ITIL®4 SpecIaLIST: creaTe, DeLIver anD SupporT

ITIL®4

ITIL® is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission

ITIL®4 SpecIaLIST:

creaTe, DeLIver anD SupporT

SeLf-STuDy GuIDe

ITIL® 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support | r1.1.0

in part, be copied, reproduced, translated, photocopied, or reduced to any medium without prior and

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Trade Marks, Source books information

The content of this book is primarily sourced from the draft version of the AXELOS manuscript for

ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support.

The content of this course is also sourced from other manuscripts from AXELOS:

 ITIL

Foundation (ITIL

4 edition)

 ITIL

4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value

 ITIL

4 Specialist: High Velocity IT

 ITIL

4 Strategist: Direct, Plan and Improve

ITIL

is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission of AXELOS Limited. All

rights reserved.

Disclaimer

Information provided about the course, modules, topics and any services for courses including

simulations or handouts, are an expression of intent only and are not to be taken as a firm offer or

undertaking. The Publisher reserves the right to discontinue or vary or maintain such course, modules,

topics, or services at any time without notice and to impose limitations on enrolment in any course.

The course materials provided may have hypertext links to a number of other web sites as a reference

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applies. Individual users are responsible for any charges that their use may incur.

The information in this course is written using a blend of British and American English. Although every

effort has been made regarding the usage of correct spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and grammar

with regard to the Standard English, publisher accepts no responsibility for any loss or inconvenience

caused due to the regional differences in the usage of the English language.

│

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview 1

ITIL 4 Create, Deliver and Support and Service Value Chain 2

Key Audience 3

ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support Course 3

Case Study: Axle Car Hire 5

Exam Details 5

MODULE 1: ORGANIZATION AND CULTURE 7

Module Objectives 7

Intent and Context 8

Module Topics 8

Organizational Structures 9

Team Culture 14

Continual Improvement Culture 19

Collaborative Culture 21

Customer-Oriented Mindset 25

Positive Communication 27

Key Points Covered in the Module 30

MODULE 2: EFFECTIVE TEAMS 33

Module Objectives 33

Intent and Context 34

Module Topics 34

Capabilities, Roles and Competencies 34

Workforce Planning 40

Employee Satisfaction Management 45

Results Based Measuring and Reporting 47

Key Points Covered in the Module 50

MODULE 3: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE, DELIVER AND SUPPORT SERVICES 53

Module Objectives 53

Intent and Context 54

Module Topics 55

Integration and Data Sharing 55

Reporting and Advanced Analytics 58

Collaboration and Workow 61

Robotic Process Automation 63

Articial Intelligence and Machine Learning 66

CI/CD 71

Information Model 74

Key Points Covered in the Module 76

MODULE 4: VALUE STREAMS 79

Module Objectives 79

Intent and Context 79

Module Topics 80

Anatomy of a Value Stream 80

Designing a Value Stream 85

Value Stream Mapping 90

Key Points Covered in the Module 94

│

iii

MODULE 5: VALUE STREAM TO CREATE, DELIVER AND SUPPORT SERVICES 95

Module Objectives 95

Intent and Context 96

Module Topic 97

Value Stream Model For Creation of A New Service 97

Key Points Covered in the Module 117

MODULE 6: VALUE STREAM FOR USER SUPPORT 119

Module Objectives 119

Intent and Context 119

Module Topics 120

Value Stream Model For Restoration of A Live Service 120

Key points Covered in the Module 140

MODULE 7: PRIORITIZE AND MANAGE WORK 141

Module Objectives 141

Intent and Context 142

Module Topics 142

Managing Queues and Backlogs 142

Prioritizing Work 147

Swarming 151

Shift-Left Approach 154

Key Points Covered in the Module 158

MODULE 8: COMMERCIAL AND SOURCING CONSIDERATIONS 161

Module Objectives 161

Intent and Context 161

Key Terms Covered in the Module 162

Module Topics 163

Build or Buy 163

Sourcing Models 169

Service Integration and Management 172

Key Points Covered in the Module 174

CASE STUDY: AXLE CAR HIRE 175

EXAM PREPARATION GUIDE 181

MOCK EXAM 185

APPENDIX A: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES 229

APPENDIX B: PURPOSE OF ITIL

4 PRACTICES 241

APPENDIX C: VALUE STREAM TEMPLATES 245

APPENDIX D: SYLLABUS 247

APPENDIX E: RELEASE NOTES 255

APPENDIX F: PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK FORM 257

│

Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank the experts who have contributed to the design and development of

the ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support course.

