People Are Not Machines

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As a call center manager myself, I have thought the same thing…. Time to crank up production/productivity. Take a moment to read Tom Stevens thoughts on the subject.

 Time to crank up production? Get this place running like a well-oiled machine?

The machine continues to be the dominant metaphor of the workplace – meaning we tend to relate to our working world as if it was a machine. We have plenty of experiences each day that reinforce this perception of life-as-machine: We step on the gas pedal and our cars move faster. We push a button and documents get efficiently copied – maybe even on both sides, collated, and stapled.

I continue to be approached by executives looking for that metaphorical lever, pedal, dial, or button that will motivate people, get them to change, or increase morale. It’s the wrong thing to be looking for because it’s the wrong metaphor.

Let’s start by acknowledging that people aren’t machines. We know this because:

•   People have their own intentions, goals, will, and purpose that drive thinking and behavior;

•   People have an unlimited range of possible thinking and behavior responses;

•   The range of thinking and behavior responses people have can continuously increase through learning.

It is true that most of a person’s thinking and behavior is on “auto-pilot”. According to some experts, 95% of what we do occurs outside of our awareness. And perhaps these automatic responses are what fool us into thinking people can be operated and adjusted like machines.

So what are the implications of this information for leaders who rely on human thinking, knowledge, and behavior to create value in their organization?

•   Performance will always be less than optimal unless the organizational goals are aligned with individual goals. Create opportunities to assess, discuss, and align organizational and personal goals. This is valuable at any time, but is especially relevant when bringing people on board.

•   There is always a creative tension between structure and freedom. Structure is absolutely needed to focus people’s range of behavior and direct those items that are on “auto-pilot”. That being said, management cannot be fully reduced to a codified set of rules. I know of no organization that would flourish if everyone simply did what was in their job description. Figuring out the best structure that fits your people and organization is an important undertaking.

•   Competency in human relationships – call it soft-skills, emotional intelligence, likeability, or people sense – is a fundamental ingredient to bringing out talent. As it’s been demonstrated, with the right experiences, people can continuously improve relationship skills. This too is an important investment.

•   The context in which people work matters, and matters significantly. Many organizations undervalue the impact of company culture and environment, even though these factors are huge drivers of that 95% of behavior and thinking that occurs on auto-pilot. Attention to creating environments and cultivating a company culture that is congruent with company objectives can have far-reaching results.

Cultivate is the word to emphasize. When it comes to people, think cultivate like a garden, not operate like a machine. There are no magic levers or buttons when aligning personal and organizational goals, establishing the right structure, increasing interpersonal competencies, and attending to the organization’s culture. But all these activities can have tremendous influence on the level of performance your people give to the organization. Cultivate goals, structure, skill, and culture with care, and watch the value from the people in your organization grow.

  By Tom Stevens  (c)

 

Esquare Leadership LLC

 

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Five office stress-busters

Caroline Gutierrez Goddard

As the owner of Bloom Creatives, Caroline Gutierrez Goddard tells stories with words and photos – 

10 ways to refresh and regroup

By allowing your body and mind to have a quick break, you can increase your motivation, re-focus your attention, sharpen your concentration and relieve your stress. By following these simple tips, you will be feeling great in no time.

Take a brisk walk

On your lunch hour, instead of driving to the restaurant or ordering in, pack a lunch and take a brisk walk to your local park. Eat outdoors where you can get some oxygen and sunlight before returning back to the office. If there's no park nearby, head to the nearest restaurant with an outdoor patio.

  Get your blood flowing

Simple exercise will get the blood flowing to your extremities and to your brain, helping you feel refreshed and rejuvenated. You don't need to work up a heavy sweat. Just close your office door, pull on your yoga pants and get down on the floor for some stretches.

  Play a game

Take a short break to play a game. This is particularly helpful if you are in the middle of a tedious project. By refocusing your mind on something else for a brief time, you will improve your concentration. Bring a deck of cards to work or play online games.

Drink a glass of water

Even something as simple as a tall glass of cold water will help you feel refreshed. If you don't keep bottled water at your desk, take a short break every few hours and enjoy a cool glass of water. Eight glasses of water each day are essential for your health.

