The Valerie Bertonelli Incident

Last week, you may have heard about a social media incident that involved Valerie Bertinelli. In case you don’t know, Valerie is an actress, television personality and perhaps most famous for being the ex-wife of Van Halen guitarist, Eddy Van Halen. She currently hosts the cooking shows Valerie’s Home Cooking and Kids Baking Championship on Food Network.

Long story short, someone had posted a negative comment online telling her she needed to lose weight. In response, she posted a video sharing that comments such as these are very hurtful and unhelpful. She tearfully admitted that she has struggled with her weight her whole life, and she asked this commentor to demonstrate more compassion to others.

Two parts of this incident struck a chord with me.

Direct Conversation

• I am currently reading the awesome book “Dare to Lead”, by Brene Brown. The book covers a broad range of topics, with a section focused on building relationships at work. Brene shares the advice to “talk to others, not talk about others.” When you have a struggle or disagreement with someone at work or in your personal life, the best thing you can do is have a direct conversation with this person instead of talking about them with others. Per Brene, “Either be brave, or go home!”. These direct conversations help to build trust and create a more positive environment. 

Compassion

• I am lucky enough to work with a personal trainer a few times a week. Usually he is very friendly, talkative, and upbeat. However, one morning recently he was very quiet and did not seem like himself. I began to think that his behavior had to do with me. Maybe he was bored or didn’t want to train me anymore. 
• The next time we met, he was back to his gregarious nature. I commented that he seemed to be back to himself since he was quiet in our last session. He said I was right. The trainer suffers from anxiety and that morning he had an episode, making it difficult for him to work that day. He went on to confide in me with more details. I felt disappointed in myself for assuming his behavior was about me instead of stepping back and showing him some kindness when he needed it. 

I am constantly reminded that we never know what someone else has gone through or is going through. If we can more often demonstrate compassion and if we can more frequently talk to people, not about people, I truly believe we’ll be happier, and the world will be a better place.

© 2021, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post Why We Must Talk To People Not About People appeared first on The Operations Blog.

• Firstly, as a result of the pandemic quarantines, many more employees and customers are working from home. As a result, they have to rely more heavily on self-help technology, and less on day to day human interactions. 
• Secondly, the pandemic has driven up customer service demand in many businesses. Offering excellent, customer self-service provides another channel for customers to solve problems. 
• Lastly, many companies have had to reduce costs as a result of Covid-19’s impact to their business. Self-service can help deflect phone calls, and reduce the cost of service.

My Self-Service Quest…

Considering this increase in self service importance, I was recently on a quest to gather the most up to date, best in class approaches. I came up with 10 key tenets.

By following these 10 key tenets and with the right self-service strategy and execution, organizations can simultaneously improve customer experience and reduce operational costs.

10 Key Tenets For Customer Self-Service Success

1. Accessibility: The customer self-service options are easy to find. They are available across channels. For example, may use mobile, web and social. Self-service is built into the product at the precise places where customers need it most.
2. Ease of use: Self service is easy to navigate and use to solve problems or answer questions. In addition, the business posts Frequently Asked Questions, a.k.a FAQs.
3. Consistency: The customer experience is consistent across self service channels. Branding in self-service is consistent with branding across the end to end customer lifecycle.
4. Searchability: The self-service search function is google-like. It scans content across channels and serves up highly relevant search results. Customers can easily filter results.
   • Businesses can supercharge search by allowing verbal searches and using voice recognition in addition to typing words.
5. Content Relevance: The content within the self-service channels is in a formal knowledge base. It is kept up to date, is accurate and relevant. The content is pulled from a “single source of truth”.
6. Content Variation: The content within self service is not simply written documentation. It also includes video, audio and screenshots. Customers may exchange information in online forums.
7. Personalization: Customer experiences work flows leverage personalization using customer history, data and behavior. Tools such as machine learning or AI may boost personalization options.
8. Automation: The self-service experience leverages automated work flows to help customers find the information they need swiftly with the fewest key strokes. Self service proactively suggests content based on customer actions. Also, chatbots or automated assistants may enhance the experience. (To learn more, check out my earlier blog post, “3 Ways AI Will Enhance Your Customer Experience.”)
9. Adoption: Customers use and find value in the self service channels. As a result, adoption is increasing over time.
10. Measuring Success: The business measures customer facing and business facing metrics to measure customer self-service success.
    • Need ideas? Click the download button, to get a copy of our our free, one page PDF with self-service measurement recommendations.