Design Team

Helen Morris

Helen Morris has over 25 years of experience in service management including

operational management of services in a variety of industry sectors. She

holds the ITIL

Expert qualification and is an experienced trainer for ITIL. She

has coauthored a number of study guide publications and distance-learning

courses covering the service management qualifications.

Liz Gallacher

Liz has over 20 years of experience as a consultant and trainer. She has

designed improvement initiatives covering many areas of Service Management

for a variety of organisation, large and small. Liz provides consultancy and

training services on all aspects of IT Service Management. She achieved

distinction in the ITIL Manager certificate (top 6%), and holds the ITIL Expert

certification.

Madhav Lakshminarayanan

Madhav has over 19 years of experience in IT working with major fortune 500

companies, manufacturing, IT services, healthcare, higher education, research

and consulting firms in various technical, operational, project management

and people management roles. Madhav is an ITIL Expert, Certified GE Six

Sigma Green Belt, PMI Project Management Professional, Scrum Master and

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner. Madhav has worked with large customers in

their process improvement and operational excellence initiatives.

Virginia Araujo

Virginia has over 20 years of professional experience in Technologies and

Information Systems. Virginia specializes in Information Security Management,

Service Management and Governance, and Project Management She has

worked as an IT Manager, Senior Consultant and an accredited trainer. She is

distinguished by AXELOS Inc. in 2017, as leading woman in ITSM (IT Service

Management). She is also distinguished by AXELOS to the project team to

launch the new major ITIL 4 release launched in February 2019.

Marcel Foederer

As an IT Service Management trainer, consultant and line manager with over

25 years of experience in IT, Marcel has performed strategic and tactical

assignments in a wide variety of areas. For the ITIL 4 update, Marcel has

been part of the ITIL 4 Lead Architect Team and Review Team at AXELOS.

Through his association with AXELOS, Marcel comprehends the background,

the architecture, and the underlying reasons of the ITIL 4 update.

│

Contributors and Reviewers

A big thanks to the contributors and reviewers for their feedback, suggestion, and inputs.

Name E-mail ID

Ahmed Garba [email protected]

Amine El Kadiri Boutchich [email protected]

Arichuna Vera [email protected]

Armando Ibañez Mejía [email protected]

Ayodeji Agbalajobi [email protected]

Azhar Khuwaja azhar[email protected]

Balantrapu Roudri [email protected]

Bruno Gallier [email protected]

Carlos Regalado [email protected]

Claudio Schicht [email protected]

Daniel Castillo [email protected]

Daniel Popa [email protected]

Faisal Iqbal [email protected]

Ferran MartÃ Tassier [email protected]

Ghulam Moinuddin [email protected]

Girish Mungra [email protected]

Helen Morris [email protected]

Heng Meng Tan [email protected]

Humberto Barros [email protected]

Hussam Kamal Morsy [email protected]

Imran Saeed Khan [email protected]

Indira Anand [email protected]

John Custy [email protected]

Jon Morley [email protected]

Joris Heirman [email protected]

Jose Ruivo [email protected]

Kiti Sunoye [email protected]

Lars Zobbe Mortensen [email protected]

Liz Gallacher [email protected]

Madhav Lakshminarayanan [email protected]

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

Meenakshi Heptulla [email protected]

Mehrdad Khadempour [email protected]

Nabil Zine Abidine Ouazzani [email protected]

Nasser El-Hout [email protected]

Nichanal Lamsam [email protected]

Olivier Sadiot [email protected]

Peter de Koe [email protected]

Peter Eberle peter[email protected]

Piya Chiewcharat [email protected]

Prasad Deshpande [email protected]

Prashant Pokarna [email protected]

Rami Al-Qassem [email protected]

