Business Efficiency - Chapter 4

Hi Team,

How quickly another week has passed!  Before you know it this subject will be done & dusted.  

Chapter 4

Fig 1 Crossed wires can spell disaster for communication. Source

In this chapter it discusses the two channels of communications that we most rely on to pass and receive information, formal and informal.  Often we hear colleagues requesting to be ‘kept in the loop’ but what does that actually mean to us?  How do we make sure that they receive all of the information? Would we use an informal channel of communication (gossip, social chit-chat, innuendo) or would we use a formal means of communicating (websites, news releases, emails)?  When keeping colleagues in the loop about work projects, issues or discussions, it is beneficial to use a formal means of communication.  Using formal channels of information enables us to not only ensure that everyone gets the information but also lets us capture that information as an official record.

Why wouldn’t we use informal communication to pass important work information to colleagues?  If we communicated our agency/departmental information and relied solely on gossip or social chit-chat how do we know that the intended recipient is part of the same networks?  Has the integrity of the information been preserved or has the information been embellished along the line?  Where is the information recorded?

When dealing with customer  complaints in particular it is essential that our efforts to consult and involve other employees/divisions/sections that can offer advice or assistance are recorded for future reference.  It is also essential for us to identify a method for communicating the results of our findings to ensure that all stakeholders are fully informed.  It enables us to identify difficulties and suggest a prompt course of action to rectify or resolve the issue.

It is one thing to identify a problem, it is another to get the solution that you desire.  Often there are legislative requirements such as OH&S, FOI or Privacy that will dictate how certain issues are handled.  Where we are the ones that identify problems in the workplace, we need to consult with others and seek out appropriate solutions.  Often we can work through issues without having to involve higher level management, but sometimes, particularly in the OH&S arena this is not the case as there may be building repair issues that need to be addressed.  

Often we see things that need change, and have ideas on how we could fix the cause of the problem. We bounce these ideas off our colleagues, and identify the most appropriate solution.   It is essential to state the desired outcome and the timeframe.  

Networking

Fig 2 Different types of networking. Source

Networking is part of our everyday lives, think about the people that you currently network with, friends, workplace, social activities, clubs, sporting teams, online groups, blogs, forums etc.  The list is quite extensive.  I am going to nag at all of you to network with each other – even if it is to ask what information I may have accidentally left out of this week’s email.  I have noticed that there doesn't seem to be that much interaction (networking) happening between the students.  Is there a reason for this?  

Actually, my challenge to students is to use the student network to identify anything that you learnt this week that I have  not covered, also to share with the group how you are going about tackling the OH&S component of this course and any anecdotal examples of things that you have learned through your study that you have applied in the workplace and how that all went.  Please post your comments below.  

Trust, Empathy and Respect

The foundation of any relationship is based on trust, empathy and respect.  There are a number of different ways we can define trust.  Trust means being able to predict how other people will behave when we give them information that can make us vulnerable.  We would not willingly give someone personal information if we knew that they were going to use it against us!  

Sometimes we are in situations where we have to make an exchange with someone and do not have full knowledge about them, their intent and the things they are offering to us.   We may give something now with an expectation that it will be repaid, possibly in some unspecified way at some unspecified time in the future. (think about purchases from eBay).

Trust means enabling other people to take advantage of your vulnerabilities—but expecting that they will not do this. 

Empathy is the capacity to share the sadness or happiness of another sentient being through consciousness rather than physically. Empathy develops the ability to have compassion towards other beings.

Respect means to acknowledge someone else’s value, to hold them in high regard and treat them accordingly.  For customer service, we need to extend this courtesy to all our customers, regardless of whether we personally believe it is warranted or not.

Customer needs

Our customers will have different kinds of customer needs; stated, secondary and special.  

• Stated needs, are the needs that relate to the product or service that the customer has stated they actually want, i.e. a file request for a personnel file.
• Secondary needs,  are the needs behind what the customer may wish to to/use that product or service for, i.e. the customer may wish to access personal information about the person in the file that the person in the file is unaware of.  Maybe to check pay grades or performance reports etc?
• Special needs, these are basic needs that all customers are likely to have, some kinds of special needs include, customers with;
• a disability, 
• small children
• that are elderly
• with a language difficulty
• with significant time constraints
• financial issues etc.

Don't forget to check out the four “P’s” found on page 63 of the course handbook.