In conclusion, by following these key tenets with the right self-service strategy and execution, organizations can simultaneously improve customer experience and reduce operational costs.

Did I miss anything? Please add your customer self-service ideas in the comments.

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post 10 Key Tenets For Customer Self-Service Success appeared first on The Operations Blog.

What is the difference? In her May 2020 article, “Deep or wide: Should you become a specialist or generalist in your career?”, Sharlyn Lauby did a great job describing each option.  Per Lauby,

• “Generalists are competent in several different areas or activities within a profession. Consider an accountant who’s knowledgeable in accounts payable, receivables, and payroll. Or a family practice doctor who provides general health care versus an oncologist who specializes in cancer treatment.”
• “Specialists are focused on one subject or area within a profession. Examples are job recruiters versus human resources professionals, or a chef specializing in cold dishes — versus an executive chef knowledgeable in all areas of kitchen operations.”

The Generalist Approach

As a volunteer, this is what I experienced at the first animal rescue organization. 

It loosely defined roles for both paid staff members and volunteers. On Monday you might be cleaning animal crates. On Tuesday you might be approving adoption applications. Another day you might be answering the telephone. 

When volunteers arrived at the physical animal shelter they viewed a list of work options. Then it was up to them to choose a task or to figure out what needs to be done.

This approach can work well if you are a self starter and can work with little direction. Sometimes, it gives volunteers an opportunity to learn a little about a lot of different tasks. There are some people who might find this approach very frustrating. The lack of structure could feel very disorganized. It is hard to know if the volunteer work you do actually makes an impact.

The Specialist Approach

The second organization, clearly defined volunteer roles. It trained volunteers to own specific tasks and then scheduled those tasks. Volunteer leads were assigned to oversee each type of work, and ultimately hold volunteers accountable.

Checks and balances were in place. It had documented rules and guidelines. As a volunteer, it was easy to track progress, or lack of. This organization also celebrated successes and recognized volunteers for his or her contributions.

If you like structure and organization, and want to be able to measure the impact of volunteering, this approach may work for you. For those who are not a fan of rules and guidelines, you might feel frustrated.

Which approach did I like better?

From the standpoint of the animal rescue organization, I believe the second approach was more effective. This was because everyone had a position, and was expected to play their position.

As a volunteer, I think a combination of both approaches would be most effective. 

When I volunteered at the first animal rescue, I learned a lot. This was because I got to practice many different tasks. I also had a clear view to the end to end process. This environment made me feel creative and free.

I felt very productive at the second organization. This was because I could easily track my contributions and was often recognized for my work. There was no guessing or wasted time. When assigned a task, there was a clear way to complete it. I knew when I was done.

Generalist Versus Specialist In Corporate Settings

In the corporate world there are a lot of opinions about specialists versus generalists, and which approach is more appropriate or successful.

In the Harvard Business Review article, “Generalists Get Better Job Offers Than Specialists”, surprise, HBR’s study showed that when looking for a new job, generalists do better, because “they are more unusual, have diverse skills, are redeployable, and are more likely to be tapped as leaders”. However, there was also research to suggest that once hired within an organization, specialists may be more successful.

In late 2019, Forbes published “Move Over, Specialists: The Rise Of The Generalist Is Here”. The author, Nicolle Smart Series shared,

“The thing I love most about generalists — and ultimately why I love hiring them — is that they’ve learned, repeatedly, how to adapt. They’ve got problem-solving minds, and they’re comfortable feeling uncomfortable (because what feels more uncomfortable than learning something new?). And they know, because they’ve done it, how to translate skills for different industries or roles. Who wouldn’t want to hire someone like that?”

What about in 2020- a time of Pandemics, Crises, Artificial Intelligence?

In 2020 and beyond, I believe it’s less about using a specialist or generalist approach, and more about using a flexible, adaptable approach.

These are unusual times. We have to question whether past methods are still ripe or have gone stale. Our team members must flex as the environment flexes. Sense of urgency is more important than ever before. We have to be ready for anything.