Ramon Nones [email protected]

Raul Diaz Lomeli [email protected]

Rene Visser [email protected]

Robert Bruce Specht rbspecht@shaw.ca

Rohinton Dumasia [email protected]

Rony Plevnik rony[email protected]

Ruangrit Rungruangwat [email protected]

Sandeep Pathak [email protected]

Sankarsan Biswas [email protected]

Serge Romaric Bassomo [email protected]

Siddharth Pareek [email protected]

Syed Hyder Mehdi [email protected]

Ted Gaughan [email protected]

Venkata Naresh Kumar Madireddy [email protected]

Virginia Araujo [email protected]

Wessam Ayad [email protected]

Xavier Vico [email protected]

Zhaofeng Wu [email protected]

│

vii

Acknowledgements

Overview

The ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support module is part

of the ITIL 4 Managing Professional stream and you need to pass

the related certification exam for working towards the ‘Managing

Professional’ (MP) designation.

ITIL 4 Create Deliver and Support covers the integration of a number

of proven areas of what we might know as ‘IT’ areas of work – from

design, to build and test, launch, run and support of products and

services.

ITIL® Managing

Professional (MP)

ITIL®

Specialist

Create,

Deliver &

Support

ITIL® Foundation

Based upon AXELOS ITIL

materials. Material is used under licence from AXELOS

Introduction

│

The ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support course provides

information and guidance across a number of areas that are required

to build and maintain a broad ‘professional’ portfolio – collaboration,

strong and positive culture, integrated teams and employee

satisfaction.

This course provides an understanding on how to integrate different

value streams and activities to create, deliver, and support IT-enabled

products and services. It specifically focuses on two value streams:

 Value stream for a new service

 Value stream for user support

The course also discusses the techniques to prioritize work and

methods to manage work.

ITIL 4 Create, Deliver and Support and Service Value

Chain

The following figure depicts how the Create, Deliver and Support

module maps to the ITIL service value chain. The Create, Deliver

and Support aligns with the middle part of value chain, which is

about creating, delivering and supporting services. The service

value activities that are closely associated with Create, Deliver and

Support module are Design & Transition, Obtain/Build and Deliver

& Support.

ITIL

MP Transition

Unlike the other modules of the Managing Professional stream, the High Velocity IT covers

the full service value chain – from demand to value. All aspects and activities of the value

chain are considered in High Velocity IT – but from a different perspective; from the

perspective of high velocity and digitally transformed organization.

ITIL 4 High Velocity IT and Service Value Chain

rights reserved.

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

Key Audience

The target audience for Create, Deliver and Support includes, but are

not limited to, the following:

 Service management practitioners involved at any stage of

product and service lifecycles

 Team leads and middle management of service providers

 Service and product owners

 People currently known as process owners and managers

Professionals with following job titles are expected to benefit from this

module:

 IT Operations Manager, Availability Manager, Service Desk,

Service Managers, Service Architects, Security Manager,

Technology Support teams, UX/UI Designer, Development

Managers, Developers, Testers, Infrastructure Operations

Engineer, Software Developer

 Product owners, Project Managers, Business Relationship

Manager, Customer Relationship Manager

ITIL® 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support Course

Overview

The ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support course is based on

the ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support exam specification

from AXELOS. With the help of ITIL

4 concepts and terminology,

exercises, and examples included in the course, you will acquire

relevant knowledge to pass the ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver,

and Support certification exam.

The ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support course reflects new

ways of approaching service management. The course is designed

to provide practitioners with both theoretical and practical knowledge

of the ITIL 4 holistic approach to building and modifying technology-

enabled services from demand to value. This course describes how

value streams can be built and managed holistically and how continual

improvement iterations and feedback loops can be included in value

streams. The course explores areas such as development, testing,

knowledge, customer and employee feedback, new technologies,

sourcing, and ways of managing work.

The course provides guidance on how to collaborate and coordinate

efforts to design, build, and support integrated and effective products

and services, building from ITIL Foundation.