Right, that is all I am going to blog this week – I will leave it up to YOU to network amongst yourselves to figure what, if anything, I have not included that is covered in the handbook.  For everyone - it's an excellent time for YOU to practise your technique when asking probing questions and seeking feedback and do some networking! What have you got to loose?  I look forward to seeing your posts :)

Happy networking folks!
Melisa

Business Efficiency - Chapter 3

Hi Team,

Hope that you are keeping well and up to date with your assignments . . .

Chapter 3

As we have recognised, in the workplace we work and deal with a variety of people.  Due to the variances in the workplace what this means is that we need to vary the way in which we communicate with our colleagues.  There are certain points that we need to consider when interacting and communicating with people.  First thing is to determine the purpose of your communication.  If you do not have a clear purpose then the message that you send will be irrelevant to the receiver and possibly be "distorted".  In most cases we communicate to share information or inform others.  For example the purpose of this blog is to highlight to our students important "bits" from the chapter.  Through this blog I also encourage you all to share any relevant information and ideas with the greater team.  Not all methods of communication are going to have the same result so you need to consider what is going to make the biggest impact on your audience.  For the ease of sharing info to the whole of Cert III class I choose to use this blog.  Have you got any other suggestions on how info could be shared that would make an impact? 

What I do need to be careful of, is that the message that I am sending isn't "lost in translation".  I need to ask if the words and the language I'm using is understandable by my audience!  If the audience is struggling with the information that they receive, then they should be giving the sender feedback.  Consider any discussions that you may have had in the past where the message wasn't clear.  What did you do to try to understand the information in a better way?

The following links take you to video of an interview conducted by the legendary Michael Parkinson - one of Britain's great TV interviewers.  His guest is Meg Ryan, Hollywood actress.  For those of you who have not seen the video, I will not contribute to any preconceptions about the interview by providing an introduction.   For those of you if the video doesn't work, then have a look at  it here.  

Watch the video to put all your learnings into a summary.  Think about:

·          body language (posture, facial expressions etc)

·          verbal communication (language, tone etc)

·          empathy (understanding the other person, but not necessarily agreeing with them)

·          listening (active listening)

·          questioning (types of questions, responses etc)

What worked and why? What didn't work and why? How could it have been done better?

For a totally different interview with Meg Ryan & Ellen, take a look at the following clip.  Wow what a difference!  Any ideas why there would have been a difference with Meg & how she handled the interviewers. 

Assignments

Overall I am so far impressed with the quality of work submitted.  Just a reminder to please email me your assignments as a word document rather than a PDF.  For future submissions you may want to consider:

• Including a Bibliography - make sure you include your references!

• Examples - When using examples make them relevant!  Explain how they relate to the question

• Attachments - If you attach appendices again make them relevant!  Only include the section that is relevant to support your understanding of the question

Enjoy the weekend & catch up with you next week!

Ciao,

Melisa

Business Efficiency - Chapter 2

Hi Team,

Hope that everyone has had a good week.  Did anyone find any interesting articles that they would like to share with the greater group?  Don't forget to share with us!  Even if you have a question at work that you need some input, post it to the group, under FAQ page, to get some feedback.  

This week is a fairly long post, so I suggest you grab yourself a cup of coffee (or tea), sit down & read on . . .

Chapter 2

To kick off this chapter I want you to think about what are the necessary interpersonal tools that are required when dealing with customers?

Fig 1 Stick men communicating

Did you consider the importance of communication!  Communication is a term that is thrown around quite a lot and often we lay blame on the communication process..."we had a communication problem"..."there was a communication breakdown"..."we need effective communication"...etc, etc  Do we think about what it is that makes up the process of communication?  Most of the time, the answer is "no".  There are certain elements that contribute to the term "communication".  Communication covers a very broad area and can include effective questioning techniques, listening skills, tone of voice, words used and body language.

Professor Mehrabian

Here is a question that I want you to think about, "how relevant is Prof Mehrabian research today?"  His research was undertaken many years ago, so is it still relevant in today's society and if it is how does it have an impact on  the communication of today?  How relevant is our body langauge when we are on the phone or writing an email?  Probably very little, however the tone & words used has a greater influence.  Be aware when you are taking a phone call with your customer, is there a "smile" in your voice?  The tone that you are using will support the message you are trying to get across.  What about your emails?  ARE YOU SHOUTING AT YOUR CUSTOMERS?  WHAT ABOUT THE USE OF TXT :)~   ;) or LOL, BTW.  The overuse of punctuation!?!?  All these points need to be carefully considered to help support the message you are trying to send.

