I am always learning! I think it is critical for organizations to be learning organizations — always!

I’m a small company, and I see things that can be improved constantly.

And, I learn from watching other companies as well.

The last two weeks I have been dealing with a BIG company via their support desk.  I had a BIG problem that was actually their problem but affected my business.  I submitted a support desk ticket to let them know about it because it could have affected many other businesses as well.  Over the course of two weeks, I dealt with several support desk staff.  It was obvious in their replies to me, that they had NOT read the ticket.  I would patiently re-explain the issue and a different person would reply and obviously had not read the ticket. Their responses were inappropriate to the issue.

I repeatedly said “read the ticket”.  Finally the last person got it. Replied and escalated the ticket.

Then they asked me to score the experience. I said BAD.  But the last person that had helped, replied and asked me to change it.

I did change it.  Soon after that the Director of Support emailed to say “we love great support feedback, share your experience in our official Facebook group”. Well, it wasn’t a great experience, IF he had actually read my feedback he would have seen that. Again, with the reading!!  Obviously, automated.  I hit reply and said: “Reading is important”. He probably never reads that email.

Okay so lessons learned:

1. Train support staff to thoroughly read each ticket and ask clarifying questions.
2. Escalate tickets they don’t know or get other support people to read it and help with understanding
3. Do not let your support staff receive the feedback directly from the ticket.  Collate feedback and review weekly or something.

So here’s my second learning for the day!

I went to school to pick up my daughter.  They have totally changed the parking lot and traffic pattern. It is TERRIBLE.  The parking is more challenging. The line to leave is 3 or 4 times as long.  Me, being a big mouth, said something to the parking lot security guard.  He told me (while leaning in my window) that it was great.  I said I’ve been coming here for four years to pick up my kids and it is terrible.

There are a couple of lessons here!

1. We each have our own perspectives and our own experiences.  From where he stands he cannot see the line that I wait in on the other side of the building to get out of the parking lot.  His perspective is limited by where he is.  I agree that where we used to pull out was totally dangerous and life threatening and they have reduced the risk we each endured.  But it is not improved.
2. Before defending, listen to the other person and recognize that their experience may be different from yours, but that does not mean it is not valid.

How to implement lessons when you learn them.

This is a BIG question!!

In a bigger organization, I would say that it is through policy and procedure and training.  For these, mostly training.  I love the plate perspective exercise.  I did not develop it, but I have used it.

You identify all of the stake holders in an issue.  You write those on paper plates and put the plates on the floor in a circle.  Each person stands on a plate and speaks from their perspective to the other people in the circle.  It makes you think.  What would this person be thinking?  You gain perspective.  For me, having done this exercise a few times with groups, it automatically, has me thinking about others perspective without the plates!