Keeping Pace

Support teams often feel sidelined, always a step behind product and engineering teams who are pushing out new features and updates. This not only leaves support scrambling to catch up but also directly hurts customer experience. Every unexpected update becomes a crisis instead of a planned rollout, forcing the support team into damage control mode without the necessary prep time.

That said, product and engineering teams don't have it any easier. Committing to a fixed roadmap can be tough in a business world where priorities can switch overnight due to market shifts, new tech, or strategic changes.

Despite these challenges, there are effective ways to improve the situation and keep your support team in the loop.

Process Improvements

Set Up Regular Sync Meetings

Schedule regular meetings between the heads of support, product, and engineering. Make these meetings count. Discuss upcoming features, changes, and timelines in detail. This keeps everyone informed and ready.

Appoint a Cross-Functional Liaison

Designate someone from support to specifically bridge gaps with product and engineering. This person should join in early product discussions, bringing insights from customer feedback and highlighting potential support hurdles.

Prioritize Documentation

Urge product and engineering to keep their documentation rich and updated. This should include FAQs and troubleshooting guides that the support team can use to train before new features are launched.

Tooling

Use Shared Planning Tools

Tools like JIRA, Trello, or Asana can keep everyone aligned. These shouldn't just track progress but should also let the support team see into the product and engineering workflows. This way, they’re never out of the loop.

Get Involved in Testing

Have support team members join in the final testing phases. They’ll learn the ins and outs of new features firsthand and spot potential user issues early on. This makes them better prepared and reduces future headaches.

Implement Cedar

At Cedar, we help keep your support materials up-to-date effortlessly. Our tool automatically updates screenshots as your app changes, saving your support team from constant manual updates and letting them focus on helping customers.

Strategic Alignment

Emphasize Shared Goals

Both teams aim to give customers the best experience possible. Remind everyone of this shared mission to encourage a more collaborative spirit.

Ensure Transparency and Inclusion

More transparency and including support leaders in key meetings can prevent many surprises and frustrations. When support is part of the conversation, they’re better prepared and more effective.

Create a Feedback Loop

Set up a system where product development is informed by real user feedback collected by support. This makes the product better and makes support feel heard and valued.

Conclusion

Creating a cooperative environment between support, product, and engineering requires real changes in how we do things, the tools we use, and how we view our goals. By adopting these tactics, support teams can be proactive, not just reactive, improving their contribution to the company and boosting customer satisfaction.