Pizza! A Customer Service Experience

Recently I called my favorite small town pizza shop and heard a pleasant but unfamiliar voice. The new young lady answering the telephone was trying to help me but was having difficulty talking to me since she was preoccupied with other conversations. Apparently she was waiting on a customer at the counter, answering a co-workers question, and also attempting to take my order. After three attempts to place my order I felt only marginally confident that my order would be correct.

Twenty-five minutes later I arrived at the pizza shop and was greeted by the new employee; standing beside her was the young lady that typically provides service. As I approached the counter she politely asked if she could help me and proceeded to get my pizza and enter it into the cash register. After a moment she looked at me and said “$19.07.” In response I quickly handed her a twenty dollar bill. Taking the bill from my hand she paused, looked at me and said “Do you have change or do you want me to count it out for you?” Stunned, I paused for a moment, smiled, and then replied with, “you can put the change in your tip jar.” Exchanging a glance with the other young lady I noticed a slight eye roll, then a smile, and a sincere “thank you.”

I walked away happy – I was very hungry.

Trust Matters

Many organizations suffer from trust issues. Trust requires time and effort to ensure its presence. While levels of trust vary from individual to individual trust in the workplace is often hard to obtain. Occasionally workplace teams express high levels of trust, but when asked individually about their levels of trust they are typically reporting less trust than they expressed in the group setting. Workplace trust is a big issue. Many organizations also report difficulties with communication efforts and often the root cause is mistrust among individuals and teams.

Consider the “3 C’s” of trust, they are: Credibility, Consistency, and managed Communications. If you are credible, consistent in your actions, and manage your communication effectively you are probably considered a trustworthy person in your workplace. Remember that trust takes time, make every effort to avoid careless, thoughtless, or misinterpreted acts and pay close attention to the “3 C’s.” If you get this part correct, you will make a big difference with your team – trust me.

Every Dog

In nearly every leadership workshop I deliver the discussion of integrity and honesty comes to the surface. At some point in their life many employees have had an experience of integrity and honesty violations. This sometimes stems from personal experiences off the job, or actual workplace scenarios that leave team members feeling undervalued, misused, and disregarded. This creates a very big problem with trust in the workplace and ultimately causes communication breakdown.

While we cannot necessarily control what others do, we can choose our own attitude. Attitudes are contagious and if we seek the positive in people and workplace teams we can help to make a good attitude a viral experience. By taking what we sometimes call the “high road approach” we can continue to give our best effort in even the most difficult situations. There is an age old idiom, “every dog has its day.” Stay true to yourself and reflect a positive attitude, you will make a difference in your organization.

Silence and Listening

Have you considered that we can listen to silence?

Recently many clients have had a strong interest in effective listening skills. A recent discussion point considered how we react, or listen to, silence. Consider the following:

* A comedian using silence when timing the punch line
* A speaker utilizing a long pause, causing the audience to listen for more
* A co-worker sitting quietly when asked for some verbal contribution

In fact, listening for silence in the workplace can have a significant impact on our communication efforts. Listening is not instinctive, it is considered to be a developed skill. As the famous cellular commercial makes a point:“Can you hear me now?”

Email or telephone?

Do you pick up the telephone to call your clients, vendors, or co-workers? Is an email message easier or more effective? Often workplace employees will report that they typically prefer email over telephone use. Is there a generational or cultural difference in how we respond to these questions?

Many organizations are concerned about effective communication, and even more organizations report that they experience “miscommunication” too often. Should our dialog styles vary depending on the person, or only on the situation? In other words, many will say they use the telephone or face-to-face communication for more complex issues which seems to make sense; but should we consider other factors before writing that quick email or picking up the telephone?