3D Juggling 499: Who comes first?

Jane writes:  "It's been another week of cuts and we still haven't reached the Spending Review in the UK.  There is an increasingly limited amount of funding available to support any kind of coaching and training in organisations.  How can limited resources be used to have maximum impact on organisational effectiveness?

Customers and volunteers respond to many things, including products, prices, location, and advertising. They also respond to their experience of people.  Maya Angelou, an American poet, said “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

One way of increasing effectiveness is to reduce the amount of time spent in responding to complaints and concerns raised by customers, volunteers and other stakeholders. Feedback from customers, whether they are collecting mail from a Royal Mail delivery office, receiving treatment at a hospital, or trying to return a faulty item to a store, is often related to the attitude and behaviour of staff. And the attitude and behaviour staff is likely to be influenced by the way that they are treated by their managers and colleagues.

From my experience of working in organisations I formed the view that the people who really need to be put first are employees and volunteers. If you get it right for them they will get it right for your customers.

It can take a long time to develop loyalty in a customer or volunteer - and just seconds to lose it. How do your employees, colleagues, or volunteers make customers/clients/visitors feel? Do they know? Are they interested? They should be."

Talk to us about how we can help you to develop a culture where staff feel valued, engaged and empowered, and where customers experience positive attitudes and behaviours.

See People Management from 12 August 2010 to read how an IT company with 60,000 staff implemented a management approach that put employees first and customers second.  It achieved dramatic improvements in performance underpinned by a 70% increase in employee satisfaction. During a recession.

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© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely.  Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

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3D Juggling 494: Community

Claire writes: "I'm trying out Twitter and received a Tweet this week that says:

World population rankings:
1: China
2: India
3: Facebook
4: USA
5: MySpace
6: Indonesia
7: Brazil
8: Twitter (via @mikamika59)

That was information. Other Twitter exchanges have included conversations - talking to a Canadian coach about her love of Redbush tea and meeting someone who does similar work to 3D in the States. But whatever people say, Twitter is not a community.  It's only personal conversations that lead to relationships which build to form a real community. For me, social media is a way of sharing information and only a few of the people we encounter on the way will be people that we get to know.

Is there community where you work? Or are you a group of people who happen to travel daily to the same building? When the economy is hitting the workplace hard, it's the organisations which have fostered community which have the greatest chance of survival.  It's then that people stop thinking about 'me and my needs' and start thinking about the needs of the team... and it's then a far shorter journey to consider the needs of our customers and therefore our organisation.

So community is about relationship and not population size.  What can you do this week to foster that where you work or live?"


Love this? If you need some help in your organisation to build community, come out for a cup of coffee with us to talk about how we can help you.  We'll pay!


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© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely.  Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

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3D Juggling 470: Lessons from my iPhone

Liz writes: "Whilst standing on a cold station platform waiting for a train to Leeds this week I noticed that the “slide to unlock” function on my iPhone won’t work if I’m wearing gloves.

Being the sort of reflective person I am I started wondering what message this might have for our business?

My phone wanted a personal touch, not a gloved approach and I reflected on how important being yourself is in coaching. Being transparent, saying what you see and tailoring your approach to the coachee is, I suggest, a powerful way to unlock potential.

Often what’s needed in coaching is a space for people to unlock their thinking and the best way I’ve found to do this is to really, really listen. Not so that I can ask the next clever question, not even so I can fully understand, but so that the coachee can believe that I am there for them, that I believe in them and that I trust they have the ability to find their way through the maze of their issue if I just let them.

When trying to unlock new business, a personal touch is also very effective. Rather than sending blanket emails I find it more effective, and enjoyable, to meet with people face to face, spend time talking to them about their challenges and discussing how I might be able to help. Working out how I can meet their needs rather than seeing where they fit into my offers.

So what are you trying to unlock at the moment and how might a personal touch work?"

Liz's blog is http://insightwithliz.blogspot.com

Love this? Do us a favour and send it to five people. Who thinks like you? You could send it to someone who loves their phone!

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© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

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Juggling in 3D 409: Warm Up

Claire writes: 'The girls slept out in a garden on Saturday night to raise money for the homeless. It was -4 degrees. They arrived home with damp sleeping bags from the frost that had settled. They kept their coats on for the whole of Sunday and took many hours to warm up... and have raised plenty of money.

Warming up is a process. Simply coming into a warm house wasn't enough. There was an article in a Sunday paper recently about warm people. Warm people, they suggested, are effusive, friendly, engaging and giving. They quoted various examples from the world of celebrity. Most interestingly, they held the view that however giving people are, they are not truly warm unless they are also willing to receive from others. Reminds me of the hymn we sang at our wedding: 'Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.' How good are you at receiving?

Love this? Do us a favour and send it to five people. Who thinks like you? You could send it to someone who you would love to receive'

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© 2008 3D Coaching Ltd May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: http://www.3dcoaching.com/ and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

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