Get rid of distractions

If you are constantly checking your personal e-mail, Facebook, cell phone messages and other things throughout the day, it means you are losing your focus. Get rid of the distractions and get back on track by taking a break and checking them all at once. After your break is over, forbid yourself to goof off again for the rest of the day.

Eat blueberries

Studies show that blueberries have the highest concentration of antioxidants of any type of fruit, and they are brain food. A diet rich in blueberries can improve memory, motor skills and concentration. Additionally, the nutrients in blueberries help relieve high blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure can lead to heart attack and stroke.

Get some comic relief

Life shouldn't always be serious - even at work. Take a short break and enjoy something humorous. Read the comics in the newspaper, visit the TheOnion.com for satirical news, or surf TheHollywoodGossip.com to catch up on the celeb buzz of the week.

Meditate

Fifteen minutes of meditation refreshes the mind, body and soul. You can use music or a meditation CD. Turn your lights down low and free your mind. If this isn't feasible in your office, head to a quiet place outdoors where you can tune into you.

Get a pedicure

Schedule a weekly appointment for a pedicure. A good pedicure only takes 20 to 30 minutes, so it's easy to get one on your lunch hour. The foot massage and pampering will relieve stress and leave you feeling refreshed.

Take a nap

If you are really out of it, a 15 to 20 minute nap will rejuvenate you. Close your office door and put your head down on your desk. Be sure to set a timer so that you don't oversleep. When you wake up, splash some water on your face and get back to work.

Kori Ellis is an editor and writer based in San Antonio, TX, where she lives with her husband and two labs, Yogi and Deuce. At SheKnows, she contributes articles to the Beauty & Style and Food & Cooking channels. Additionally, Kori has been published in dozens of magazines, newspapers and websites worldwide, writing about everything from wedding planning to fantasy sports.

How to handle Stress in your Workplace

Like most callcenter managers, you are probably ready for a relaxing weekend (as long as their are no emergencies at the site). Here is an article by Greg Frost in which you will find tips for relieving Monday's stress.

With the fast advancement of technology, the stresses faced at work have also increased. Many people dislike going to work, hence the term “Monday Blues”. What is the reason for this? There is partly the fear from being retrenched during strenuous times, leading to greater job insecurity on the part of those who remain. Undoubtedly, occupational stress is one of the most commonly cited stressors faced by people all over the world.

Stress refers to the pressure and reactions to our circumstances around us which results in psychological and physical reactions. While some stress is beneficial for motivation and increasing efficiency, excessive stress can result in negative impacts such as lessened effectiveness and efficiency. There is an increasing number of people are feeling isolated and disrespected at work, and this has led to greater occupational stress. Many companies have taken to consulting experts and professionals on ways to improve connectedness and morale of their employees.

Some companies organize parties and make an effort to allow their employees feel valued at work. These are methods to encourage employees and help them to feel secure at their jobs, which would translate into greater productivity. However, not every company have such measures in place, and some have not gotten it quite right. Hence, it is your choice to ensure that you can cope with stress at your workplace, and utilize it to help you work better. Here are 3 simple steps to help you with coping with stress in the workplace.

Step #1: Raising Awareness
Help yourself to identify when you are facing rising levels of stress, tipping the scales from positive to negative. This is important, as being able to identify signs of being stressed can help you to take the necessary precautions to ensure that your overall quality of life does not drop. If left unacknowledged, the problem will only grow bigger, leading to dire consequences to your health and overall wellbeing.

You can identify if you are stressed up by checking if you have any physical or psychological reactions, such as excessive sweatingor increasing heart palpitations, or the onset of headaches, being irritated or the want to run away. If you experience any of these reactions, identify if you are feeling any overwhelming negative emotions, and if you are constantly worried.

Step #2: Identify the Cause
You have to be able to analyze the situation and identify what is causing the rise in stress. These stressors can be both external and internal. External stressors refer to things beyond your control, such as the environment or your colleagues at work. Internal stressors refers to your personal thinking and attitude. Often, we only start reacting to stress when a combination of stressors working together goes beyond our threshold.

Keep a diary or a list of events that have caused you to experience strong negative emotions, or those that are likely stressors. This will help you to identify the reasons behind your stress. While it is not always possible to eradicate them, we can change the way that we cope with it.

