What about the unexpected

This morning our electricity went off unexpectedly. Whilst it was off I was quite enjoying finding things that I was keen to do, that didn’t require power. After a couple of hours my “little voice” started interrupting me with thoughts like “How long will it be off?”, “Your cell phone battery is going to go flat.”, “I hope this isn’t one of those big problems that takes days to fix.”
Each time such a thought interrupted I reminded myself there was no point in worrying as it could come back on at anytime. 

And then it did. No warning, just the sounds of printers coming to life again.

Power interruptions are much like our lives. We don’t know when something big and disruptive is going to happen to rock our lives (personal or business). However when it does, as tough as it may be, we do cope: we rearrange our plans; we take on whatever has happened and we work with it. So what’s the point in worrying that something may happen?

And just as we don’t know when “not great” things may come out of the blue we also don’t know when wonderful, exciting, “great” things will appear without warning :-)

 

Let it be easy!

The story of the missing TV

A friend came for supper after we’d moved house. Whilst showing her around I mentioned that I wanted to sell my old TV and get a new small, flat screen one to fit into the bedroom. Shortly afterwards she received an e-flyer advertising a limited special on TVs from a well known store. She forwarded it to me pointing out the one that looked perfect for my needs. The price was excellent, less than half the normal price.

I noted that it was a limited offer and that one could go in store or order online. There are no stores close to me so I went online to see if I could still place an order.  I was thrilled when the order was accepted and I received confirmation of my payment. There had been an option for free delivery if you were prepared to wait a bit, I think it said 5 to 10 days. I opted for that.

Eight days later I emailed asking when delivery could be expected. No reply. The next day I called the online orders help desk but couldn’t get through. In trying to find help I landed up at the Customer Resolution Desk and was assured I’d be hearing from someone by the following morning. 

The following day, a Friday, there was a call around midday from the manager of the closest branch explaining that “the system had been down for two days” but he now had my query and a lady would be calling me to arrange delivery. That evening I received an automated response to my original query giving me a reference number and stating that they are "passionate about customer service". Then nothing.

Late on the Monday I landed up at the Customer Resolution Desk again. After many attempts from them to connect me with someone who would attend to my query I received a call the following evening from the admin lady at the branch who said “We can’t fulfill the order because the stock was finished the day the “clearance” started. We have checked with all the other branches and no one has stock left. We can’t give you a different TV because they cost more than you have paid.”

I explained, “That’s not acceptable. You took the order and my money and I now want a tv set. Please relay this to the branch manager and ask him to call me to tell me what he has sorted out.”

Two days later I was again talking to the Cust Res Dept. but this time I was asking for the name and number or email address of the MD/CEO. The information was given quite willingly all be it that it was for the wrong CEO. What a disconnect when staff don’t know who the “big boss” is.

After going round in circles with the switchboard I eventually emailed my issue to the CEO. I received a very prompt reply from him politely explaining that he was the wrong individual and redirecting my email to the correct CEO. Within one hour of that I had, had a call from the Regional Manager to say that a different TV would be supplied and checking I was okay with that and the admin lady had confirmed the delivery for the next day!

I was very happy with the outcome. The TV is working great. And I received calls from both the admin lady and the Regional Manager to check that it was received in good order.

I am not surprised that the problem got resolved once I escalated it to the top. I am sorry that I had to waste the time of two CEOs to achieve it. 

At the same time the second one is ultimately responsible for that being necessary. My experience exposed some serious flaws in the business, some in the IT systems and some in the people. One sees combinations of these same problems in many companies. 

• Why does the online ordering system allow the processing of orders it can’t fulfill?
• How can a paid up order lie in the system unfulfilled and unnoticed?
• Why does the help desk line not get answered?
• Is the Customer Resolution Desk able to achieve its purpose, add value?  
• Why is the branch manager handing off tricky cases to an admin person?
• Why does the branch manager not appreciate the value of customer service versus the cost price of one item?
• How empowered are the branches?
• Why do the staff not know who the CEO is? Would it make a difference if they did?
• How many other customers are having bad experiences which aren’t reaching the desk of the CEO but are reaching the ear of their friends or the pages of social media?

I don’t expect junior staff to have the authority to resolve all problems. What all staff do need is training to recognise legitimate issues and for them to be able to access appropriate support quickly. Middle managers need to be able to see big picture as well as deal with detail. They need to balance cost and risk, and be able to deal with potential conflict appropriately.

I spoke to many different staff members during the whole episode. Many were average, some had poor interpersonal skills and others stood out. When I wrote to the CEO I had included a compliment for one of the staff in the Cust Res Dept. It was clear that he had the intent to help, he communicated clearly and the first time I called he paid enough attention to hear my surname and find my order himself before I could give him the order number. There is potential which if given the right environment can flourish and make a difference. I hope he will go far in his work life.