│

Introduction

Learning Outcomes Covered in the Course

The ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support course covers

the content in relation to the following learning outcomes of the exam

specification for ITIL 4 Managing Professional Transition module:

1. Understand how to plan and build a service value stream to

create, deliver, and support services

2. Know how relevant ITIL practices contribute to the creation,

delivery and support across the SVS and value streams

3. Know how to create, deliver and support services

Structure of the Course

The ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support course includes

8 modules. These modules can be considered to be part of a logical

structure comprising three sections:

 Section 1: Critical Success Factors of ITSM Excellence

{ Module 1: Organization and Culture

{ Module 2: Effective Teams

{ Module 3: Information Technology to Create, Deliver and

Support Services

 Section 2: Value Streams to Create, Deliver and Support

Services

{ Module 4: Value Streams

{ Module 5: Value Stream to Create, Deliver and Support

Services

{ Module 6: Value Stream for User Support

 Section 3: Managing Work and Sourcing Considerations

{ Module 7: Prioritize and Manage Work

{ Module 8: Commercial and Sourcing Considerations

The first three modules provide guidance for professionals in IT and

service management to build and maintain a broad professional

portfolio. The content of these three modules relates to organizational

structures, people, communications, information and technology, and

the importance of being aware of new opportunities. These particular

areas are emphasized in ITIL 4 because they are as important for

success as processes, practices, and technical knowledge.

The next three modules – Module 4 to Module 6 – provide guidance

on understanding how work flows across the organization and how

this flow can be reflected through value streams.

The last two modules – Module 7 and 8 - provide guidance about

strategies for managing work, techniques for prioritization, and

commercial and sourcing considerations.

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

Course Components

ITIL

Create, Deliver and

Support

Course Components

ITIL

4 Specialist Create, Deliver and Support Course (Contd.)

Example and TipsCourse Content

Discussions and

Activities

Exam

Information

Additional

Components

Case Study: Axle Car Hire

The case study, Axle Car Hire, is intended to show how an organization

transforms itself and meet new challenges using the guidance

provided by ITIL 4 with regard to organizational structures, people,

communications, information and technology and value streams.

The case study demonstrates how an organization tries to make its

services as effective as possible, by using the best combination of

their people, their teams, their technology, their value streams, and

their ways of working.

r H

AXLE

Driven by Difference...

The introduction to the case study is provided in the appendix.

Exam Details

 Bloom Level: 2 and 3

 Exam Format:

{ Close Book format

{ Web-based and paper-based

│

Introduction

 Questions: 40 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) of 1 mark

each

 Passing Score: 70% (28 marks out of 40)

 Exam Duration:

{ 90 minutes

{ 25% extra time for non-native English speakers (113 minutes

in total)

 Proctoring: Live/Webcam

After completing this training, you will be planning to take the ITIL

Specialist Create, Deliver, and Support certification exam. To give you

an idea about the certification exam, sample paper (or mock exam) is

included within the course.

│

Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

ORGANIZATION AND CULTURE

Module Objectives

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

 Understand the changes in organizational structure and use of

ITIL guiding principles to improve the organizational structure.

 Understand the characteristics of good team culture.

 Understand the benets and challenges of of continual

improvement culture.

 Understand the difference between collaboration and

cooperation and their purpose in an organization.

 Understand the importance of customer-oriented mindset.

 Understand the importance and principles of good

communication.

This module is based on the following assessment criteria of the exam

specification:

 Understand the concepts and challenges relating to the

following across the service value system:

a) Organizational structure

b) Integrated/collaborative teams

c) Team culture and differences

d) Working to a customer-orientated mindset

e) The value of positive communications

│

 Know how to plan and manage resources in the service value

system:

a) Team collaboration and integration

b) The culture of continual improvement

Intent and Context

This module focuses on the key areas required to build effective teams

and collaborative culture.

Organization

Structure

Team Culture

and

Collaboration

Customer

Orientation

Positive

Communication

Culture is a

critical factor in the

creation, delivery, and

support of products

and services.

This module focuses on a number of areas that are required to build

effective team culture that aligns with the organization culture. Culture

is a critical factor in the creation, delivery, and support of products

and services. This module focuses on how to develop and nuture

good team culture and collaborative organizational culture, which is

supported by customer orientation and positive communication.

