Month: March 2016

Leave a comment Posted on Communication, Development, Management, Productivity

Resolving Issues & Vendor Relationships by Jim Johnson

Have you ever contacted a vendor asking them to help to resolve an issue for a customer?  Have they given you answer that to you doesn’t seem to be the right answer?  Perhaps the vendor rep was quick to respond without giving the issue much thought.  To you, their “no” should have been/could have been a “yes”. 

What can you do?  Try this:

• Press the vendor for further clarification.

• Consult with your internal teams. Chances are, someone else has had this issue and will readily provide insight you need to hear.  

• Go directly to your top experts if you gut tells you you’re not at the answer yet.  Count on your company’s brain trust. 

• Work fast and expect others to do the same to resolve the issue. FORGOTTEN ISSUES BECOME BIGGER, UGLIER ISSUES IN THE FUTURE!

• Share what you have learned with others. Spread the knowledge. 

• Clearly communicate the resolved issue back to your team. Communicate for them to understand. Be careful not to “write” as you understand the answer.  
• Remember who your audience is. Customers don’t think like we do nor do they speak like we do. 

 
Vendors deal with their customers all day long.  You will get a rep that gives you the quick answer – not necessarily the right answer.  Think it through.  Ask questions.  Press.  Get a second opinion.

For your customer’s sake and the sake of your team, work fast to resolve issues with your vendor.  You’ll learn more.  Your team will develop more. Your vendor will learn about accountability.  Your customers will be satisfied that you followed through. 

image

Leave a comment Posted on Communication, Development, Leadership, Management, Productivity

4 Contradictions the Best Employees Understand by the MOJO Company

Here’s an excerpt from a great post.  Follow the link below to read the entire post.

image

The best employees understand that you should be insatiably curious, but question with a positive purpose.

I believe some degree of curiosity is an absolutely indispensable trait in successful employees, leaders, and human beings. Often, that curiosity will manifest itself in the form of questions and questioning. I think that’s great; I really do. As I’ve stated elsewhere a time or twelve, questions can be used in so many positive ways and toward so many positive ends, even if others might not understand them in the moment. But at the same time, we always have to be self-aware and ask ourselves why we’re asking stuff. The best employees are curious about things and ask questions with a positive purpose, meaning that in many cases, they’re trying to figure things out so that then they can take action and make something positive happen.

Contrast this with what I’d call “complaining questioners.” Those are the folks who tend to question everything, but with no discernible point or purpose other than what seems to be complaining about things; and even after receiving answers, they don’t seem to then take the information and do anything positive. They simply move on to the next series of things to question.

– See more at: http://themojocompany.com/2016/03/4-contradictions-best-employees-understand/#sthash.6TMXkziM.dpuf

1 Comment Posted on Communication, Productivity

Open Office Concept by Hunter Stuart

image

Although a majority of American workers go to offices with open floor plans (70% of us, according to the International Facilities Management Association), companies are beginning to acknowledge that this set-up isn’t always the best for getting work done. Without walls, there can be a lot of interruptions and distractions, making even the most diligent employee less productive. As a result, some U.S. companies are diversifying their workspaces to include secluded areas where employees can work undisturbed.

Although there is still some good evidence that knocking down physical barriers at work is a good thing — putting workers side by side lets them interact more easily and increases their sense of community,studies show — a growing body of research is gradually cementing the idea that open offices can also make it harder to get work done. By overstimulating us, they can make us more stressed and more distracted — and therefore less productive.

“Open offices increase communication, but not all communication is a good thing,” said Jennifer Veitch, an environmental psychologist with the National Research Council of Canada. “A lot of the time, the conversation is more about what’s on TV than about actual work.”

Do work in an open office environment? Share your thoughts on it. Does it improve or impede productivity? Distracting? The office photo used in this blog is my office taken from my desk.

Read the entire article here:  http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/open-offices-changing-to-include-private-space_n_6669666.html