The "F- word" that you shouldn’t be afraid to use at work!

My 7 year old had been having some problem picking up Math in school recently. I knew that I needed to see her teacher about it, but somehow had been avoiding it. I was scared of what she would tell me. Would she comment on her ability or would she say that I hadn’t been helping her enough at home?  After days of hesitating I finally took an appointment to meet her. What happened at the meeting was quite a pleasant surprise. The teacher said that all the kids in the class seemed to be having a problem learning the new concept and she had decided to slow down her pace to help them understand it better. In fact my daughter was one of those who were doing much better than the others!

Sometimes we, at our workplaces too, shy from asking for feedback because we fear the worst. We imagine that our recent proposal was turned down because it wasn’t good enough or the other guy got promoted because our performance was not at par. Not seeking feedback proactively, can lead to a feeling of diminished self worth, and subsequently reduced motivation.

The reason behind this avoidance is simple. No one likes being under a scanner and everybody is sensitive to criticism. Also people find it difficult to separate the work and the person, while giving or receiving feedback. A deficiency in performance, if pointed out somewhat tactlessly by a manager, can be perceived as a personal attack by an employee. It is imperative therefore for the one giving the feedback, and also the one receiving it, that they perceive it as a tool that enables better improvement in organizational performance.

In most companies the only time that feedback is given is during the annual performance appraisal. Having been a part of the performance appraisal as an observer in some of my work roles made me realise that most people hesitate even during this formal setting to seek feedback on their performance. The sessions therefore are just reduced to passing of information regarding the next raise or promotion

One way to go about seeking feedback actively is to do it on a regular basis. Update your boss regularly about the progress in your current assignment- this will help you understand his expectations better. Also it is easier to both point out, and to acknowledge smaller mistakes; much before they snowball into larger issues.

 A study done at the University of Alabama, in fact shows, that people who expect to be told their results sooner do the tasks handed out to them much better than those who expect a larger time lag between the performance and the results. An anticipation of a quicker result, therefore, boosts performance.

 Sometimes when your efforts to seek feedback are in vain and you do not seem to elicit any response whatsoever from your boss, it is important that you do not allow “the silent treatment” to get to you. Instead of letting it build on your insecurities and stress you, you have to give him the benefit of doubt. It might be possible that he is busy or what you are seeking feedback about isn’t high on his priority list at that point in time. Be patient and then ask him again at an appropriate time.

When your performance is at stake..

stake·hold·er : noun \ˈstāk-ˌhōl-dər\: A person/ party who affects or can be affected by an entity’s actions.

Have you ever thought that what you do in the span of eight hours or so that you spend at work everyday is actually governed by so many different factors.

What enables you to give your best? And what prevents you from doing that? If you were to sit down and think about it, among other things, what is likely to crop up are the names of your boss, or of your team, or your customers and clients.

So it’s the people around you who are the stakeholders in your performance. They can affect your performance by the virtue of their:

·         Power in the organization

·         Control over resources

·         Knowledge/ skills/ ability

·         Leadership styles

·         Commitment  ...

And so on...

They could have varying levels of impact on your performance, but all of them affect your performance directly, or indirectly.

So if you were to seriously sit down and analyze the ways you can increase/ improve  your work output; you would realise the importance of managing the stakeholders in your performance.

it considers two dimensions of your stakeholders- first the power they hold to influence your output and level of achievement; and secondly the vested interest they have in your performing well.

 Managers are usually very fond of matrices as frameworks of managing things; so here I have a matrix to help manage these stake holders:  

Since it’s your manager; and/or your team that is directly involved with you in delivering your output, and also it is they who are also dependent on you for their output/ achievement- it is but obvious that most of your efforts in managing people should be directed at them.

The office/ admin staff, on the other hand, is not really concerned about whether you reached your targets in a given month and neither can they really help you achieve them. However, it is good to wish the lady who takes your phone messages a good morning, every now and then!

The top management of your organization is not really worried about your individual performance on a daily basis. An exceptionally good performance or for that matter an exceptionally bad one, however, is bound to get noticed (and they definitely have the power to take action!) Giving consistently good performances and timely reporting / information sharing will generally keep them satisfied.

Your suppliers and customers neither wield direct power, nor have a direct influence on your individual performance. Most of the time they are interested in the bigger picture- it’s your duty therefore, to keep them informed of the developments within your company or in the market place.


 

Who sits at your Front Desk?

“One satisfied customer's telling a friend, an acquaintance, a cousin, a bus driver, a total stranger how happy he is with your service is worth its weight in gold (or five times its weight in advertising dollars).” - Tom Peters

Customer Service, perhaps, still remains an underutilized brand building tool. The first “touch point” for the customer experience in the service industry is the front desk. Each one of us can probably recall at least one bad experience with the front desk in say a bank, or a hospital.  That one experience could have serious repercussions for the organization, because in the worst case scenario, the customer never returns. It is a well established fact that attracting a new customer costs on an average five times more than retaining an old one. The managers running an organization may be aware of this-but unfortunately, the person manning the front desk might not.

As a mother of two young children, finding a good doctor/ hospital was one of my prime concerns when I first landed in the UAE. When one of my children fell sick we visited a local hospital, run by an Indian management. Since I had just come from India, I was more comfortable with the idea of seeing an Indian doctor. The receptionists were not very friendly, the waiting period was too long, and the waiting area was crowded. I kept enduring this experience for some time, but each time it became worse. Then on one occasion when my younger one was suffering from a mild respiratory infection, we decided to give a local clinic in our neighbourhood a try. The experience was a marked improvement on what we had been suffering in the past. The receptionist actually smiled and even told us the approximate wait time;the paediatric waiting areas were painted in cheerful colours and the staff was empathetic.  We dumped our old hospital and became regulars at this clinic. However, since it was small setup, sometimes the doctor there had to refer us to another larger hospital for special consulting or lab work.

Over a period of time we have migrated to another larger hospital where the facilities are better. And the thing that we like most about this place is the front desk staff – they are efficient, they smile, they have problem solving abilities, they don’t frown when they have to repeat instructions or give directions- All in all they give you a feeling that they are happy to help you.

The management of organizations, especially those in the service sector must realise the importance of hiring people with an aptitude towards customer service to man their front desk and to answer their phone calls. Investing in the training of these employees can pay heavy dividends. A disgruntled, disenchanted or indifferent employee at the front desk, on the other hand, can drive customers away- so it is important to keep them happy, as they are the ones who will  keep your customers happy.

Coming back to the quote by Tom Peters; I have already recommended this hospital to several of my friends and family... So who needs a celebrity to endorse a brand? A satisfied customer can  be a much better brand ambassador and that too at no extra cost!