IT Service Management Pitfalls to Avoid Before the Holidays

The holidays always seem far away until they're not. One day we're catching our breath from summer, and the next we're trying to finish projects, approve time-off calendars, and plan for customer surges. If our IT service management isn't in good shape before this rush begins, problems can snowball quickly.

This time of year brings overlapping deadlines, people out on vacation, and a growing pile of requests. That mix can overwhelm support teams if the basic systems aren't steady. When ticket resolutions lag or responsibilities aren't clear, it doesn't take much for things to fall behind. Below are the common mistakes we've seen teams make with IT service management heading into the holidays, and how to steer clear of them.

Waiting Too Long to Tidy Up Old Tickets

It's tempting to ignore older tickets when everyone's focused on current work. But if leftover tickets from earlier in the year still linger, they can become a distraction nobody wants to deal with during crunch time.

• Unresolved tickets often leave customers hanging and teams unsure about status
• Without a clearly assigned owner, it's easy for a task to sit untouched
• Reactivating old items during a busy stretch can slow everything down

Instead of rushing through them all at once, we try to make a habit of reviewing outstanding tickets weekly in the lead-up to November. Setting reminders makes this routine easier to stick with, and getting the team involved helps make sure nothing slips through the cracks. If something no longer matters, we close it. If a ticket needs action, we assign it to the right person. This approach gives our holiday support work a clean starting point instead of a messy backlog, building momentum and focus for the team as the year wraps up.

Skipping Clear Roles and Coverage Plans

Support during the holidays rarely works like a normal week. With shorter hours, approved time off, and customers expecting fast replies, missing coverage can turn small issues into urgent fire drills.

• It's risky to assume someone will "step in" when a teammate is out
• Without a clear schedule, work gets missed or doubled
• Backups should be ready and know where to find what they need

We block time to sit down with our calendar, call out who's covering which days, and build a rotation that covers every shift. Holding a short check-in to walk through the calendar together helps everyone feel prepared. Sometimes that means we need to shift people around or ask for help from other departments. We also make use of automatic routing and ticket assignment settings so incoming work never sits in limbo, supporting coverage even when changes happen last minute.

Using Tools That Don't Connect Well with One Another

This is where small cracks can show up fast. If emails are in one app, chats in another, and ticket updates are tracked in a spreadsheet somewhere, things start falling through pretty quickly, especially when everyone is stretched thin.

Streamlining our tools helps with:

• Tracking everything in one dashboard instead of hopping between platforms
• Making it easier for new or backup agents to support quickly
• Reducing rework caused by missed or lost messages

A solid IT service management setup should let us respond, track, and assign inside a single platform. That kind of system blocks errors before they happen and helps our team work together better, especially when people are working odd hours or picking up extra tasks. When systems don't work together, it also makes handoffs harder, causing delays when agents need information that's stored in a different place. By centralizing, we create a smoother, faster support process that makes things easier for both customers and the team.

Trying to Fix Everything Last-Minute

Waiting until mid-December to update response times or set up backup plans usually causes more interruptions than improvements. We've been there, thinking we can tweak things "real quick" the Monday before a holiday only to hit a bunch of unexpected bugs or confusion.

Instead, we plan earlier so we can make changes with a clear head and time to test them:

• Set up canned replies or edit workflows around holiday hours
• Review service-level agreements so expectations match the season
• Run through a dry run of end-of-year scenarios to find what's missing

Giving ourselves extra time also means teammates can ask questions and adapt to new processes at a steady pace. Every small change we handle now is one less thing we'll be scrambling to deal with later. More importantly, it gives us space to focus on helping users, not fixing the process while we work. Teams always benefit from a little extra breathing room to spot problems and test solutions before things get hectic. Taking the time early pays off when the real crunch arrives.

Not Letting Automation Help When Things Get Busy

Manual work piles up fast when we're understaffed or covering for teammates. This is when automation saves the day, not fancy features, just simple steps that take care of things we shouldn't need to touch.

Some automations we rely on:

• Routing new tickets to the right person based on topic or urgency
• Sending quick status replies when a case is received or on hold
• Assigning low-priority tasks with longer SLAs so top work gets done first

In addition to these, scheduling routine reports to run automatically can help managers spot trends and address problems before they become urgent. Smart workflows reduce the number of choices our agents have to make on the fly. That helps us avoid mistakes and gives teammates more space to deal with work that actually needs a human touch. Automation isn't about taking jobs away; instead, it opens up time for people to deliver better service and handle more complicated requests. Bringing in even a few small automations can help everyone work more calmly during peak weeks.

A Holiday Head Start With Connected Support

Teams that get ahead of the holiday rush stay calmer and catch issues before they turn into urgent fires. EasyDesk puts all your emails, live chats, and tickets on one platform, so updates, assignments, and history are always in view. Features like mobile-friendly ticketing and workflow automation keep helpdesk operations smooth, even when schedules shift or the workload spikes.

Integrate seamless solutions into your holiday planning to maintain efficient IT service management. With EasyDesk's ticketing system, tracking and resolving issues become smoother and faster, ensuring your team stays focused on what truly matters. As the season approaches, equip your team with the right tools and strategies to navigate the busiest time of the year confidently. Let's collaborate to optimize your support operations and enhance your team's performance.