Vikram Mansharamani, PhD, and lecturer at Harvard University, recently said, “The one certainty about the future is that it will be uncertain. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and technological innovation have commoditized information.

The skill of generating dots is losing value. The key skill of the future is, well, not quite a skill; it’s an approach, a philosophy, and way of thinking — and it’s critical you adopt it as soon as you’re able.”

What is that skill or approach? It’s up to us, leaders, to figure that out.

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post Do Generalists or Specialists Win in 2020? appeared first on The Operations Blog.

Bruce covered a number of topics in this webinar. These included leading through a downturn, the role of experience management and an approach to adjusting CX programs during a crisis.

Here are 3 key takeaways from the“Managing Customer Experience In a Downturn” webinar. I hope you find these helpful as you adjust your own customer support and experience strategies.

1) Urgently decide what to stop, start or continue

In my experience, business leaders tend to have too long a list of priorities. We often start a new year with our top 5 and by the middle of the year, this priority list has grown to 10 or higher.

A downturn is a crisis situation. It is not business as usual. When managing organizations through a downturn, leaders must quickly and decisively decide where to focus the finite resources. Leaders must decide what to stop, start or continue. This is true not only of the overall priorities, but also the actions steps within a strategic plan or project..

There is not time for layers of approvals or oodles of cross functional meetings. Instead, we must build up an organization’s immediate response skills.

2) Customer experience management is even more important in a crisis

In a downturn, businesses and consumers have different needs.  They are spending their money, time and resources on different things.

As leaders we must accelerate the cycles to keep up with what customers think and feel. We must ask less and listen more. Then, rapidly adapt our strategies and actions based on these insights.

3) Business as usual metrics, drive business as usual behavior

Business executives love their metrics. Employee compensation is often tied to the achievement of these metrics. And, metrics look so pretty in graphs and charts.

There is also a hesitation to change metrics mid stream or mid-year even when they are no longer realistic. I have seen this happen frequently with sales quotas.

As Bruce clearly stated, “Business as usual metrics, drive business as usual behavior.” A crisis in not business as usual. He even went so far as recommending to suspend tracking certain metrics during a crisis. And, to make decisions on different approaches to compensating employees.

In Conclusion…

If you are responsible for leading a customer support organization or driving the customer experience strategy during this downturn, you must act now. This is the time for decisive and swift decision making. This is the time to do the right thing for your employees, customers and shareholders. 

Do you want to know more? Check out an earlier Operations Blog post titled “Resources to Manage Customer Support in the Midst of Covid-19”.

Stay well!

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post 3 Tips For Managing Customer Experience In a Downturn appeared first on The Operations Blog.

The Employee Perspective

Call centers in certain industries have been deemed “essential” by the Department of Homeland Security. Employees of these call centers are expected to risk their own health, and the health of their families, by coming to work.

If the employees do not come to work, they may face repercussions, up to and including termination. This, at a time, when having health insurance is critical.

Writer Hamilton Nolan recently interviewed call center workers across industries and published the article, “Worried Call Center Workers Do Not Understand Why They Are Risking Their Lives for Customer Service”.

Per Nolan, call center employees feel that their employers have been very reactive during this crisis. The measures they have taken are not sufficient to protect them from the virus. They are being asked to risk their lives for relatively low paying jobs.

The Consumer Perspective

During this crisis I have had to contact a number of technology providers for help with time sensitive issues. And, I have been unpleasantly surprised at the enormous drop in customer service speed and quality.

I incorrectly assumed that if a company specializes in technology, automation or eCommerce that they would have stellar online help and/or enable their employees to work from home as part of their disaster recovery plans. This is definitely not the case.

If I get asked to talk to an “automated service bot” again, I might scream – LOL! When I wrote the recent blog post, “3 ways AI will enhance customer experience”, I had no idea how applicable it would be to our current circumstances.

AI blogger, Kyle Wiggers, recently shared that COVID-19 has accelerated the need for AI-powered contact center messaging. And, that some of these call centers are deploying solutions before they are ready. That is likely the case as almost every CRM and AI provider has updated their offerings to address Covid-19 work demands.

The Avaya website states, “This pandemic is changing where and how we work—right now, and possibly for a while. Avaya can help with remote work solutions for employees and contact center agents.”