Take the time over the coming weeks to pay closer attention to the body language of your customers?  What non-verbal signs are they portraying? How can you offer a service based on the non-verbal signs being delivered? Let me know what you come up with. 

And speaking of body language what language are you picking up in this picture!

Fig 2 Mona Lisa.  What body language do you think she is portraying?

I was lucky enough to see the orignial at the Lourve in Paris last year.  I was quite surprised at the overall size of it.  More info about Mona Lisa & her smile can be found here  I'd love to hear your comments on this one! 

言語はコミュニケーションのための障壁である場合もある!

Do the above characters mean anything to you?  Maybe if you could write Japanese . . . Maybe if I put it this way "il language può essere una barriera alla comunicazione!"

The language we use impacts on our communications, and can become a barrier if we are not careful.  To our customers, the language of records management sounds like a foreign language.  The acronyms, terms and jargon used, is as foreign to them as Japanese or Italian may be to you  :)  Did you feel excluded? frustrated? missing out?  Welcome to the world of our customers!  Choose language appropriate to your customers and to the situation. 

Consider also the way in which we communicate - face-to-face, email, phone, slideshow, demonstration, etc.  Some environments or means of communicating may not be suitable for us or our customers. I've spoken to a number of you so far by phone: has that been a better form of communication than email, the blog? Why? Or would you prefer face-to-face? 

Consider your customer relationships and approach your customers with an open mind - avoid assumptions, preconceived ideas and stereotypes. 

Communication activities

Pg1 Communication Style

Pg 2 Communication Style

Have a look at the above Communication Style activity and try to identify when certain communication styles should/could used in the five scenarios.  Depending on the message that you need to get across will depend on the style that you use.  At times there may also be a combination of two of the styles for example a passive/aggressive person.  Their intention may be to demonstrate "assertive" however the tone and body language that they use demonstrates an aggressive approach.  Again tone & body language play an important part in the overall communication process.

Fig 4 Reading Activity

In previous classes the students have undertaken the above reading activity.  See how well you can follow instructions and complete the reading activity.  Some students find it interesting to learn more about their colleagues!  I'll let you read the activity to see what "the catch" is.  Anyone able to pick it up?!?  

So how many of you consider themselves as good listeners?  Check out this video & compare your answers.

Active listening is so important and unfortunately this skill can be difficult to develop.  Have you ever heard of the saying "we have two ears and one mouth"  The ratio is like that for a reason!  Next time you are having a conversation be sure to focus on the conversation and the message.  Try not to interrupt the person or daydream about what you need to cook for dinner tonight!  If need be ask questions to clarify the information that you have just heard.  As detailed in your book there are a variety of different types of questions that you can ask.  Depending on the information that you need to extract will depend on the question you want to ask.  If you were to use questioning techniques to identify an object, your open questions would prove quite valuable.  Closed questions do not give you enough information.  Some of the questions that you might ask:

Closed questions

"Can you fit it in the palm of your hand"

No

"Do you use it every day"

Depends

"Is it fabric"

No

"Is it metal"

Yes

Open questions

"What do you use it for"

Assists in eating

"Is it a spoon"

No

If you hadn't guessed . . . it was a metal fork!

Assignments

I was advised that the contact email in your study guide is incorrect.  Ooops!  please send your submissions to srsaTrainingEnquiries@sa.gov.au 

Remember to keep up to date with your assignments.  Thank you to students who have already emailed/sent me their first assignment.  I look forward to reading all of your submissions. 

Have a lovely weekend and BTW (by the way) hope that your Valentine spoils you.

Ciao,

Melisa

P.S LOL = Laughing out loud, just in case if you haven't come across it before.

Business Efficiency - Chapter one

Hi Team,

Hope that you are all getting stuck into your first chapter review!

Chapter 1 Foundation of customer service

Knowing who our customers are and the products and services we offer are crucial to understanding the scope of what we do, and how we should go about doing it.

