Most MSP work doesn’t fail outright.
It stalls.
A ticket is technically resolved, but needs a quick follow-up.
A fix works, but documentation is incomplete.
A task is “mostly done,” waiting on clarification, approval, or confirmation.
This is the work that lives in between statuses - and it adds up fast.
Follow-ups are rarely treated as real work. They don’t feel substantial enough to log. They’re framed as housekeeping, admin, or “just checking in.” But each follow-up requires context: remembering the issue, reopening mental state, retracing steps, and re-engaging with the problem.
Rework follows closely behind.
Missing notes, incomplete handoffs, undocumented exceptions, and rushed fixes force technicians to redo work that should have been finished the first time. Not because they’re careless - but because they’re operating in an environment that rewards speed over completeness.
From the outside, tickets still move.
From the inside, momentum erodes.
A ticket marked “closed” might represent hours of side conversations, Slack messages, escalations, and status updates that never appear in reports. A fast first response may simply acknowledge a ticket without advancing resolution. SLAs remain green while actual effort quietly balloons.
Because follow-ups and rework aren’t consistently tracked, they never factor into staffing models, utilization reviews, or capacity planning. Leadership sees throughput. Teams feel friction.
This is how MSPs end up with a constant sense of being behind - even when the numbers say otherwise.
Follow-ups and rework aren’t efficiency failures.
They’re visibility failures.
If your MSP always feels behind, but your metrics say you’re fine, this is why.
The Work Breaking Your MSP reveals the hidden layers of follow-ups and rework draining capacity, and shows how to account for them without tracking every micro-task. Download now!