Doing More with Less: How Organisations Can Improve Service Delivery in a Tough Economy

Many organisations are feeling the pinch right now. Budgets are tighter, teams are leaner, and the pressure to keep things running smoothly hasn’t eased up. In fact, internal support teams such as IT, HR, finance and facilities are often being asked to handle more work than ever before, but with fewer people and less money.

So what does improvement look like in a climate like this? Let’s explore a hypothetical example that shows how using existing tools, automation and a bit of AI can make a meaningful difference without breaking the bank.

A Common Scenario: Fewer People, More Work

Picture a mid-sized organisation with around 5,000 employees. Each month, its support teams deal with roughly 12,000 requests. These range from basic IT fixes like account access or software installation to HR queries and admin tasks.

Now, imagine the business has had to reduce its operating budget. Hiring is on hold and there is no room to grow the team. But the work hasn’t slowed down and more people are relying on internal services to stay productive.

As a result, things start to back up. Tickets take longer to resolve, sometimes up to five working days. Employees get frustrated. Support staff feel stretched. Only around 59% of users report being satisfied with the help they are receiving.

A Smarter Way to Work

Instead of looking for new tools or systems, the organisation focuses on improving how it uses what it already has. Atlassian’s Jira Service Management is already in place, so the team starts there and adds some practical improvements.

Step 1: Introducing a Virtual Agent

A chatbot is brought in to manage common requests. It handles things like password resets, basic HR questions and software access without needing input from a real person. Within a few months, about a third of incoming tickets are resolved this way. That gives support analysts back time to focus on issues that actually require their expertise.

Step 2: Automating the Simple Stuff

With a few well-placed automation rules, the team sets up workflows to triage and assign tickets, trigger updates, and track service level agreements. They also redesign request forms so staff provide the right information the first time. That helps cut down on delays and speeds up resolution.

Step 3: Gaining Better Insight

Using real-time dashboards, managers can now see what kinds of tickets are coming in, how long they are taking to resolve, and where things are getting stuck. Monthly reports, which used to be pulled together manually, are now automated. That alone saves the team around 12 hours each month.

The Results Speak for Themselves

After six months of these changes, the organisation starts seeing real improvement.

• The average resolution time drops by around 40%
• 85% of tickets are resolved within a single working day
• Employee satisfaction improves significantly, rising from 59% to 83%
• Analysts have more capacity, with about 27% more time available for complex or strategic work
• Reporting is faster and easier, giving leadership quicker access to what is happening across the support teams

All of this happens without adding new staff or increasing operational costs. The key difference lies in how existing tools are being used.

What You Can Take from This

This kind of change is not limited to a particular sector or organisation size. Any organisation with a busy internal service team can benefit from small, targeted improvements.

The lessons here are simple but effective:

• Start by automating tasks that do not require human input
• Make it easier for people to ask for help by improving request forms
• Use live dashboards to monitor performance and support planning
• Test changes with one team or department before rolling them out more widely

Final Thought

Doing more with less is the reality for many teams right now. That does not mean service quality has to suffer. With thoughtful use of automation, AI, and the systems you already have in place, it is possible to ease pressure on your teams, improve service outcomes, and maintain momentum even when budgets are tight.

If you are inspired and keen to find out more about how your business can benefit by doing more with what you have, get in touch – at Elegance Group, we’re great at solving curly business problems.