The Team Dynamix Implementation

Superior Service: The Team Dynamix Implementation

Over the years, Gonzaga University’s Information Technology Services Department has used different (ITSM) Information Technology Service Management, and (PPM) Project and Portfolio Management tools, the most recent of these being EasyVista.

However, in 2019, ITS began the search for a program to replace EasyVista, starting with vendor selection.

“The goal was to find a new program that would combine the functions of service management and project/portfolio management, but also allow for users to create reports using that data,” says Dan Marx, Associate Director of ITS’s Project Management Office, who led the project for its first two years.

Selection of TeamDynamix

Marx says his team eventually settled on a SaaS (Software as a Service) application called TeamDynamix (also known as TDX) as its new management tool, based on its functionality and cost-effectiveness.

Initial implementation of the program within ITS began January 2020, and the program went live by June 2020. In addition to increased functionality, TeamDynamix includes several new tools for users those being: a chat component, self-service using the Support Portal, and access to Knowledge Base articles.

Marx says the future vision for the project is to expand the scope of TeamDynamix use across campus, not just within ITS, but discovering how other departments and schools could be benefiting from using the system in unique ways.

Implementation impacts

As part of that plan to bring TeamDynamix to other departments on campus, the program was first introduced to Instructional Design and Delivery, also known as IDD.

Started in 2014 as part of the Virtual Campus to support the design and development of online graduate courses, IDD moved directly under the provost’s office in 2018, with the goal of supporting the entire Gonzaga community.

Upon hearing about TeamDynamix, IDD director Justin Marquis says he soon reached out to ITS to ask about integrating the program into his department’s workflows.

“We’d recently restructured our offices and combined management of design and production under one position. But we were struggling with project management and needed a better system.”

Marquis says IDD originally wanted to design a new project intake process that would use TeamDynamix to help vet projects and get them started more effectively.

“That turned out to be a bit beyond the scope of TDX, but what we were able to do instead was shift it into a project management process,” he says.

Marquis says learning to use TeamDynamix isn’t difficult, but it is detailed and takes regular use to recall how it functions. “We were the first department outside of ITS to use TDX in this way, so it took some back and forth to get what we needed.”

While IDD is still working to complete integration of the program, Marquis says it should be done by the start of Fall Semester 2023.

He says the biggest benefit of TeamDynamix is that it allows users to see all projects and tickets in one space, and better manage workloads between teams.

“Not only is it more effective for managing workloads, but it also provides us with data that we can use in reporting,” he says. “We can show exactly how many hours were spent on each process or task, which in turn helps us to better advocate for future resources.”

Another university department working to implement TeamDynamix is the Finance Office, which is responsible for coordinating and executing the receipt, disbursement, custody and safeguarding of university financial assets and resources.

Finance Systems Administrator Joan Perkins says she’d already set up certain forms and processes in a kind of mock ticketing system before hearing about TeamDynamix. As a result, she feels the program was relatively easy to learn and begin using.

“I started using it soon after it was implemented for ITS, and there were a few things to tweak, but they (ITS) spent time working through those with me,” she says. “I brought in new questions and viewpoints that they hadn’t explored yet, so I think the process was informative for them too.”

Perkins says in 2021, the Finance office started a slow transition to TeamDynamix to give staff time to adjust and provide input on the process.

Through the feedback process, Perkins decided to start with a system of general assistance tickets, to give each department within the Controller’s office at least one basic request form.
“The idea was that everyone will have at least one ticket template to use, and we’d work to build on that,” she says.

Perkins says part of what makes TeamDynamix so impactful is that it’s a program that’s been created to cater to specific needs within the department.

“Once it’s set up correctly and it’s working, you have this process that’s precisely built to make sense for what you’re using it for,” she says.

She says one of the easiest ways TeamDynamix has saved the department time, and increased efficiency is in the use of automatic template responses.

“They make it much easier to respond to customers and remind them of processes,” she says. “You’re able to edit templates or send specific versions to different individuals. You can do similar things in Outlook, but TDX allows for implementing bits of code that automates things and that saves time overall.”

Interaction with new features

While IDD hasn’t interacted much with TeamDynamix’s Chat or Support Portal tools, Marquis says the team does have plans to use the Knowledge Base.

“I think it’s something we need to leverage more, particularly with the LMS (learning management system), doing things like linking commonly asked questions to articles,” he says.

Similarly, Perkins says the Finance office hasn’t explored TDX’s chat and self-service features much but does hope to make greater use of the Knowledge Base.

“We have one Knowledge Base article up that seems to be working well, as I’ve gotten fewer questions about that particular issue,” she says.

Future use

Marquis says in the future he would still like to incorporate a project intake process into TeamDynamix.

“We’re trying to expand a lot of the projects we do and often have requests for LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) integrations in the LMS, or new tool requests, but there’s no clear process for faculty to ask us about them. It’d be nice if there was a formal process for faculty to make the request, have us vet each one, and then deliver on them.”

He’d also like to create more varied templates for projects, moving from a basic model to more specified versions.

Looking ahead, Perkins says she has similar goals for the Finance office to expand its use of TeamDynamix.

“My next two challenges are: building more specific and solid service templates to enable us to receive tickets with more information included and putting more information into the Knowledge Base that’s specific to our office,” she says.

ITS’s current Teamdynamix Implementation project manager, Matt Eastman says the project is nearing its conclusion, and the final stages will include analysis of the implementation process.