Tip of the Week
Do you have a unique training tip or activity you do in your meetings or sessions? Email your idea to me and it may be posted as the next Tip of the Week!
Warm Up to Problem Solving
Warming up before playing a sport is very important for your muscles to "get ready" for activity. When we don't warm up our bodies, we have a greater chance for getting hurt. The same is true for problem solving. We need to warm up our brain for the process. One key exercise in problem solving is brainstorming. Many people go into brainstorming with the thought that if they get a few ideas down on paper, they "brainstormed". It is actually more in-depth than that. In brainstorming there are rules. First rule is no feedback on the ideas. This is constructive and supportive feedback! A sigh or clap is feedback so watch the non-verbals as well. Second rule, all thoughts should be written down no matter how outrageous they may seem (refer to rule #1). Third rule is that you need to get at least 20 (yes, 20) ideas down on paper before you even begin to have some original thoughts. The more ideas past 20, the better. Remember, you can weed out later!
With brainstorming, it is also important to do a warm up. With your group, show a common object (paperclip, toilet paper, TV remote, garbage sack etc.) or show a picture up on a screen (traffic light, fire hydrant, gate etc.) and have your group brainstorm alternative uses for the object. Remember to try and get past 20 ideas. If you have a large group, you may want to break them into smaller brainstorming groups, then report back to the large group when time is up. This warm up will get your group ready to work through the process of problem solving and open their minds to alternate solutions.
The "Flow" of Customer ServiceWe all have customer services processes and procedures that we follow. When was the last time you actually broke down those procedures to see what was really needed and what was a waste of time. Bottom-line, the customer only cares about their need and how you fulfill that need. They really don't care what you need to do to make it happen, they care that something does happen and the "happen" is in their favor.
At your next meeting, take a process and map out each step. At each step, ask your team, is this step necessary in this process. If yes, keep it. If no, get rid of it and save yourself some time.
I like to walk through processes. Literally. Move your team into a room that is empty of chairs and tables. Have them first document on a flip chart/whiteboard an actual process such as a customer complaint regarding a service. Have them remove all the unnecessary steps that just waste time and prove no benefit to the customer or the organization. Question each step for its relevancy.
When they have their process complete, give them several roles of masking tape/ painter's tape, sheets of paper, and markers. Have them map their process on the floor with the supplies given to them in a flowchart like fashion. After they have completed their flowchart on the floor, have one person act as a customer and one person as the employee. Walk through the flowchart in a role play format to see if any other areas need to be considered or if other steps can be eliminated. Walk through a few times with team members switching roles. When completed role playing, have the team copy down the new process on a sheet of paper to be documented later.
Review your customer service processes and policies regularly as part of your overall commitment to quality.
Talking about Communication
It is one thing to communicate and it is another to effectively communicate. One activity I like to use when working with teams on communication topics involves Lego’s™. Prior to the session, create a work of art out of Lego’s™. Using the art as your model, put the same number of blocks as well as the same colors of blocks in a bag. There should be one bag per team of loose Lego’s™. Place the model in a location where “runners” can see and pick up the model without the rest of the teams seeing the object. At the beginning of your session, break the group into teams of two or more participants. One member is the “runner” and the other members are the builders. Give the teams a time frame where they need to create an exact replica of the hidden model. You may choose to impede all your runners in several different ways. You may have the runners’ hands tied behind their back so they can only use their words. You may have the runners be mute and can only express themselves non-verbally or you may have the builders turn around so they cannot see the runner and the runner cannot see what the builders are building. Any of these situations lend to great discussion on communication.
In your debrief of the activity, make sure you mention that approximately 70% of our communication is non-verbal, 20% is our voice characteristics and only 10% is the actual words we choose to use. Discuss how it is important that all of these tools we use to communicate actually communicate the same message. If our body language is saying one thing and our words another, we are going to have miscommunication. According to Dr. W. Edwards Deming, 80% of problems on teams are due to miscommunication. This activity is a great spring board into a discussion on communication.
Painless Role Playing
Let’s face it, not everyone likes role playing. Role playing is a great way to utilize practice in your meeting or training. For example, you have discovered your team is ineffective in the way they talk with angry customers to resolve issues. You could tell them the right way to work with a customer who is fuming, show them the correct way, and/or have them practice the interaction themselves. Effective role playing the frustrating situation will help your team work out a solution in a safe environment as well as start to desensitize them to the intense emotions that get wrapped up in heated encounters.