Step #3: Coping with Stress
In order to tackle the situation that is causing you stress, you need to calm your mind and body so as to stave off the reactions and cope with it in a positive way. This can be through different methods, such as taking time off. If a situation is causing your stress and you are unable to calm down, move away from it. Head outside and take a walk to calm down. Alternatively, you can try implementing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing. If it is an internal stressor, stop your thought process until you are able to deal with it logically.

The key to making these 3 steps work for you is to practice them. These are not instantaneous solutions, and you need to condition your mind and practice them so that you can implement it when you are feeling stressed.

Cheer Leaders Inspire Others

One of the many hats that a call center team leader wears is the cap of a cheer leader!

"I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval, than under a spirit of criticism." — Charles Schwab, legendary steel industry pioneer

It has been said that there are only two types of people who thrive on being recognized for their achievements: men and women. (I guess that covers most of us!) Reflecting on a life of pioneering work, 19th century American philosopher and psychologist William James said, "I now perceive one immense omission in my psychology – the deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

Effective leaders understand the power of sincere recognition, genuine appreciation, and celebration. These are what provide the atmosphere of encouragement that develops confidence and builds on strengths. This encouragement needn't come from the leader. It can be just as meaningful coming from peers, customers, team members, and other partners. But it's the leader who sets the emotional tone and atmosphere for recognition, appreciation and celebration in his or her organization.

Recognition, appreciation, and celebration continually show up near the top of most lists of motivational factors. In an article entitled "Rethinking Rewards," published in the Harvard Business Review, Andrew Lebby of The Performance Group reports, "Year after year we ask employees what motivates them, and year after year they reply (in order of priority):

A sense of accomplishment in performing the work itself
Recognition from peers and top management
Career advancement
Management support
Salary

"All leadership is appreciative leadership. It's the capacity to see the best in the world around us, in our colleagues, and in the groups we are trying to lead." — David Cooperrider, Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Most of us know intuitively whether someone is being a genuine leader, or is simply "doing their leadership thing." One of the major indicators is how much we feel that person cares about us and our opinions. In my experience, there are hundreds of little ways to tell how much managers care about the people in their organization. Do they use disparaging or objectifying language? Do they involve people in decisions which affect them? Do they try to make the workplace as healthy, safe, and pleasant as possible? Do they ensure that managers are well trained and held accountable for the leadership they provide? Do they openly share "confidential" information? Do they actively practice servant-leadership? Do they individualize rather than generalize? Finally – and this is one of the biggies – do managers ask for, carefully listen to, and act on input from everyone throughout their organization?

Too often managers think they're showing that they care by giving people patronizing pats on the head. These may take the form of goodies such as gifts, parties, long-service trinkets, trivial newsletters, or "royal visits" (occasional "touring of the troops" with much bowing and scraping). Not that these things are necessarily bad. Like anything, they are neither bad nor good in themselves, but in how they're used. When they substitute for treating people as respected and highly valuable partners, they increase cynicism and widen the we/they gap between management and people on the front lines.

One study of U.S. business school graduates shows that a growing number – it's now over half – are turning down higher-paying jobs for those that offer more room for personal growth. But too often personal growth is left completely up to the individual. Many organizations do a poor job of helping people grow. In a survey of 13,000 managers, only three percent strongly agreed that their companies were good at developing people!

Conventional wisdom is that management is getting things done through people. Strong leaders do that well. But they go further. Strong leaders coach and develop people through their work. Sometimes that means helping people do what they don't want to do so they can be the person they want to be.

Jim Clemmer’s practical leadership books, keynote presentations, workshops, and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team, and organizational leadership. Visit his web site, http://jimclemmer.com/, for a huge selection of free practical resources including nearly 300 articles, dozens of video clips,  team assessments, leadership newsletter, Improvement Points service, and popular leadership blog. Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's Digest. His latest book is Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work.

Now You Can Really Motivate Your Staff To Go The Extra Mile

Andrew Rondeau provides a startling statistic about the average employee. Hopefully your call center employees are part of the 75% that do know what is expected of them while at work.