Salesforce.com just launched “Salesforce Care for Employee and Customer Support”. This is a pre-configured employee help center, customer service, and contact center application for responding to inquiries fast, and keeping customers and employees informed. Salesforce is also offering free 24×7 support with Salesforce experts to help customers successfully deploy and use the Salesforce Care solutions.

Replicant just released AI Voice Responder. Per its press release, this AI solution can be deployed within days to answer customer calls, prioritize them based on urgency, and respond to frequently asked questions. This will help free up the live agents to address more complex issues. 

3 Calls to Action For Leaders

The massive impact of Covid-19 on call centers and customer support teams must drive a significant call to action for leaders of these organizations.

These leaders must:

1. Proactively design a work from home program that maintains company security measures, while providing employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in a crisis. Red tape can not overshadow reality.
2. Re-evaluate call center and customer support staff compensation. Offer front line employees pay and benefits that more closely align with their value. Covid-19 has shined a light on the importance that front line employees offer to a business, in good times and bad.
3. Modernize customer support operations and leverage better processes and tools to increase flexibility and allow organizations to do more with less. 
   • Tools automate good processes. Step one is evaluating customer facing processes and streamlining and enhancing where necessary.
   • Step two is leveraging CRM, AI and other tools to automate processes and free up agents to focus on the most pressing matters.

The time to act is now!

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post Call To Action: 3 Musts For Call Centers & Covid-19 appeared first on The Operations Blog.

The Operations Blog has gathered together the best resources across the internet to help you manage customer support and operations teams amidst the Covid-19 pandemic challenges. The content is broken down into three segments and this blog post will be updated regularly.

1. Managing Remote Workers Through Covid-19.
2. Managing Customer Service, CX and Business Operations.
3. HR View: Wellness, Privacy – Coronavirus.

1) Managing Remote Workers Through Covid-19

• “A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers“, Harvard Business Review, March 18, 2020, Barbara Z. Larson , Susan R. Vroman and Erin E. Makarius
• “Managing From Home? Here’s How to Keep Your Team Engaged During Coronavirus“, Nicole Fallon, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• “Checklist for Employers with Remote Employees Due To Covid-19“, Forbes.com, March 18, 2020
• “7 Tricks For Telecommuting Triumph”, The Operations Blog

2) Managing Service, CX and Business Operations

• “Embrace Proactive Customer Experience in the Midst of COVID-19” Gartner Blog, Augie Ray, March 24, 2020
• “Adjusting Your CX Program To Deal With Covid- 19“, Customer Think Blog, Bruce Temkin, March 20, 2020
  • This is one of the BEST and most detailed posts we found specific to adjusting your customer support strategy in the midst of Covid-19.
• “How Understanding The Economic Impact of the Coronavirus Can Prepare you for Future Business Growth – Meet The V Curve“, BrainSell Blog, Heather Mellinher, March 20, 2020
• “Adapt The Marketing Strategy For Covid-19“, Gartner, Laura Starita, March 17, 2020
• “Coronavirus Inspiring Companies To Adopt AI Call Center Solutions“, Venture Beat, Kyle Wiggers, March 19, 2020
• “Crisis in the Call Center – How to Prepare For The Coronavirus”, Customer Think Blog, Nicolette Beard, March 11, 2020
• “Leadership in a Crisis: Responding to Coronavirus”, McKinsey and Company, Gemma D’Auria and Aaron De Smet, March 2020
• “Covid-19. How Today’s Response can Position your Business to Thrive Tomorrow”, PWC
• “Crisis Communication Tips For Customer Service Teams“, Help Scout, Matthew Patterson, March 11, 2020
• “Customer service amid COVID 19: A guide to managing remote customer support teams” Zoho Sales IQ
• “The Coronavirus Crisis Doesn’t Have to Lead to Layoffs“, Harvard Business Review, Atta Tarki , Paul Levy and Jeff Weiss, March 20, 2020
• “Is Your Customer Support Team Ready For Covid-19“, My Customer, Hannah Steiman, March 12, 2020

Hannah Steiman Chief Operating Officer   Peak Support 

3) HR View: Wellness & Privacy – Coronavirus

• “Health, Wellness and Leave Benefits Help Employees with Coronavirus.” Society of Human Resources Management, March 2020
• “Coronavirus – Managing Employee Stress & Anxiety” Center for Disease Control, CDC
• “Managing Employee Privacy in the Face of COVID-19“, TrustArc Privacy Intelligence,  Mar 19, 2020

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post Resources to Manage Customer Support in the Midst of Covid-19 appeared first on The Operations Blog.