Module Topics

 Organizational Structures

 Team Culture

 Continual Improvement Culture

 Collaborative Culture

 Customer-Oriented Mindset

 Positive Communication

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

Traditional Organizational Structures

There are various types of organizational structures used across

all organizations. These different organizational structures vary

significantly in approach.

Matrix Structure

Divisional (Geographical) Structure

Flat Structure

CEO

Marketing

Marketing Sales Services

Sales

Marketing Sales Services

Services

Marketing Sales Services

CEO

VP Administration VP Operations

Marketing

Soft Drinks and

Juices Division

Ice-Cream

Division

Yummy Snacks

Division

Sales Services

CEO

North American

Divison

EMEA

Divison

Asia-Specific

Divison

Marketing Sales Services Marketing Sales Services Marketing Sales Services

Various operations staff (production,

purchasing, shipping safety compliance,

maintenance)

Various administration staff (accounting,

marketing, legal, etc.)

Functional Structure

│

Module 1 | Organization and Culture

In order to improve and build effective new ways of working and to

successfully drive change and improvement, it is essential to understand

how an organization is structured and how it currently operates. Traditionally,

organizational structures have generally been functional and hierarchical in

nature, with military style lines of command and control. In such structures,

a defined leader sits at the top of the organization with various subordinates

and sub levels underneath. Some high-level of examples of structures of

organizations include functional, divisional, matrix, and flat.

Functional Structure

The functional structure typically represents hierarchical arrangements

of lines of authority and how work is managed across different

management levels. With this structure, the organization may be

divided into different groups based on functional areas such as

marketing, human resources, and IT.

Divisional

Organizations with divisional structures arrange their activities around

market, product or geographical groups. Each division may have its

functional units, such as sales, marketing, electronics and profit and

loss accounting.

Matrix

In a matrix structure, reporting relationships are set up as a grid or

matrix with pools of people who can move across teams as needed. In

this structure, the employees often have dual reporting relationships -

generally to both a functional manager and a product manager.

Flat

The flat structure aims to remove hierarchies of authority and

management. This structure can be useful to remove barriers of decision

making that can slow down progress. However, as organizations grow

and more teams are required to manage specific responsibilities, this

structure can become challenging to maintain.

The key differences between the various organizational structures

can be described using the following characteristics:

 Grouping/teaming criteria, such as function, product, territory,

or customer.

 Location, such as co-located or distributed

 Relationships with value streams, such as responsible for specic

activities or fully responsible for the end-to-end value stream

 Team members’ responsibility and authority, such as command-

and-control or self-driven teams

 Sourcing of competencies, such as level of integration with

teams external to the organization

Contemporary Organizational Structures

In the digital service economy, agility and resilience are vital for an

organization’s success. Organizations must adopt new ways of

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

structuring their resources and competencies by following common

approaches, such as two approaches described here.

 Faster and more exible allocation of resources to new or more

important tasks. For example, matrix organization structure

often allocate or reallocate resources to different value streams,

projects, products, or customers.

 Permanent, simple multi-competent teams that are assigned to

work exclusively on a product. This may result in circumstances

when teams are idle, but it ensures a high availability of

resources for the development and management of products.

rights reserved.

Adoption of flexible and responsive ways of working, such as Agile and

DevOps, have led to adoption of new approaches to organizational

structure, which is more servant and cross-functional. This type of

structure generally involve applications of matrix and flat structures.

Team 1Team 2Team 3Team 4

Cross Functional

Team Members

Cross Domain

Developers

Tester

UI Expert

Tech Writer

Engine

Product Owner

Scrum Master

Based upon AXELOS ITIL

materials. Material is used under licence from AXELOS

The Agile and DevOps approaches requires cross-functional,

autonomous teams by applying matrix and flat structures. There is a

pool of resources that include people with different specialization, who

can be assigned and re-assigned to different teams without delays of

recruitment, on-boarding and training.

It also involves creating cross-functional teams, which can be achieved

by applying matrix and flat structures. The formation of organizational

structure based on cross-functional teams can be a major change and

may involve challenges as this requires an organization to transition from

functional and hierarchical models of working to a more fluid and in some

cases potentially conflicting areas of responsibility and management.