25% of your staff do not know what is expected of them, while at work. Are you shocked at that figure - 25%. I was, so I did something about it. Read the tips and techniques I used to reduce that figure.

To be an Effective Manager and tell Them to have a successful career in any company you must know how to build relationships.

The most important relationship is between the manager and their direct reports. The strength of this relationship can have a direct result on the success of a team. Yes the relationship between the manager and their staff must be ‘open and ‘trustworthy, that's a given – but what else should you expect from your staff as their manager?

During my 20 years plus management career, I've observed and experienced that certain behaviors, on the part of both the staff and the manager, are conducive to productive and rewarding relationships.

I share my views below and I hope that I can help other managers, leaders, staff and teams to improve their relationships and as a consequence, their performance.

What I Expect from My Direct Reports Get involved Successful managers know how to delegate. But even more important, they know when a situation calls for their immediate involvement, whether it's in redirecting resources to a major crisis or visiting their staff at a remote site. If you see a problem rising, there is no excuse for not taking responsibility. I expect my reports to take the blame for things that go wrong and give credit for positive developments to their employees. That is part of being a manager – take the blame but praise the staff/team when things work out well.

It is the manager's judgment call to know when your involvement is necessary and will have the most impact on the business. I have found that effective managers generally get involved when one of these three types of circumstances arise: when somebody is falling behind in their commitments; when important personnel matters arise and in a crisis.

Generate ideas A person who is innovative and creative is rare. I actually encourage individuals to come up with ideas. I listen to what they suggest and say. Together we decide which ideas are taken forward and implemented.

Be willing to collaborate and share The number of people I come across who resist collaboration or sharing credit amazes me. Individuals think by keeping ‘things to themselves' they will become infallible or irreplaceable. The team, department, company can achieve improved results if individuals share their good ideas, practice, ways of working.

As a manager, you have to take this very seriously and I do. Several years ago, I was hired to improve the turnaround time of customer orders for a large blue-chip company. Two of my direct reports just did not get on; they didn't talk to each other; they didn’t turn up to each other's meetings; they argued in front of customers. All this meant they didn't and couldn't work together and because they didn't work together well, neither did their teams. As a result, service was not improving. The three of us met and I told them that it didn’t matter whether they liked each other or not, but the way they worked together had to change. They left the meeting with the agreement they would overcome their differences. I don't know if they ever learned to like each other, but they learned to work well together – and more important, so did their teams. Our overall performance improved considerably.

Be willing to lead initiatives I love change and as a manager, I am always impressed when someone volunteers to lead new initiatives. It shows courage, confidence and flexibility. New initiatives often means new skills, new relationships and new environments, for the individual who volunteers. Most individuals won't put their hand up to volunteer because of the unknown. All I can say, it that those that do, it will be their careers they will accelerate and their profile will increase tremendously.

Develop your staff as you develop You need to manage your own development. However, even more important is the development of your staff. Early in my career, I worked for a great manager. He told me one day, he was going to do everything he could to help me reach my potential. From that moment on, he was more interested in my development than in his own. He went out of his way to criticise or praise me when I needed it. I'll never forget him; he played a very meaningful role in my career.

Drive your own development Keep your own skills up-to-date. Your company may not offer all the development you need. You may have to do your own research. In my career I have read many, many management/leadership/business books (some bad, some good, some excellent). I have also had many mentors.

Ask your boss and peers for feedback. Get yourself a mentor (inside or outside the company). Accept and volunteer for new types of work – learn from the new skills, relationships and environments.

Remember your own development is your responsibility.

A last word…..

25% of all staff don't know what their boss expects of them. As a manager, make sure 100% of your staff know what you expect of them. It's easy to do – the behaviors I expect are listed above. You may have different ones. It doesn't matter – just make sure your staff know. If they do, you will see an improvement in your team's service.

Andrew Rondeau transformed himself from a $4 an-hour petrol-pump attendant to a highly successful Senior Manager earning $500k every year.

Discover how you can remove your fear and reduce your stress of being a new manager by receiving Andrew's free Management e-Course and report: http://www.greatmanagement.org/

Celebration is the Pause that Refreshes

There is a line in this article by Jim that hit home to me and reminded me of life as a call center manager. Jim says  "The relentless drive for ever-higher performance and reaching our next goal often leaves us too numb and exhausted to enjoy what we have achieved". 