To lessen the “stage” impact of role playing, divide groups into teams. The rules are all team members must participate in the role play. This gives some members an “out” if they don’t want a speaking part. Maybe they can be part of a prop. Each group is given a bag of miscellaneous items that they must include somehow in their presentation. Give a time limit for the presentation and a time limit for the teams to prepare. You may say, for example, “each team has 20 minutes to prepare a 5 minute presentation to the group on how to work towards a resolution with a dissatisfied customer. You can choose any scenario you want (or have them draw scenarios from a hat so that they don’t spend so much time in choosing the plot). You must use every item in the bag that I hand you including the bag itself in your presentation. If you do not need the entire 20 minutes for preparation, you can use the rest of the time for a break. Please make sure you are back in the room at 9:52 so we can begin.” (Note: people seem to remember odd times better than standard 5 or 10 minute increments. If you want them back on time, try giving them an odd number.)
Place around 5 items in each bag. Too many items and teams focus their energy on trying to get all the items into the presentation in 5 minutes. Some of my favorite items to put in the bags are: Toilet paper, a spoon, telephone, plastic flowers, deck of cards, play dough, light bulb, cup, misc computer parts, kids’ toys, tinsel, rubber glove, stuffed animal, picture frame, silly glasses, scarf, and an old trophy. Teams will amaze you with how they use the props and there is sure to be lots of laughter. The more obscure the prop, the better. Try to find items that are not normally used in their work environment. Utilizing props takes the pressure off the “acting” part of role playing and helps the participants remember what their key points are during the presentation.
The focus should still be on the content of the presentation. Make sure you take a few minutes and debrief the presentation to pull out the learning points. Then tie those learning points back to the training objectives and congratulate your team on a successful role play activity.
Beach Ball Bonanza
Beach balls can be used in meetings and trainings for a variety of activities. People seem to liven up when a brightly colored ball is being batted around the room, or better yet, when they are up moving around playing catch. This week’s tip uses the beach ball to get the conversation started or your questions answered. In a training, this works as a great review of material or introduction of a new topic. For a meeting, participants use the ball as permission to get the conversation started!
Blow up a beach ball of your choice. I like to use the smiley face ones for some groups and the colored ones for others. On pieces of masking or painter’s tape, write a question, discussion topic, or any thought that you want your participants to discuss. Place the pieces of tape all over the ball about three inches apart. Don’t forget the top and bottom of the ball!
Your participants will then stand up in the room, gather around in a circle or at least secure their coffee cups, as you toss the beach ball to your first “volunteer.” Holding the ball still, they should bring the ball up to eye level and read the question/statement that they can see the most clearly. When they have discussed that piece of tape’s information, they toss the ball to someone else and the process is repeated even if the same question/statement comes up again. The new participant may have a different answer!
A twist on the game is to add a hot potato flavor. Turn on some music and have participants toss the ball around until the music stops. Whoever has the ball when the music stops is the one who answers the question/statement.
A final twist you can add is to create chaos by incorporating one beach ball for every three participants. Toss the balls around the room and when the music stops, the person holding the ball has to find two other people without a ball to discuss the question on the ball they have. This works great in groups of 20-60 participants.
Secret Shop Adventure
Secret shopping is visiting a business to determine their customer service, sales strategy, environment, and any other variables that may set them apart from their competition. Shoppers may or may not purchase an item however their main purpose in this activity is to observe the various customer service factors during the interaction.
At your next department meeting, ask everyone to name customer service factors that make for great interaction with your internal and external customers. Maybe it is the environment that is warm and inviting, or a smiling associate. Maybe it is the speed of service you receive or the correct information. Have the entire group make a list of factors. Type up that list to use as a guide to a secret shopping activity. At your next meeting, select a business that each team member will secret shop by the next meeting (or have them select a business themselves). After they have "shopped" the business, they should write down notable comments about the customer service they saw during their interaction. What things did the employee do that they really liked? What things did the employee do that was not good service? They are to report back to the group their findings regarding customer service at the next meeting. During your debriefing meeting, make sure you relate their findings to what is being done and not done in your own business or department. Come up with a list of customer service factors or strategies that you would like to implement, who is going to spearhead the effort and when it is due. Customer service is everyone's business. Get your employees involved in the process today!
A Penny for Your Thoughts
We have all sat through meetings or trainings where one person dominated the conversation or worse yet, no one said a word. If you were hoping that one person would talk less or everyone else would talk more, there is a simple technique for smaller groups that will help give others "permission" to speak or weigh their words more carefully.
At the beginning of your meeting/training hand out two pennies to each participant. Tell them that you value all their input and are hoping they will offer their "two cents" during your time together today. Make it clear that they all need to spend their two cents during the meeting/training. After everyone has spent their two cents, you will find that there is more balanced communication and you may want to open up the meeting as a free-for-all. If you fear a hostile takeover of communication again, you may want to have everyone throw their "used" pennies into a "kitty" during the meeting. When all the pennies are in the "kitty", people can take a penny out for their voiced idea, complaint, concern, or feedback during the meeting. This is a visual reminder for people to see their interaction level.