance; leading indicators confirm past results
- Leading indicators predict future performance; lagging indicators confirm past results (Correct answer)
- Both measure the same outcomes at different time intervals
- Lagging indicators apply to people metrics; leading indicators apply to process metrics
Correct answer: Leading indicators predict future performance; lagging indicators confirm past results
Leading indicators (e.g., agent training hours) help predict future outcomes, while lagging indicators (e.g., CSAT scores) confirm what already happened.
Question 7: Which SDI best practice describes the formal review of a major incident after resolution to identify root cause and prevent recurrence?
- Problem review board
- Post-Incident Review (PIR) (Correct answer)
- Change advisory meeting
- Service level review
Correct answer: Post-Incident Review (PIR)
A Post-Incident Review (PIR) is conducted after a major incident to analyze what went wrong, determine root cause, and implement corrective actions.
SDI Quality Assurance & Improvement 2
Which metric measures the percentage of incidents resolved without requiring a return visit or follow-up contact from the customer?