committee Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

21
May 21
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Task Force Means Urgent, While Committee Lingers

Tags : committee planning problem solving task force

Have you been assigned to a task force? Are you leading one?

The task force is intended to be a short-term venture. Its primary goal is one of urgency with an expectation of being resolved, it is not a lasting ongoing group.

This group or team usually assembles quickly and then just as quickly dissipates. Having a spot in the group means your expertise is required. It is required right now.

The goal is to solve the special problem or need.

A committee on the other hand, may carry a lasting place in your community, a special interest group, or within any organization.

Sometimes there is a marketing committee. There may also be an event planning committee or a committee assigned to provide budgetary oversight. It might be an annual, seasonal, or cyclical activity, however, the essence of urgency usually only occurs when timelines or milestones start to slip away with limited or no action.

Which is it?

Task Force

Things that are urgent tend to change. The contents on a list of urgent items will shift. There may always be an urgent list but it won’t include the same contents.

When the manufacturer notices an emerging high failure rate on a product or system, they may create a task force to get to the root cause and provide a solution.

An unexpected virus, in software or in people, may require the urgency of a task force, not a committee.

It is important to recognize the difference.

A task force that doesn’t resolve the problem doesn’t usually become a committee.

The committee often lacks the urgency of the task force.

Call them by name, because without a label an urgent problem may last too long.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

15
Aug 17
-

Change the Average Customer Experience

Tags : average committee culture customer service network

We are always evaluating. Often we size things up, make a determination or a judgment. Bias might come into play and sometimes stereotyping. Have you thought about how to change the average customer experience?

Everywhere you go people are trying to deliver exceptional customer service. In some cases, we may argue that sometimes they aren’t really trying at all. Ask people what they want in the customer experience and they might tell you. Others will never say a word or respond to a survey.

Average Customer Experience

Organizations do it all the time. They try to hire people who are just like the rest of the team. Looking for the fit, it is what they do. How many really up their game? How many look for the best of the best instead of just what fits?

The customer experience delivered by your organization is really about the culture. It is a collection of values and beliefs delivered across time that may now be identified as a tradition. It is not just a department and it is not just the responsibility of closing a sale.

What your customers may get, at best, is an average experience. It’s an average when you aren’t making moves to do something bigger, better, and bolder than the rest.

Your customer has a measurement, a bar, an experience that sets the standard. Anytime someone surpasses the standard they have received exceptional service. In those situations, their experience is above average.

Change the Experience

What if your organization hired differently or if you invited new members to the committee? What if you asked the front line, listened better, and changed more? Would you, could you, increase the average experience for your customers?

Who is in your network? You might be part of the average calculation.

What are your favorite restaurants? They set your average experience.

What do you buy online? Shopping online is part of your average shopping experience.

If you are going to change your average, when you want to create a better customer experience, you are going to have to do something different.

It takes guts and effort to make a difference.

Average is easy.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

11
Jul 17
-

3 Reasons Committees Shouldn’t Design Customer Service

Tags : committee customer service design profit punishment

Today much of our customer service has a digital focus. We download, upload, and avoid the print out or hard copy. Digital services really aren’t the problem though. It might be more about the design. There are reasons why committees shouldn’t design customer service.

It is easy for the committee, the board of directors, and those in the ivory tower to get off track. They often design to protect profit while often not realizing that they are limiting the exact scenario they are trying to protect. Certainly, you can’t give it all away but you also need to have the correct focus.

Design Customer Service

Here are three reasons why committees shouldn’t design customer service:

Operationally feasible. The committee usually (but not always) represents people across the operational framework. They design what works for operations while seeking solutions to resolve operational problems. Solutions for customers are often not their focus, even when they might suggest that they are.
Top floor. We tend to understand our own framework. The front line is often very different from the top floor. Sure, you can see things from the top of the canyon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll make the best choice to ride the white water in a raft at the bottom.
Punishment. There is a delicate balance between helping the customer for more future profit and protecting the bottom line. Elevators and escalators are expensive but forcing your customers to take the stairs might be more punishment than they’ll accept. Literally or figuratively, committees often decide in favor of the stairs.

Design of the Committee

The argument might then become that the wrong people are on the committee. Certainly, that is a valid argument. That might lead us to consider how the committee formed.

Effort might not be the reason for failure.

It might be the design.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: committee

May 21

-

Task Force Means Urgent, While Committee Lingers

Task Force

Aug 17

-

Change the Average Customer Experience

Average Customer Experience

Change the Experience

Jul 17

-

3 Reasons Committees Shouldn’t Design Customer Service

Design Customer Service

Design of the Committee

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