What is AI in customer service?

When people think about AI, they often think of Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. Can Alexa or Siri help you with your NPS scores? Maybe!

Let me define AI in the customer service realm. In simple terms, artificial intelligence automates customer facing processes that were previously run by people. AI is also capable of analyzing data across multiple locations. This could include your CRM system, billing system and website. An AI solution can identify trends and then act on that information in support of the customer.

There are many benefits of using AI in customer service. These include reducing customer hold and problem resolution times, eliminating business costs and more accurately solving complex customer problems. This combination of benefits can lead to a boost in NPS scores and a lift in customer retention and loyalty.

TCS, also known as Tata Consulting Services, recently completed a global trend study on artificial intelligence. It determined that 32% of companies use AI in Customer Service today. 

“Artificial intelligence can be successfully employed to provide an intelligent, convenient and informed customer experience at any point along the customer journey. ” (Quote by Will Theil, the co-founder and principal product architect at Pointlist. The Pointlist AI solution unifies customer data across all of your touchpoints. )

Here are 3 ways that AI can enhance your customer service and support.

1) Call Routing & Speed of Resolution

We have all had a bad experience getting transferred around a contact center in search of the right person to resolve our problem. Artificial Intelligence can analyze data and information from an incoming caller. Then, it will more accurately route that person to the right department. 

Here is an example. AI tools can scan a customer’s phone number, look into the CRM and other internal systems and gather key information. It can quickly identify the customer’s value, their recent tickets and their current accounts receivable status. Simultaneously, AI tools can look at external data sources such as geographic location or weather. Ultimately, AI can direct the caller to an agent who is the best and most qualified person to work with that customer.

In addition, we can use AI to present the information it collects and present it immediately to the customer service agent. This helps prepare the agent, reduce the call time and improve the quality of the interaction.

2) Real Time Problem Trending & Action

Customer service teams are often large and geographically dispersed. Agents spend most of their time resolving customer problems and are not actively discussing trends with one another. To identify trends in customer problems, leaders most often pull “lagging data” looking at back at the most common ticket types during a segment of time.

AI is capable of analyzing data sets and identifying trends in real time. It can actively view details logged in your CRM system and also factor in other data sources outside of your company and add details like geographical location, weather and special events.

Imagine how helpful receiving a text that said, “Alert: 25 tickets logged past 15 minutes on software 7 outage, Germany. Weather- Hurricane. Act now.” This would spur you and your team to take immediate action. You could communicate with affected customers and resolve problems faster.

3) Handle customer inquiries with no human intervention

Your traditional Knowledge Centered Support (KCS) and online knowledge bases can be put on steroids with the support of AI and machine learning. AI tools can blend historical information and real time information from multiple data sources. AI can process and learn from historical trends and customer feedback. Ultimately, AI can serve customers more accurate responses to questions.  

Instead of only using your knowledge base for online self help searches, an AI enhanced knowledge base could be used to respond to customer emails and text messages.

Some customers may enjoy interacting with AI powered Chatbots. A Chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, and is primarily used over the internet and via mobile applications. Per an article in Chatbots Life Magazine, “Chatbots are the fastest growing digital communication trend and one of the strongest tools marketers have at their disposal.” In 2020 and beyond we expect to see an increase in Chatbots used to process payments and Chatbots powered via voice not just text.

Will Chatbots take over the world?  Probably not, LOL!  In an article titled “Top 12 Chatbots Trends and Statistics to Follow in 2020” Snigdha Patel shared that “chatbots, virtual assistants, messaging and other new technologies are helping transform call centers across the world. Bots, without human involvement, can handle simple requests such as changing a password, requesting a balance and scheduling an appointment.” Bots can also be available 24/7/365 and handle multiple requests simultaneously.

Other benefits of AI in customer service

There are many other benefits of leveraging AI and machine learning in a customer service environment and/or part of your customer experience strategy. For example, AI can…

• Help you deeply customize communications with customers with the right messages at the right times. AI can help you uncover specific customer needs, buying behaviors, and preferred channels of interaction.
• Reduce the number of escalations within your organization by identifying and more swiftly resolving issues affecting multiple users.