"Success is every minute you live. It's the process of living. It's stopping for the moments of beauty, of pleasure; the moments of peace. Success is not a destination that you ever reach. Success is the quality of the journey." — Jennifer James, Success is the Quality of Your Journey

After 45 years of hard work, the grizzled old rancher decided it was finally time to sell the ranch, retire, and really enjoy the rewards of his toil and sweat. So he called a real estate agent to list the place for sale. The agent spent most of a day with the rancher, riding the range and getting a feel for the ranch he would be selling.

A few days later, the agent returned to finalize the listing and get approval for an ad he'd prepared. It was written to attract a city dweller from the large metropolitan area less then 100 miles away. The ad described the freedom of the open range. It talked in poetic terms about the river that happily babbled to the lush green hills as it meandered by. The ad described heartbreakingly beautiful sunsets that painted the big open sky with an awesome array of reds, oranges, and crimsons. It spoke of the deep satisfaction and contentment of sitting on the big front porch and watching the young colts play in the corral.

After reading the ad, the seasoned, old rancher walked over to the huge picture window and silently gazed out. A few minutes later, he softly whispered, "This ranch isn't for sale after all." As the rancher turned to face the agent, a tear ran down his wrinkled, leathery cheek. "All my life I've dreamed of a place just like this. Now I finally realize what I've got here."

The relentless drive for ever-higher performance and reaching our next goal often leaves us too numb and exhausted to enjoy what we have achieved. Rather than pausing to appreciate what we have accomplished, we become narrowly focused on what we haven't yet attained. Dale Carnegie once observed that "One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon — instead of enjoying the roses that bloom outside our windows today."

I've been as guilty of this as anyone. By not slowing down to savor successes along the way, each accomplishment becomes less fulfilling. When I have paused to savor and celebrate, life becomes richer and much more satisfying. I also find that it's a great "battery recharger." Savoring and celebrating is highly energizing. Paradoxically, it's when things are darkest and our goals seem farthest from reach that a focus on what's gone right and what we have to be thankful for can be the most invigorating.

Radical change and aggressive breakthrough targets are often quite daunting. Continual change and constant improvement can be exhausting. That's why effective leaders break the endless improvement journey into a series of short exciting trips. A key element of that is celebrating and savoring successes. It's how effective improvement leaders reenergize everyone to strive for the next goal.

Energizing leaders employ a multitude of creative ways to foster appreciation and recognition, giving among all team and organization members. They also find numerous ways to hike energy and enjoyment levels by marking and celebrating milestones along the way. Energizing leaders constantly search for ways to make change and improvement fun and rewarding. They know that the Laughter Index is a key indicator of the health and vitality of a team or organization.

Taking on this important leadership role means you'll need to overcome deep conditioning that business is very serious stuff. Tom Peters has speculated on the cause of this energy-sapping view of organizational life. He claims that over the entrance to most business schools there's a giant stone lintel with these words deeply inscribed in it, "All ye who enter here shall never smile again." If suppressed laughter does spread the hips and produce gas, that may explain a few things.

Jim Clemmer’s practical leadership books, keynote presentations, workshops, and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team, and organizational leadership. Visit his web site, http://jimclemmer.com/, for a huge selection of free practical resources including nearly 300 articles, dozens of video clips,  team assessments, leadership newsletter, Improvement Points service, and popular leadership blog. Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's Digest. His latest book is Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work.

Passion Plan at Work..Increase Passion for your Work

This is a great article by Jody Urquhart of idoinspire.com who totally believes in the power of play in your worklife. Take a few moments to read her thoughts on the subject and see if they can benefit you and your call center team.

Passion is the single most powerful competitive advantage an organization can claim in building its success

Many organizations possess the same technology, resources, equipment, and expertise, but it is the organization that runs on passion that thrives. The passion-driven organization inspires its employees, invigorates its customers, and reaps the benefits of their shared enthusiasm in its success

Passion Matters

Both employees and customers have feelings that compel them to act the way they do. Employee’s performance can be directly linked to their feelings toward their work. Customers do not buy just anything. They make their decisions based on emotional responses to products and the organizations that provide them. We all operate on emotion, we make decisions on emotion.

