Skip to main content

Didn't you double check?


Apparently a battle ensued last night between Influential Irene's hair and pillow as her golden locks now looked as if she had just stuck her finger in an electrical socket.  Business travel was not Irene's favorite; however, she understood how important it is to get out of the office.  A nice hot shower, that would get everything back on track.  Much to her dismay only cold water flowed from her shower nozzle.  Torn now between frustration and empathy, as all service companies know that electro-mechanical equipment fails.  Hotels highest profile items, hot water, power, and no bed bugs should be checked and double-checked.  Now the actions, or in this case lack thereof, will likely cost this organization immediate and long-term costs.



As Irene made her way downstairs the roar of complaining guests filled the lobby.  How is it possible that this happened?  Conscientious technicians typically correct these errors during their testing or observing phases.  Her thoughts bounced back and forth just like a ping-pong ball between the left and right sides of her brain.  Irene started to run through some possibilities:

  • In a hurry and / or careless?  possibly a late night call after a full day.  Remedy | checklists, digital or paper and the discipline to run from top to bottom
  • Lack of skills?  often a convenient catch-all; however, many times simply BS.  Remedy | product documentation at site, FAQ's posted, leverage of BOT (see previous posts)
  • Tech does not give a crap?  the longer a service manager has been in their position the higher likelihood of using this cop-out.    Remedy | while the aforementioned may be true the root cause is often traced back to your organizations culture.  How does that saying go about throwing rocks in glass houses?



While no technology can solve all of these challenges, augmented reality shows promise.  Once you believe folks are trying to do the right thing, your world will open to many possibilities.  For me, if sensors and logic can assist someone when they need help, without compromising them amongst their peers, bring it on!



-----

Next post:  who's data is it?
----- 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

why transform?

Why do I want to change, who said anything was wrong with my stack of papers and sea of Excel files?   We solve problems, that is a key characteristic of any successful service organization, if it isn't broke why fix it?   Often, when discussing a transformation from paper or cobbled together systems to a cohesive digital approach, folks struggle with the gap between what they currently do and how digital tools can help.   You really need to look at where the pain points are in your organization and how these compare to your business objectives.   Consider writing down these points on the whiteboard in no particular order, spend a few days shuffling and consolidating into a prioritized list.   Once you have the "why" and the "what" identified, the old remaining step is "how".   Some of the most popular observations over the years have been; Slipping through the cracks :   you know, not the major muscle movements, instead those little i...
Post a Comment
Read more

expert at everything...not a problem

Well... I would say sometimes there certainly is a perceived notion that one person is an expert at everything. For the worker "everything" may be defined as the specific area in which you were hired or are constantly scheduled. Our opinions are frequently influenced off of past experience, or information we've received from their coworkers. Unfortunately this only gives us partial insight to that workers expertise and often is limited to their most recent history. Narrowly focused accounting is made of the skills that this individual possess. Come on, can't we figure out a way to leverage all of the skills of a particular worker? One of the challenges has always been that relationship between the activities which need to be accomplished and the myriad skills of individuals within your workforce. In addition, even if you could inventory and get a pretty good handle on the skill sets, they are constantly changing (with any luck) and thus the ineffective process of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digital distance

As influential Irene entered the dispatch department this hot July afternoon all that she heard was the tapping of keyboards.   The energy felt like a controlled, almost clinical environment.   It wasn't that many years ago when the sense of chaos, wrapped in genuine human concern for our clients, filled the room with a much different feeling.   Could it be that our ambitions to become more efficient, by leveraging technology has simply created a reason for us not to communicate verbally with one another?    Hasn't the idea all along been centered around our ability to spend more time with our customers? Making each and every one of them feel as if they are our most important client?   Certainly I'm not suggesting we go back to big chief tablets and number two pencils.   Yet, we need to reflect and strike a balance between digitization and delivery. By pure coincidence, avid Andy was composing a memo attempting to give his opinion, without tr...
Post a Comment
Read more