Teambuilding moment to treasure

Everyone (especially cynics or managers with a budget problem) eventually ask about whether there is actually any real value from a teambuilding session. I must admit that I have run some teambuilds where the end result is some sweat, some laughter, some bitchiness, some hurt and some drunken babblings thereafter. These are not the sessions that one wishes to remember and most I can't.


There was one very special moment last week when running a Customer Service session where the CEO was trying to launch a customer centric culture into the organisation, especially as they were shocking at it and were getting serious "flak" from their current customer base for their arrogance, expensiveness and poor follow through of promises.


The teams were very mixed with senior management through to drivers in attendance.

We reached a point where we needed ideas to show that we were actually committed to and understood what we had to do to make a difference. Having done this a few hundred times, I was waiting for the normal list;

• Answer phones before 3rd ring



• Dress nicely



• Listen to the customers concerns



• Be punctual



• Don't burp etc
  

Daniel a semi-literate driver then proceeded to outline what he thought needed to happen and it went something like this;

"John, you know, we have to deliver stuff to the customers and we actually see the customers more than our sales people, more that the operations people and definitely more that the bosses! (subtle dig just to get his bosses attention). We often get very upset customers when we are late or the boxes are broken, but I know that they are upset and if my boss would just give me some tape and some spare cardboard and labels, most of the semi-damaged boxes I could fix right there. Instead, I have to drive back to the dispatch and they take another day to re-pack and now the customer is seething! Just some tape and some cardboard and I can make it all better"

I looked across at his boss who looked more embarrassed than George Bush at a Peace Parade and the penny had dropped for everyone.

It was not about all the fancy and expensive things we do, but more in allowing the right people to take the right initiative and do the right thing for the customer. This little lesson changed the way I run all my future customer service sessions. Throw away he text books and theories and learn to unleash the people who know how to make a customer smile.

Daniel the Driver now proudly shows all how slick he is at repairing boxes and he now has his own set of company logoed "smileys" which he drops off to his customers when he feels they need to cheer up.

These are the moments that make teambuilding and interactive sessions worth their weight in diamonds.