Passion is something deeper than policies and practices that give an organization meaning and life. A passion for what you do makes every day invigorating and rewarding.

A recent study highlighted in the Wall Street Journal revealed that customers gravitate toward companies that appeal to them on an emotional level (Alsop, 1999).

To attract customers and employees, compete solely on price the relationship has no loyalty the relationship ends when a better financial reward is found. To have people committed during the ups and downs of business you need to build loyalty with passion. Passion builds advocates for your business.

Passion is uncommon. Not many people jump out of bed fueled by their passion to go to work. More often in organizations people are disengaged, cynical and cranky.

Many management methods alleviate the symptoms that afflict the modern company; few treat the disease that causes them, lack of passion.

Benefits of Passion
Provides direction and focus
Creates energy
Inspires creativity
Heightens performance
Builds loyalty
Attracts employees and customers
Unites the organization
Provides a critical edge
Brings the organization to a higher plane
Inspires action
The benefits of passion are obvious, so why don’t more organizations harness it? At some level there is passion present in most organizations, but it does not form the framework. Leadership may feel it, but not understand how to communicate it. Employees may sense it, but be uncertain or confused as to how to act on it. Customers may detect it in products and services, but may not feel it is consistent or compelling.

Somewhere along our journey we lose sight of what inspires us. We compromise our passion to get the job done. Unbridled growth, increasing technology, multitasking, fierce competition, labor shortages all have forced business to do more with less and what suffers is passion.

Define passion and have a way to sustain it. What is the core thing that people can be proud and passionate about? Link this to your overall business operations. Communicate it often.

(IDEA- Have regular team “huddles” where employees communicate what they are most proud of)

Brainstorm- What specific acts communicate passion? (i.e. - going out of your way for a customer, recognizing other team members, celebrating success, smiling, skipping down the hallway….( as one CEO does)

 Keep overall enthusiasm and energy high. Strive to increase overall energy in your work environment. You need this energy to fuel passion. Smile, laugh, and engage in fun activities to keep energy levels high.

Fake it until you make it. The trick is to act passionately even if you aren’t, eventually it becomes a habit and in the meantime your energy will lift everyone up.

Everyday our body language comes through loud and clear. Is yours inspiring confidence and energy in others or is it tired or just uptight?

Be innovative. Try new and different approaches to your work to fuel passion

Sharpen your skills.

What are you insanely great at in your Work? Recognize people for their contribution to your organizations purpose.

Copy write Jody Urquhart  www.idoinspire.com

A Little Pride Goes A Long Way

Call Center team leads! Here is a gentle reminder from Pj Germain to remember the small things that mean so much to your employees.

In todays competitive world, the small things sometimes measure the fine line between success and failure:

  The caring smile of each employee.

  The extra effort to meet a deadline.

  One final check of a job before it goes to the customer.

  The moment you take to add one last touch to your best effort.

And where do these small things come from? They cannot always be taught or programmed. In fact, they come from only one place inside each of us. The place where pride lives. Quality gives us that vital competitive edge, and pride is the spark that ignites the passion for quality in each of us. Pride moves mountains. It creates great machines. It makes important things happen. Proud men and women, winning over incredible obstacles by virtue of their self-confidence, drive and dedication, built our nation.

But there is more to it than that; because pride works in countless ways and sometimes small invisible ways. It creates little miracles as well as large. And it lights up small rooms just as brightly as great halls. Pride works hard, but it works from the inside out. Pride comes from who we are and how we look at ourselves. The world respects those who respect themselves - and who show it in the way they get things done everyday. They are the winners. Pride also comes from what we achieve. Are the things we accomplish valuable to others as well as to ourselves? Do they make a difference? Pride works wonders, but it does not work half way. If you think 99.9% is good enough, think again. A 99.9% effort could mean:

…Two unsafe landings every day at the busiest airport in the world.

…Five hundred wrong surgical procedures performed every week.

…And, in drugstores throughout the country, more than 20,000 prescriptions filled incorrectly each year.