Wherever you sit in your organisation are you able to deliver the very best service to your customers? Are your people able to deliver the very best? Are the systems and processes really working? Do they produce value? Is what has been designed on paper actually happening, or working, on the ground?

Where is the missing TV in your department?

Who’s Being Strangled?

A few years ago a friend recommended her hairdresser in Illovo. So the next time I needed a haircut off I went. Grant did a great job and I’ve continued to see him regularly since. I love how my hair just feels different after a good cut and how it comes alive. However after the last two visits I didn’t really get that feeling.

I was wondering if I needed to change hairdressers but I thought let’s just see how it goes this time. Off I went feeling very bored with my hair. I sat down and Grant asked me what I wanted done this time. I replied “I don’t know. What would you like to do?” He straight away picked up that I was ready for a change and asked a couple of questions to ascertain the parameters of that change! And off he went.

The result was great. Both of us were happy.

The next day as I was brushing my hair I was musing over what had made the difference. Even though on previous visits I hadn’t been too directive as to what he should do, I think Grant had been feeling restricted, or he’d got into a rut. My open invitation to him to do what he pleased (within reason) released his creativity and his talent all over again.

It was a reminder to me of how easy it is to stifle a person. And how wonderful when the person is free to show how good they are.

One of the recruitment companies has been running a radio advert that says something like “you don’t want slackers, recruit the right people”. When I hear it I want to add on “and then give them the freedom to show you how good they are.”

What aspects of your work environment – structures, systems, processes, people (managers) – maybe stifling instead of enabling? How much more ability do people have that isn’t being revealed at work? Just think what releasing it could mean to the growth of the company. It could be like having a 50% greater workforce with no increase in cost.

Making Winning Easier

Chatting with a friend whose children had played water polo in high school, the conversation moved to coaches. We have both watched matches where the coach has shouted abuse at the players all match long. This seems to be very common in at least boy’s water polo. Surprisingly the teams often still do pretty well. And the boys are prepared to suck it up and accept it for the honour of playing for the team.

Both of my friend’s children are really strong players so they played first team pretty much throughout high school. The teams they played for were in the top rankings of SA schools’ teams. The difference is in how they get there and how they experience the sport. And in those years the girls’ team took home more big trophies than the boys’ team did.

My friend’s son is also an observer and a thinker. In previous years he’d watched his older sister and her team mates have a ball in and out of the pool – work hard and play hard. He saw how they knew each other, respected each other and played as a team. Their coach created an environment in which they could learn, grow, have fun and win.

He contrasted this with how his team were treated - shouted and sworn at, insulted and degraded, and he decided it was no longer worth it. He demoted himself to the second team and played his last school season for the sheer fun of it.

His sister on the other hand played for both school and province through to the end of matric. And then went on to play at university and to contribute as a coach at a local high school.

In our working world leader-managers create the environment and culture – from the top downwards. Many companies don’t really appreciate their staff. They consider them a rather costly and difficult resource. Communication isn’t great and systems and processes not all that enabling. But the work mostly does get done. So one might ask why things should be any different.

If the leader-managers create an environment of trust and respect, with great communication, a sense of belonging and systems that enable, then the work gets done better and easier. People respond to the environment with energy, show initiative, reduce wastage, care for customers and take responsibility for doing their job the very best that they can.

And more of the great players stay to be part of the team.

And the team has what it needs to win the bigger trophies.

No power, yay!

When our lives are upset by big changes we need time to vent, to rail against the unfairness of it. And then we need to move forward.

Loadshedding is one of those big changes that have turned our lives a bit upside down.

We’ve done plenty of moaning about Eskom and the Government that got us into this situation. Yes they stuffed up big time. And yes they haven’t really owned up to that. Things will eventually change because new power stations are coming on line as well as alternate contributors to the grid. All the complaining has possibly contributed to getting Eskom and the Government to take the situation seriously and make some changes. Now it is time to move forward.

Continuing to complain isn’t going to change the situation. Unless you are taking yourself off the grid completely you will be living with load shedding for another couple of years. So let’s stop wasting our energy on the venting phase and get onto moving forward.

There are three main steps for moving forward from any big change:

·         See the humour in it

·         Find the benefits

·         Make adjustments to align to the new reality

With respect to load shedding we have been seeing the humour for awhile. South Africans are generally very quick with that. I’m sure you’ve seen the one, "What did South Africa use before candles? Electricity."

And some companies are finding a way to make it work for them. "Blackouts? We'll introduce you to switched on candidates," apparently appears on a billboard for a recruitment agency.

Last weekend we had two nights in a row with no power from 6pm to 10.30pm. A friend messaged me on Whats App saying she quite enjoyed it as it “forced” her to relax. I asked on my personal FB page what advantages others perceive in being load shed, and someone commented on how beautiful the silence is without electrical background hum.

So with a view to moving ourselves forward what benefits can you find in being load shed? Get imaginative! Who can come up with the longest list?