Tips

In order to allow teams to work in a

cross-functional and collaborative

fashion, the organization has to

align their goals. This usually means

aligning the organizational structure

with the desired team structure, as

observed by the proverb known as

Conway’s Law. “Organizations which

design systems…are constrained to

produce designs which are copies of

the communication structures of these

organizations.” – Melvin Conway

│

Module 1 | Organization and Culture

Adoption of Agile or DevOps Teams

Focus: In order to adapt to more flexible and responsive ways

of working, such as agile and DevOps, many organizations

have adjusted their organizational structure.

Has your organization adopted the organization structure

based Agile or DevOps Teams? How has this adoption affected

the organization structure?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of organization

structure with cross-functional, autonomous teams?

Think About It

Case Study Example: Cross-Functional Teams

Henri: At Axle Car Hire, we focus on developing cross-functional teams to develop or modify

products and services. This helps to gather requirements from the different functional areas at

the same time. For the biometric technology, Su suggested to introduce biometric technology to

identify our customers. Marco suggested the use of fingerprint or facial recognition scans to quickly

identify our customers and automate the car collection and return process. Radhika suggested

about considerations for regulations such as GDPR and risks to data security.

Cross-functional teams enables collaboration to define, design, and deliver new features. Team members

would learn of the new services at the same time and would begin working on estimates together.

Axle Car Hire Example

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a model where managers support people in

cross functional teams to achieve organizational goals.

The servant leadership style of leadership is based on two key principles:

 Managers are there to meet the needs of the organization, rst

and foremost (not just their individual teams).

 Managers are there to ‘serve’ and support the people working

for them by ensuring that they have the relevant resources and

organizational support to get their jobs done.

rights reserved.

Servant leadership can often be seen in flat, matrix, or product-

focused organizations. However, this approach can be applied to

any organizational structure. The servant style of leadership inspires

individuals to collaborate with the leader to become more cohesive and

productive. The servant leadership style inspires teams to collaborate and

utilize the help of the leader to become more cohesive and productive.

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

Using ITIL Guiding Principles to Improve the Organizational

Structure

“If you’re thinking of moving to a cross-functional servant model,

use the ITIL guiding principles to help you decide. This will involve

major organizational and cultural change.”

The ITIL 4 guiding principles are a useful reference point when

planning to change and improve the organizational structure.

Guiding Principle Considerations to Improve Organizational Structure

Focus on value Ensure that the key driver for changing the way of working is

reviewed and referenced during each stage of the transformation.

Progress iteratively with

feedback

Ensure that the transition/transformation is simplified into

manageable steps.

Start where you are Consider the cultural aspects and current roles and responsibilities

of the organization. For example:

 Consider the relative maturity and understanding of the

organizational structures in relation to the current organization.

 Use value stream mapping and a RACI matrix to understand

the organization’s current roles and responsibilities.

Collaborate and promote

visibility

Ensure that all stakeholders are engaged throughout the change

process. Adopt a ‘disagree and commit’ approach to involve every

stakeholder to discuss concerns and disagreements.

Ensure leaders are easily accessible by adopting an ‘open door’

policy.

Organizational changes must be clearly defined and openly

discussed in order to enable transparency.

Think and work holistically Ensure collaboration with all appropriate leaders/managers to

build a single consistent message on the risks and progress.

Keep it simple and practical Reduced complexity of the organization can help to ensure that

the:

 Flow of work and information is uninhibited.

 Transferals of work is reduced to improve efciency and

effectiveness.

 Teams can be encouraged to be self-organizing by making

decisions and taking actions within certain criteria, without the

need to check with management.

Optimize and automate Where possible, consolidate or automate any tasks to reduce

waste. Consider the key principle that ‘human intervention should

only occur when it contributes a defined value.’

│

Module 1 | Organization and Culture

TEAM CULTURE

Team Culture

A team culture is made up of the values, beliefs, attitudes and

behaviours shared by a team.

rights reserved.