It is clear that where life and death are concerned, 99.9% is not good enough. But that is just as true in every part of our lives, too. If you take pride in what you do, believe there is simply no room for less than 100% effort.

Pride works. But it does not come easy. We have to look for it constantly, realizing that few things are worth doing unless they are done well and right. It is crucial that we keep challenging ourselves: Go one step further. Reach one inch higher. Hold on one moment longer. Probe one bit deeper. Try just a little harder. Pride works. But only if you make it work. Because when all is said and done, it really does come down to you! Your company's success depends on your effort! Quality is the responsibility of everyone and your pride will help give you your best in order to get the job done right - the first time and every time!

TEAMWORK = Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.
The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives.
It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Teamwork demands that all departments provide service to the internal customer who is on the front line serving the external customer. That means you are responsible for serving other team members and they are responsible for serving you. As a team member, you must remember that the key word to describe your relationship with others is interdependence. Others are dependent on you and you are dependent on others. We need each other to ultimately serve our external customers and to meet their specific needs.

Together
Everyone
Accomplishes
More

Checklist for Changing Me to Change Them

Since most call centers work hard at building teams to improve performance, we thought this article by Jim Clemmer might be interesting to our readers.

"The cruelest lies are often told in silence." — Robert Lewis Stevenson, 19th century Scottish poet, novelist, and essayist

We can't build a team or organization that's different from us. We can't make them into something we're not. Failing to follow this principle is the single biggest reason that so many team and organization change and improvement efforts flounder or fail. The changes and improvements we try to make to others must ring true to the changes and improvements we're also trying to make to ourselves. The following is a checklist:
Are You Trying to Make Your Organization or Team Into Something You're Not?

To What Extent am I:

__ Attempting to change my organization or team without changing myself?

__ Prodding my organization to be more people (customer/partner) focused when I am a Technomanager (driven by management systems and technology)?

__ Driving for industry or market leadership when I am afflicted with the Pessimism Plague and/or Victimitis Virus?

__ Striving to stimulate and energize others when I am not passionate about my own role and life's work?

__ Promoting organization or team vision, values, and mission when my own picture of my preferred future, principles, and purpose aren't clear and/or well aligned with where I am trying to lead others.

__ Pushing for a customer-driven organization while controlling and dominating, rather than serving (servant-leadership)?

__ Aspiring to develop new markets and fill unmet needs while spending limited time with customers, partners, or those serving them?

__ Trying to build a learning organization when my own rate of personal growth and development is low?

__ Declaring the urgency of higher levels of innovation while I stick to familiar personal methods and traditional command and control management approaches?

__ Aiming for disciplined organization or team goal and priority setting when I am not well-organized, a poor personal time manager, and fuzzy about my own goals and priorities?

__ Setting organization improvement plans without an improvement process of my own?

__ Promoting teamwork and a team-based organization without providing a personal model of team leadership and team effectiveness in action?

__ Supporting high levels of skill development — for everyone else?

__ Forcing accountability, performance appraisal, and measurement on others while I defend, avoid, or half-heartedly gather personal feedback?

__ Proclaiming empowerment and involvement while controlling and limiting people with a centralized structure and systems that constrain rather than support?

__ Talking about the need for better communications without becoming a strong and compelling communicator?

__ Establishing formal reward and recognition programs when my personal habits of giving sincere recognition and showing genuine appreciation are weak?

__ Espousing support for change champions while suppressing "off the wall" behavior and pushing people to follow my plans and stay within my established system?

__ Advocating reviews and assessments while doing little personal reflection and contemplation?

What do my answers tell me about my leadership? Does this exercise help explain the positive, negative, or so-so results of the team and organization improvement efforts I lead? My reflections are important, but an even better source of feedback are the people on my team or those in my organization who know my leadership behavior well enough to give me some feedback. Ironically (and tragically), managers who need it most — the weakest leaders — are the least likely to ask for this kind of feedback.

 

Jim Clemmer’s practical leadership books, keynote presentations, workshops, and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team, and organizational leadership. Visit his web site, http://jimclemmer.com/, for a huge selection of free practical resources including nearly 300 articles, dozens of video clips, team assessments, leadership newsletter,Improvement Points service, and popular leadership blog. Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's Digest. His latest book is Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work.

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