Are you using AI to enhance your customer experience? Please add your comments below. Thanks!

You may also like one of my previous posts, “Customer Experience Technology… Friend or Foe?“.

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post 3 Ways AI Will Enhance Your Customer Experience appeared first on The Operations Blog.

As someone who is naturally action oriented, I have a radar that flashes when I observe a lack of urgency to fix critical problems or to make changes that can have a large and positive impact. It can very frustrating to deal with these delays in action, whether it be with a boss, a colleague, a customer or even with a close friend.

How should we define the phrase “sense of urgency”? In his recent book, aptly called A Sense of Urgency,  John P. Kotter shared that “it is a belief that the world contains great opportunities and hazards” and “a gut-level determination to move, and win, now!”.  

Do you have an urgency problem in your organization?

Here are a few symptoms of lack of urgency:

• Missed business goals with no consequences
• Missed deadlines with no consequences
• Target completion dates that appear to be very padded with extra days or weeks
• Cross-functional project meetings that drag on month after month with no end in sight
• Too many high level decision makers involved in relatively small decisions

The steps we need to take to create urgency, must not focus on the symptoms, and instead must address the root cause(s). I believe that just telling employees that they need to “have a sense of urgency” is not the best plan. (But, something I have often seen in corporate environments.)

To understand the root cause of a lack of urgency, you may want to ask the question “why” at least three times. Here are a few examples.

Why did Team One miss the business goals with no consequences?

• They did not understand the goals.
• Why? Their leader did not communicate the goals to the team in an effective way.
• Why? Their leader was pulled to focus on an acquisition and has been traveling for several months. The company failed to appoint an interim leader.

Why did the Project Team miss its deadlines with no consequences?

• They did not take the project deadlines as final.
• Why? The deadlines were not put in writing.
• Why? The Project Manager did not include them in the project plan. He also did not clearly communicate why the dates were important.
• Why? Project Manager is new, and needs leadership training and coaching.

A Bad Attitude Is Like A Lack Of Urgency

I remember attending training with Human Resources early on in my leadership career about addressing “attitude” problems. The bottom line advice was, don’t focus on the attitude problem and instead focus on the behaviors and/or the impact of said behaviors. 

The same advice applies to urgency. Don’t focus on the lack of urgency. Instead, link the lack of urgency to the business results you are trying to achieve. Attack the causes of the business problem, not the symptoms.

Walk The Talk – Your Urgency is Our Urgency

At the start of this blog post, I shared the statement that, “Small steps to create urgency have a massive impact.”  As a leader, one of the most important things that you can do right away is walk the talk. Specifically, begin to demonstrate the behaviors that you want to see in your work environment.  Respond to emails and text messages swiftly. Delivery on commitments early. Use language that explains the why behind your sense of urgency. 

As John Kotter further recommends in his book, “our messaging must convey that the world is changing and the company must move faster to keep up.”

Sense of Urgency Resources

Is sense of urgency a hot topic in your organization? If so, here are some additional resources that you may find helpful.

“Four Ways to Increase the Urgency Needed for Change” by John Kotter on Harvard Business Review.

“5 Ways to Create a Necessary Sense of Urgency”, on LeadershipConsulting.com.

“20 Ways To Create a Sense of Urgency”, by Rob Llewellyn on LinkedIn.

“The Battle Between Activity & Action“, on The Operations Blog.

© 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post How To Improve Sense Of Urgency appeared first on The Operations Blog.

Leaders must operate as if he or she are living in a fish bowl. Everyone on the outside can look in and watch you.

Every interaction with every colleague, employee and customer, matters and has a spill over effect.  Whether you leave a positive impression or a negative impression, that effect will be shared with others…verbally, electronically or even on social media.

• Being “on” means that you are consciously thinking about your words, behaviors and body language.
• When you are “on”, you are thinking about what you say before you say it.
• Feeling “on” means pausing before you send an email response and thinking about how the recipient will receive the message.

Yes, leaders have bad moods and stressful days. But, we need to be deliberate to buffer others from experiencing the negative side effects.