Fig 1 - One of our Customer Service Officers (Julie C) here at State Records, Leigh St.  She always has a welcoming smile

Over the years of delivering this course, many students have struggled to identify that they are in a "service industry".  All too often I have heard the "But I don't have any customers" or "I'm stuck in the basement & I don't deal with the public" comments.  While these statements might be true to some people, if we dig a little deeper we do have a range of customers that we deal with on a daily basis.  It is important not to discount our internal customers, our colleagues, peers or supervisors, as important parts of our business.  We must be good RM ambassadors that encourage our internal customers to return!

Good customer service equals good business.  But firstly it starts with YOU, the employee.  Employees who are happy with their work environment and the investment in their skills and learning development by the agency, are satisfied employees.  It is more likely that they will deliver a service to customers that will result in satisfied customers.  The key to customer satisfaction is meeting the needs and expectations of our customers.  However, by exceeding the needs and expectations of our customers (going the extra mile), we are more likely to develop loyal customers - customers who keep coming back for more.  And at the end of the day we want to encourage our customers to come back & seek our guidance or advice on good RM practices. Right?

Think about what makes you a loyal customer?  What service or product do you keep going back for from the same provider?  What is it that makes you want to keep going back?  Is it just the product/service or how it is delivered?  For example, have you considered what sort of services and products we offer in the Records Management Unit (RMU)?  It's more than just making files & then filing them in the compactus area! Now take those services that we offer one step further.  How could we "go the extra mile" with our customers, without stretching ourselves too thin in the process.  How about rather than advising a customer that "our RM system can't do that!", take 30 seconds to explain an alternative way or explain why we can't meet our customer's request now.  

My challenge to you all, is to find ways to "go the extra mile" in your customer service relationships over the coming weeks.  Apply what you are learning to what you do in the workplace.  And don't forget to share your positive customer experiences with me!! :)  Please post them below.

In a retail environment, happy & loyal customers can translate to more dollars.  For our RMU, it can translate to increased use of our services, which should lead to greater efficiencies, that ultimately are good for the agency and for our customers across the board.

Receiving feedback on our services and products is another foundation stone to customer service.  We are lost without this valuable information, and unable to improve our products and services accordingly.  Remember the game "Hot and Cold"...when you get close you are warm, when you are far away you are cool??  Trying to find that hidden object or develop that best practice without feedback from our peers or customers leaves us stranded, frustrated and lost.

It can be a revelation to realise that we have customers in records management.  We may not be on the front desk, or in a "customer service officer" role, but we have customers.  Once we understand that basic fact, it ultimately has the power to change the way we do our business...for the better.

Next week, we begin Chapter 2, Identifying and Using Interpersonal Skills

Fig 2 Tempt your colleagues to be loyal customers of the RMU

Choccie Frog

Every one loves chocolate (and if you don't, happily send your portion to me!!) and it is surprising what commotion is caused when it is up for grabs.  In previous years the class discussed how we can promote our area (RM) so that our customers will think of us in a positive way.  We discussed the incentives that can be used to encourage our customers  to take on board our requests (like returning all files, even those that might be in filing cabinets).  Running competitions or quizzes.  You might want to give it a go at your next staff meeting.  Once you hand out one choccie frog for the first correct answer people will begin to take note of what you have to say.  Give it a go . . . I welcome your responses or any other positive comments and ways in which you promote your area!

Awareness Activity

Part of providing good customer service is ensuring hat we are aware of our surroundings.  All too often we can become consumed with the task at hand & inadvertently ignore our internal customers.  I want you to have a look at the following video 

So how did you go?  I got the right number of passes, but confess, I didn't initially see "it"   So my point is, every now & again make sure that you aren't overlooking any RMU customers.

Due Dates of activities and review sections

Just a reminder that Chapter 1 is due next Tuesday, 12th February.  Please don't leave it until the 11th to start on it!  I expect that a cover sheet (found on pgs 7&8 of Study Guide) to be attached to your submission.  If you decide to submit your assignment to me electronically (i.e. email it to me), can you please ensure that you email it as a "word" document rather than a "PDF" document.  If you have any questions please call me to discuss further.

 

For any history buffs out there . . .

It is official.  The remains of King Richard III were found in a Leicester (England) car park.  Here is a recent news video of the discovery and the related article.  If anyone comes across other newsworthy articles please consider sharing them with the rest of the class.

 

Have a great week.

 

Ciao,

Melisa Z-G