Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle
New Thinking from Framework Consulting
As I mentioned in a post 2 days ago, I have been working on upgrading CaribHRForum (original page) — the networking service for Caribbean HR Professionals.
The website has been launched and can be seen at http://caribhrforum.com/wordpress.
Feedback on the site can be shared on the page itself, or here on this blog.
I believe that CaribHRForum is a first in the region in many ways — if not, do let me know!
FYI — CaribHRForum is sponsored by Framework Consulting.
There is no mistaking that the advice that I picked up from a website about writing greeting cards was critical.
Basically, it was very simple. Add a personal note to every card. A handwritten note, that is. And no, not just a signature either…
This was tough medicine, as it meant that I would be writing a personal note in each of the greeting cards I sent to some 300 people across the region.
But, I did it — as painful as it felt. I got writer’s cramp, I complained to myself, and I had a strong feeling that I was wasting my time, but I persisted.
In the cards I shared about the difficulty my wife and I had transitioning to Jamaica, and how the second half of the year with its hurricanes, rains, dengue, and elections made it full of chaos and change. I said that I was looking forward to a more stable 2008.
It took a few weeks for me to realize that something different was happening — many, many more recipients of my card were responding. Some sent email, others send cards, and one even sent a gift.
I was blown away. It turns out to have been well worth the extra effort, and I am very glad I made it.
Here is the original article I read, and here is another one that I just found that also seems to be helpful.
Original article – Personal notes to clients
New article – Writing Greeting Card Messages
All in all, sending a greeting card is such an old-fashioned gesture that it appears to stand out from the majority who just cannot bother, or who can only send a generic e-card (although I was forced to send some after running out of US postage). I credit the 2time – time management approach for my ability to do it without it killing me!
P.S. I found the link I originally got these ideas from: http://longtermclients.hubspot.com/44254/Blog/bid/2333/Personal-notes-to-clients-tip-sheet
The first quarter of this year is going to see quite a few upgrades to one of my long-term social networking projects — CaribHRForum.
Here is where we are today. The forum has 180 members, and has been around since 2003. All the interactions today take place around a single discussion list in which all members participate.
Unfortunately, a discussion list is a difficult thing to describe to someone who has never participated. It’s virtual nature makes it tough to comprehend. A newcomer would have a hard time joining if they were an infrequent and unskilled user of internet technology.
This reality led me to think that the Forum needed a visual presence, and that a blog would fit the bill perfectly.
Perhaps the blog could be staffed by a rotating board of writers who all come from the Caribbean. They would write for 3-4 months stints, once per week.
Also, there could be other information that would be available including links to other sites, information on conferences, downloads of different kinds, message boards and other ways to assist in social networking.
Also, to fund all of this, CaribHRForum would need to start generating revenue of some kind, including paid advertising and information products sold for a price. While membership would continue to be free, the other activities that people use to reach members would not be.
Those are the ideas to date — any others out there?
I made an excerpt of the one hour interview that was recorded at the HRMAJ Conference 2007, between myself and Grace Kennedy CEO Douglas Orane.
Click on the link below, or on the video to be taken to the 3 minute piece.
The first official “New Habits-New Goals” workshop is now open for registration.
It builds on the pilot class that was held in January with 13 participants and, once again, promises to give those who attend the tools to construct a time management system for themselves, built on the fundamentals of personal productivity that represent the newest thinking in the field.
It will be held on February 26-27, 2008 at the New Horizons Computer Learning Centre in Liguanea.
The class will be small, with less than 15 participants — we still want to keep things small to give more individual attention.
For more information see http://fwconsulting.com/newhabits
It struck me recently that here in the Caribbean we relate to people who provide us with good service with some gratitude, and perhaps with too much gratitude.
Rarely does the fact that we get good service from an individual translate into a feeling that the company, as a whole, provides good service. Instead, we take it to mean that they have one good person, and that the service he/she gives is not a function of the company, but is due to something else like their personality, demeanor or positive frame of mind.
Little wonder that hardly any companies stand out for the quality of their service in the minds of average Jamaicans. They all seem to be offering more or less the same average, low standard fare, with the occasional person standing out now and again, against more examples of poor service that ruin the reputation the company is trying to build.
When we find that good person, we feel like we have found a friend, and are grateful to them, instead of being grateful to the company. It’s a different dynamic than the one that pertains to U.S. companies, which are much less personal and more anonymous.
It seems as if its harder to build a brand when service is taken personally… but maybe it’s easier, when positive experiences become the norm?
This video is funny — and it has a serious message at the same time about the Caribbean tourism “product”.
Don’t skip over the guy’s comment about the music at the end.
On a recent project, my partner and I attempted to come up with a set of practices that we considered to be basic to the delivery of a good customer experience. While these practices would have to be tuned to produce any particular customer experience, they seemed to be basic enough to be broadly applicable.
I will explain each of these practices in an upcoming post.
In customer experience programmes across the region, a real difficulty lies in getting the job done, while creating the intended experience at the same time.
At the very low standards of service we experience across the Caribbean region, it’s safe to say that the average service professional, in the process of delivering service to a local customer, does a poor job of creating any conscious experience.
On the other hand, the very best service professionals I have ever encountered are able to take even a denial of service, and turn it into a positive experience. How is that possible?
Well, I am no surgeon, but the idea of undergoing surgery freaks most people out. Yet, as undesirable as it is, a patient who survives can indeed regard the entire experience as a useful and important one in their lives. Childbirth is similar in this regard.
Not that this is easy. It takes practice, skill and awareness, and also the will to serve people in this most sacred of ways.
There are not too many fresh graduates of high schools and colleges who are able to perform this particular trick. Instead, they learn from their management how to disregard experience, and to use force to get the job done. Then, predictably, the professional can blame the circumstances for the customer’s experience, and remove themselves from a position of any accountability.
They simply are providing the worst customer experience possible.
A foreigner to the
In other words, we make the mistake to accept, say, 80% of what’s needed plus a good story as equivalent to 100% of what’s needed.
This may very well just be a human tendency that is pronounced in the region, or it might have its roots in plantation slavery — who knows? I am not even sure that it is important to understand the origins, as it might be enough to know that the tendency exists, and this must be factored into the way that everyone from the CEO to first-line supervisors manages regional professionals.
It speaks to the unwillingness we have to confront each other over low performance, and the skill that’s required to confront each other directly. Without it, there is discord, hurt feelings and even violence.