Hello readers! It’s not just the end of the month, but also Halloween (Oidhche Shamhna, the night before Samhain), so for this special edition blog post we welcome…

Collaboration Services (Service Management), with a very spooky twist!

What does Collaboration Services do?

Our team is made up of two Team Leads (yes two…this role is a job share), four service managers, three student assistants that support our service managers and our very own Apps staff journalist.

Collectively we have over 47 years’ experience working for Information Services.

We are responsible for the delivery, support, and service management of a suite of collaboration tools, designed to enhance productivity and communication for both staff and students. Our aim is to make our services less frightful by delivering wicked high-quality packaged IT solutions that empower staff and students to connect, share, and collaborate effortlessly.

See below to became enchanted by the services we deliver and support.

Our tag line is “If you want to collaborate then we have the platform for you”.

How does this work connect with other Application sections?

We like to think that our team’s name ebodies our ethos and we enjoy collaborating and chilling with our colleagues and other teams within Applications to strengthen our service delivery.

We depend upon the spooktacular support from the Service Team within Service Management as part of our overall service delivery direct to staff and students. No tricks – just treats from the team when it comes to delivering top-notch assistance!

We work closely with Production Management to keep the show on the road, joining forces to resolve ghastly incidents and mystical problems related to our services.

We join together with our colleagues in Development Services to develop new applications and depend on their support to ensure our existing services are enhanced, upgraded and protected against evil influences.

We rely on Project Services and The PMO to keep us on track and help ensure that projects don’t become cursed and we achieve our goals.

What is Collaboration Services working on that they are excited about?

Our team is always stirring up ways to improve our current processes and banish the cobwebs out of our service offerings. One of our biggest services is Email, and this spooky season we are excited about the ongoing Email Security enhancement project.

We are always looking for ways to improve how we engage and build relationships with the communities using our services. We have created three new communities recently including the Events Management Community, Industry Relationship Management User Group and Email Service Working Group, each of which have helped us improve our services. We have also added two new services to our collaboration cauldron, Miro and Eventbrite, which we are promoting across the University to boo-st their uptake.

Our teams are a bit like wizards responsible for the ultimate balancing act…by day, we keep systems stable and troubles banished; by night, we brew up fresh ideas and spellbinding solutions for future needs.

Are there any favourite topics to discuss?

Our team meetings are the place to discuss niggles and things that go bump in the night and where the collab family will offer advice or brainstorm ideas.

We’re not just about work though – when we’re not busy looking after our services and supporting staff and students, we love chatting about our pets, our families, the weather (particularly when it’s bone-chilling), and finding out what enchanting activities each other gets up to in our spare time away from the office.

Our honorary team members that can regularly be seen making an appearance in our online team catchups…

Have there been any memorable strange or funny moments on a virtual meeting?

During an initial project meeting where stakeholders were on to introduce themselves, a colleague overlayed his video feed with a ‘Mr Potato Head’ as his face and it was tuned to his movement and speech. It was certainly strange but at the same time quite a hilarious and excellent icebreaker!

We’ve found that the blur background feature of Microsoft Teams can fail you from time to time, revealing unspeakable, or some might say haunting events going on behind the scenes!

If Collaboration Services were a TV Show/song/film, what would they be?

The Addams Family! We’re a team with lots of different distinct personalities, sometimes like to wind each other up and have a joke, but we’re really one big happy family, close knit and always looking out for one another.

Are there any special but hidden talents within the Team?

With some of the team having been in bands, playing guitar, beyboards, drums, singers, we really are a multi-talented musical team…we have all we need to “get the band back together.”

Chatting about music preferences is anohter favourite amongst the Team, although our music tastes are quite dispersed, from old timey blues, classical, indies 80s to jazz or 90’s dance/techno.

How can our readers get in touch?

We’re a bewitching friendly bunch who love connecting with our colleagues and are always up for a chat – whether it’s about the specifics of the services that we look after or our fur babies! So don’t be afraid, please get in touch. Drop any of our team a message, or pop by K East on a Wednesday (our anchor day).

October Monthly Staff Series: Service Management / Information Services Applications Directorate Blog by is licensed under a