Team culture reflects how people work together towards a common goal

and how they treat each other. In an effective team culture, members

recognize the work of their team in the context of their organization’s

strategic plan and success goals. Teams understand where their work fits in

the total context of the organization’s mission, goals, principles, vision, and

values. Teams feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves

and tend to experience increased engagement and work satisfaction.

Team members understand why using teams will help their organization

attain its business goals—and how they can attain their personal

goals through effective participation. Team members also understand

that some of their problems relate to how they interact and relate to

each other, and that their challenge as individuals and as a team is to

remove the obstacles to success.

Culture for Service Providers

Culture provides distinguishing features to service provider and

promotes its value proposition. Culture is a critical factor in the

creation, delivery, and support of products and services.

Service provider

organizations

focusing on value

creation will display

these common

characteristics

Focus on value,

quality, and

operational

excellence

Investment in

people and

communication/

collaboration tools

Client,

customer, and

consumer

orientation

Continuous

alignment with

the vision,

mission, and

strategic

objectives

Strong team

composition

within a structured

organization

These characteristics and/or similar characteristics are expected

to be shared by every member and team within the organization.

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

However, specific team culture may be developed at team level which

support the values and principles of the organization but reflect the

characteristics specific to the team.

“Service provider organizations focusing on value creation will display some or all of

these common characteristics:

 Value, quality, and operational excellence focus: These organizations are results-

driven, demanding precision and consistency in the creation and delivery of products

and services. They focus on innovation, growth, and maximizing potential.

 Client, customer, and consumer orientation: These organizations seek long-term and

mutually benecial relationships. The believe that customers are made, not obtained and

that they should be invested in seriously with time, money, and organizational commitment.

Satisfying the customer becomes the driver for their vision, mission, and strategic objectives.

 Investment in people and communication/collaborative tools: As a social process,

services are associated with the ability to identify, mobilize, and focus human energy by

cooperating and collaborating with stakeholders. Investment in tools which maximize

collaboration and visibility is a priority for these organizations.

 Strong team composition within a structured organization: Combining operational

excellence, client orientation, and collaboration allows these organizations to provide a

strong central organizational structure while allowing for agile, solution-oriented teams

to operate in a decentralized manner.

 Continuous alignment with the vision, mission, and strategic objectives: In order

to focus on value, these organizations adapt and continually improve their products and

services to serve their consumers. The focus on value is driven from the top-down: from

strategy to operations and across the service value system.

Culture Dierences

Different teams within an organization may manifest their own culture and

also be influenced by the company culture. The culture differences in the

organization can be described and managed by different models, including:

Communication

(low context or

high context)

Evaluation

(direct negative

feedback or

indirect negative

feedback)

Persuasion

(principles versus

application)

Leadership

(egalitarian or

hierarchical)

Decisions

(top-down or

consensual)

Trust

(task-based or

relationship-

based)

Disagreement

(avoidance or

escalation of

confrontation)

Scheduling

(linear or exible

timing)

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Module 1 | Organization and Culture

Effective organizational culture recommends that the teams understand

both how they work and where their work fits within the context of the

organization’s mission, goals, principles, vision, and values.

Some of the recommendations for team members include:

 Team members dene their team culture by agreeing upon team

norms and expectations within the organization’s overall culture.

 Team members should understand that a high percentage of

the problems they face as a team will relate to how they interact

and relate to each other.

 Team members should ensure that they have the information

needed to successfully perform their dened strategy.

Cultural Fit

“Cultural fit is the ability for an employee or team to comfortably work in an environment that

is in line with their own beliefs, values, and needs.”

A good cultural fit benefits both the team member and the team.

rights reserved.

An employee that is considered a good cultural fit is more likely to enjoy

their work and workplace, commit long term, and be more productive and

engaged. When hiring for a good cultural fit, it is important to be conscious

of bias. It is natural to incline towards like-minded people with similar

personality or beliefs and this may produce homogenous teams and culture

that are less likely to grow and be suitable for change and development.

Good culture is supported by a good diverse approach. Diversity is

needed in teams as each experience will strengthen and add value

to the team – each individual can help others with complementary

experiences, perspectives, skills and capabilities.