I enjoyed this related blog post called “Life in the Fishbowl”, by Brian Gora. I also came across a new catch phrase, from S. Chris Edmonds, “bumping the fish bowl”. This reference describes how leaders’ behavior is often much more impactful to their team members’ confidence, engagement, cooperation, and performance than leaders believe.

Rumi wrote, “Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love, which linger and continue to uplift others long after your sharing.”

© 2019 – 2020, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

The post Why Leaders Must Be “ON” All The Time appeared first on The Operations Blog.

As a leader in 2019, it is likely that you have direct reports scattered across different offices, maybe even different countries. And, it is also likely that at least once per year your dispersed team gets together in person for a strategy or planning session.

One common element in these in-person meetings, is a segment set aside for “team building”.  Sometimes this segment is during the day, other times it is after hours.

I had one boss who loved to plan out of office team-building activities with her directs. We went to group painting sessions, cooking classes, mini-golf, and even competitive go-cart racing.  The most memorable of all of her activities was a sand castle building contest. It was the activity that I dreaded the most, but ended up having the best time doing. It got me out of my comfort zone and onto the beach.

Another boss was all about fancy food and wine. When his team got together, we ate and drank.

I also attended a number of “mass team building experiences” at sales kickoffs. For example, an outside company would be hired to come in and instruct 500 adults to make bicycles, which we would donate to a local shelter. Another year, we played games and donated the winnings to a non-profit. These exercises were very costly and took a lot of time.

Although some of these activities were fun, I am not convinced they all led to team members bonding, and/or an improvement in our employee engagement and morale.

The activities that I find are most meaningful are those in a smaller group setting that include content that helps team members connect, stretch beyond his or her comfort zone, and get to know each other better.

What I found most meaningful…

For example, I had a new boss (we’ll call X) who asked a colleague to facilitate a “new manager assimilation exercise”.  We met privately as a team of seven, and discussed important things such as, “what do we need from X?”. “What don’t I know about X that I should?”. It was a bonding experience to talk about important things as a team. It became even more valuable when Boss X, debriefed with the facilitator and then came back and talked to her team. She addressed comments and answered important questions. It was very powerful and memorable.

Another team bonding example took place outside of the corporate world. At the beginning of 2019, I got together with 10 female friends and we created vision boards together. A vision board is a hand made collage of images and words that represent a person’s wishes or goals. The act of creating the board and then reflecting on the board can be inspirational.

What was “bonding” about this experience was not the activity of making the boards. At the end of the get together, each person presented their board to the group and it was incredibly eye opening. I learned so much about these friends that I never knew before. And, I will never forget.

8 tips for more meaningful team building experiences

As I said at the start of this blog, it’s time for leaders to plan more powerful, relevant and effective team building events for our employees. How can you do this?  Here are 8 tips for more meaningful team building experiences.

1. Hold smaller group activities that encourage interaction, not just doing.
2. Include content that encourages team members to connect with each other at a deeper, not superficial level.
3. Help team members get to know the other team members- beyond the obvious. What drives them? What is important to them? How did they get to be the person they are today? Who do they want to be?
4. Talk about the tough questions and the answers. Forget the fluff.
5. Get team members out of their comfort zones, but in a safe environment.
6. Rely less on alcohol. (This is coming from a gal who loves her wine.) I feel that we rely too much on alcohol as a crutch for employees to interact after hours. Everyone does not drink. Drinking is not the best “wellness focused” exercise. And,  I see companies spend a LOT of money on alcohol that could be invested back in their employees.
7. Remember that everyone is not an extrovert. As a self proclaimed introvert, I often dread forced social experiences that have no agenda other than “mingling”. Yikes. Think about how you can make your activities comfortable to extroverts, introverts and omniverts. (Yeah, omniverts are a thing!)
8. This may not be popular, but I think we should skip the “mass team building experiences” all together. I have been to enough of them to know, that they can be fun but they take a lot of time and resources, that I believe we could invest in better places.

Biz Journals recently published an online article about creating the most effective team building experiences. I particularly liked their advice to schedule activities during work hours. Employees need time away from work, so they can invest in themselves or in their families. Time away from work helps employees recharge.

Do you have other ideas for leaders to plan and facilitate meaningful team building experiences? Please add them to the comments. Thanks for reading!

© 2019, Nadia Whitlock. All rights reserved.

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