Priorities Are Sometimes Like Frogs
Have you looked up lately and wondered how the heck it got to be September? Seriously?
So why am I in the contemplative mood? Because I just realized it has been more than 60 days since I last posted to the blog. It does no seem that long, but there it is in black and white – more than 60 days.
So it reminded me of how hard it is to stay on task. I know that blogging is good for my business. I know that it is a natural extension of the writing and training that I do. I know that it is therapeutic for my soul – but somehow I have not placed it high enough on my list to actually get it done.
Question – how many things are on your list that just the same? What do you wish you had done last month (or over the summer) that you did not do? Now the tough question – what are you doing to make it a priority for this month or this week?
Here is my suggestion and what I have learned about myself. I just need to “eat the frog” first every day. Brian Tracey has a cool little book called “Eat That Frog” (see the video here: http://www.eatthatfrogmovie.com/). He makes the point that if you do the tough things first, or the most important things first – if you eat the frog first every day – then the rest of the stuff will seem easy. So that is the plan – I hereby declare that I will write the blog at least three times a week. That should be just about enough frog for one week.
I am speaking about Social Media tomorrow at the Austin Contact Center Alliance national conference – so I realize that if I am going to speak about it, I need to spend some time doing it more often – so posting more Tweets and LinkedIn updates are also on the list.
So, what is your frog – and what is your plan to eat it first?
Looking Through the Lens of Your Employees
Filed under: Engagement, Leadership, Management, People, Relational Leadership
I recently had the privilege recently to take a tour of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility in the world. The discoveries made there have changed how the world treats children with cancer and catastrophic diseases. It is a place where cutting-edge research happens every day. And what is even more amazing is that all patients are accepted without regard to the family’s ability to pay. The tour was amazing and reminded me of how blessed I am as a parent.
It was also my honor to have more than the standard tour – a former patient conducted my tour. As we walked though the halls of the hospital she shared a perspective that was different. When she described what it was like to pull-up to the front door with her mom and to get out of the car and check herself in for the daily treatment, the perspective and the details were very real. I will never look at St. Jude or the kids of St. Jude the same. She gave me a whole new perspective on life.
This past week my son started his first “real” job and stepped into the path of his father to work for a call center. I am very proud. Since the first call telling me he landed the interview, it has been interesting to hear his perspective of the process. We talked about the interview and the follow-up (he told me how he slipped in the part about his dad being a “call center guru” and going to the call center when he was six-years old. I loved hearing the story!). Earlier this week he began his six weeks of classroom training. It has been interesting to hear him talk about the training process through the eyes of a millennial. We have talked about the training agenda – the positives and the negatives. We have also talked about the pace of the training and the delivery. After the call yesterday it occurred to me that listening to his stories was similar to taking the tour of St. Jude. I was hearing things that I KNOW his company would love to hear – that any company should want to hear – the view through the lens of the employee. Just like the hospital came to life through the lens of the patient, it was amazing to hear the little ideas of change and improvement that by the new employee.
So, let me ask this question – what are you learning from your employees? What questions are you asking to new trainees? Not the typical “satisfaction survey” but real question about how things can be made better. Deep focus group questions about how they learn and what might improve the experience? Questions that provide insight into how the trainer relates to the participants – Boomers, Gen-Xs and Millennials.
There are several ways to gather this information. Online or written surveys are good if the questions are written to ask the tough questions. Focus groups or one-on-one discussions soon after training are also great tools. Touchpoint Associates consultants all have more than 15 years of hands-on call center experience. We have also worked with some of the top companies in the company to help the write effective employee and customer surveys. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Just like the story of the patient made me see the hospital different, the stories of your employees can provide deep insight into what needs to change in your company.
Checkout New Article for Cutter IT Journal
I recently had the opportunity to be a guest editor for the Cutter IT Journal. The article focuses on leadership within the IT organization but has some great learning for anyone in a leadership position.
The editors also picked one of my quotes from the article as the Quote of the Day: “Culture plays an important role in how managers lead and how employees follow (or lead within their specific area). The culture of an organization is more than just the values, vision, goals, and strategies. It is more than a PowerPoint or a framed poster in the lobby. Culture can be defined as the “story” of the organization — the words employees use to describe where and how they work to friends and family. How does an organization define and align the culture? If it is misaligned, how can it be improved to have a more positive impact on employees’ work and the service provided to the customer?
As we explore these questions, we need to understand the attributes of the various leadership levels: CIO/executive, director, midlevel, frontline. While executives need to cast a vision and perhaps view success across a longer timeline, the midlevel and frontline managers must be able to turn that vision into real-time tactics that drive projects at the activity and task level. In many cases, these managers were chosen to lead because they were good at getting things done — not because they understand the nuances of leading people or setting strategies.”
You can download article at the Cutter website here.
Bob Furniss
As founder and President of Touchpoint Associates, Inc., Bob Furniss has more than 25 years of experience in the customer service field - assisting organizations to increase productivity and profits by bringing out the best in their people. He has shared his experience in the areas of leadership and service with some of the top companies in America - companies like FedEx, Corporate Express, DePaul University, Delta Airlines, Hanley Wood and more.
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