Guidelines for Strong Team Culture

Creating a ‘bigger

vision’ around great

team culture

Creating leaders,

more than managers

Meeting

regularly

Encouraging

informal teams

Integrating

socially

Promote a culture

of learning

Cross-training

employees

Providing

feedback

Tips

It takes time to built good culture

in an organization. Culture is not a

commodity that can be bought or

built easily.

Tips

Organizations should be aware

of bias when hiring cultural t. It

is easy to gravitate towards like-

minded individuals with a similar

personality or beliefs.

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

Evolving a positive team culture starts with identifying the current state

of the team, the desired outcome, and future state that is desired for

the team. Let us analyse some guidelines for a positive team culture.

Creating a ‘bigger vision’ around great team culture

To belong to a team, individuals will need a desire to belong and

contribute. So, it is important for any leader to clearly articulate

a vision and how the team will achieve it. The ‘bigger vision’ of the

team has to be continually reinforced. Team members should be

encouraged to focus on the collective effort rather than focusing solely

on themselves A compelling purpose is a key element in building a

strong team. Generally, this will involve a holistic view of the objectives

of the overall organization, and how the work of the team supports

this. Leaders should clearly articulate the vision and explain how the

team will achieve it. The team members should understand how their

contribution fits into the bigger picture, providing them with both a

sense of purpose and of belonging.

Meeting regularly

Regular meetings will build rapport, encourage productivity, and bring

the importance of improving the team to the forefront. The meetings

should be scheduled in advance and everyone should be made aware

with the agenda before the meeting begins. These meetings should

focus on discussing problems and finding the solutions; they should

also be an opportunity to build relationships. The value is in having the

meeting, regularly and as promised.

Creating leaders, more than managers

A good team culture emphasizes mentorship over management.

Cultivating leadership will play an important role in establishing the

culture of the team. Team members should be mentored on how to

give constructive feedback that encourages productivity. Leaders,

managers, and all team members should together facilitate and

participate in improvement efforts. The best way to teach leadership is

through example. Good leaders give people their time, support team

members clearly and patiently, and considers everyone important and

believe that everyone has something to offer.

Encouraging informal teams

Sometimes more work can be accomplished through informal teams

than formal ones. It is useful to encourage informal teams that emerge,

particularly as issues often fall across organizational reporting lines.

An efficient organization involves and encourages employees to

resolve problems and concerns themselves, without escalating every

decision to top management.

Cross-training employees

Training about others jobs helps the employees to understand how

different areas of the organization work. This will enable them to make

good decisions that benefit the organization as a whole, rather than

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Module 1 | Organization and Culture

solely their own department or group. Employees should be given

opportunities to learn from other people’s jobs. Some organizations

also use the practice of switching employees’, including managers,

roles on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. For example, if top executives

spend a few days working on the front lines with customers or directly

with your product, they will have a new appreciation for what the

employees go through on the job.

Integrating socially

It is important for everyone to spend some time to get to know people

personally. People will work and support each other better if they trust

and understand each other better. Developing personal relationships

and getting to know people behind their work persona helps to build

understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and skills.

Providing feedback

To help teams improve continually, proactive, constructive feedback

is one of the best ways. The feedback does not need to be formal or

complicated. Feedback is often more impactful when it is informal and

a natural part of an ongoing dialogue. No two people are the same

and The method for delivering feedback should not be the same for

every person. This is another reason why it is important to develop

relationships with team members; when people share trust they will

take suggestions to heart from each other.

Promoting a culture of learning

Promoting a culture of learning where every person is encouraged

to continue expanding their skill sets can be done by providing

access to ongoing training and personal development. The

expansion of online learning has made this much easier for people

to learn on their own time, at their own pace. Encouraging ongoing

learning and goal achievement will help to prevent team members

from becoming complacent or bored in their positions. It will also

allow them to learn new skills which will add value to the team and

workplace as a whole.

Developing a Team Culture

Scenario: Following a merger of two organizations, the two

respective IT departments are also merging. The IT Director

is concerned that the different departments are wary of each

other, and want to overcome a “them and us” atmosphere.

Identify few actions that help to develop a team culture.

Think About It

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Self-Study Guide | ITIL

4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support