A Great Place to Work

Want to find a great place to work?  Turn where you work into a great place.  I have been a trainer for many decades.  In that time I’ve seen some work environments become incredibly more enjoyable because of training.  A properly trained supervisor will know how to build teams that work together harmoniously instead of fighting against each other.  A trained worker will have more confidence in their job and be more satisfied with their work.  Sometimes there will be employees that just don’t “fit”, even after training.  In those cases the best thing for the team and even for the individual may be to let them go.  A misfit can bring the whole atmosphere down.  I’ve seen many times when an employee was let go and upset.   But then they found a job that was a better match for their talents.  In the end, everyone came out better.

No matter your position in your organization you matter.  You play a part in the overall atmosphere of the place.  If you go in to work grumpy the first person you talk with will catch a bit of your grumpy.  If you go in to work with a good attitude, that good attitude will be contagious as well. 

Purpose to be a game changer by being the best you can be everyday. 

Still learning,

Honey Shelton

http://www.interaction-training.com

P.S.  Over the years of training I have answered a lot of  tough workplace questions.  Have a tough question?  Send it my way in a blog response and I’ll answer your question.

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Wild Workers

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Are your workers wild about where they work?  Do they enjoy being together?  Do they find value in what they do everyday?

 As a supervisor in any organization you know you are doing well when your workers seem to thrive in the working environment.  I know I’ve walked into some establishments and felt a light-hearted mood in the air.  I wanted to do business with those people.  I’ve also walked into places where I wanted to turn and run because I felt a bit of hopelessness in the air.

Develop your own team into one who is wild about where they work.  Work of course cannot be all fun and games but it doesn’t have to be nose to the grindstone for 8 hours straight either. 

The first step in developing an invigorating culture is to start with a great group of employees.  Prepare well and ask the right questions at every interview and you will end up with a talented team.

To develop a top-quality workforce:

• Develop the largest pool of qualified candidates possible
• Establish a careful candidate selection process
• Perform appropriate background checks
• Collaborate with all key stakeholders in making a selection
• Create a new hire responsibility checklist for successful indoctrination
• Make an employment offer that confirms your position as an employer of choice
• On-board your new hire in a style that reinforces they made an outstanding choice to accept your offer
• Confirm and track the role stakeholders play in the success of the new hire

My passion is helping others improve their working environment.  Listen in on one of my webinars or attend a workshop for CE credit.  Here's my Calendar.

Still learning,

Honey Shelton

www.interaction-training.com

Who Cares?

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” John Maxwell

If you have some authority over another at your work a critical component in building a team is having compassion.

Team members support each other.  Team members rejoice when another hits a homerun.  Team members work together. In other words, team members care about each other. As a leader in a team you need to exhibit the characteristics you’d like your team to have. 

In the financial industry the teller line is a team.  The supervisor needs to be compassionate and understanding even with challenging team members.  In order to grow a team, the supervisor must learn how to coach.  A coach will assess the strengths of each team member and put him or her in position to best use those strengths.  A coach will also work on minimizing weaknesses within the team.

 

In a teller line, the supervisor must observe how the tellers are interacting with customers so they can encourage and/or correct as needed.  What they don’t need to do is hover.  Hovering supervisors can sabotage their efforts.  Hovering shows a lack of respect and trust in an employee.  A coach, on the other hand, has had a hand in training the team. A trained team is more predictable, trustworthy and respectable. 

A coach respects and encourages their team towards success.  Be a supervisor who coaches with compassion, excellence will follow.

Still Learning,

Honey

Learn more about this webinar by clicking here:

“Start Coaching and Stop Hovering Over the Teller Line”

Teller Coaching

Successful supervisors coach their team towards achievement.  A bank teller equipped with great training and superior coaching will find success.   In an atmosphere where team members can fully use their skills, knowledge and creativity, they reach the goals of the department and the company. The supervisor’s job is to encourage the team, organize  ongoing work with clear direction and specific goals.

Learn to use the strengths of each team member. Challenge them to build a plan and execute it.  Help them to see the value of what they do and how that value relates to the success of the team.

A supervisor who doesn’t know how to coach their teller line, tends to hover.  Hovering over the teller line can make the tellers feel anxious.  That anxiety will show when they are talking with customers.  I have put together a webinar to help supervisors learn to encourage their teller line towards greater efficiency and customer service excellence…and stop hovering.

Learn more about this webinar by clicking here:

“Start Coaching and Stop Hovering Over the Teller Line”

Still learning,


Honey

www.interaction-training.com

Be A Great Boss

How important is it to evaluate your effectiveness?  I would say it is up there with taking responsibility for your health.  High on the list!  You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t have a clear picture of the destination, a road map and plenty of fuel.  Frequently consider where you are and where you want to be.  Lay out the road map to close the gap between the two.

Supervisor Boot Camp, Click here for all the info

Here’s a profile of the ideal leader developed by a group of supervisors participating in a training workshop on discipline.  When asked to identify the ten major functions of an effective supervisor ranked in order of importance, they came up with the following list:

1. Delegates authority in areas affecting their work

2. Consults with subordinates before making decisions pertaining to their job responsibilities

3. Gives employees the reasons for implementing decisions.

4. Doesn’t play favorites.

5. Praises excellent work.

6. Reprimands subordinates who fail to observe the proper chain-of-command relationships

7. Never reprimands or disciplines in front of coworkers.

8. Encourages employees to offer their opinions and criticisms of supervisory policies.

9. Listens to employees’ explanations before placing blame in disciplinary situations; accepts reasonable explanations, not excuses.

10. Obeys all the rules that subordinates are expected to obey.
 

 

This is a great checklist for you to use when scrutinizing your effectiveness.  You can take this a step further and email me for a complimentary Leadership Quiz you can take that will provide you the opportunity to self-evaluate your ability to be a true role model.

Still learning,

Honey

www.interaction-training.com

P.S.  To get my free leadership quiz just shoot me an email at  honey@interaction-training.com

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Admit You Messed Up

Sorry About That – First Best Practice to Customer Service Greatness!

Since the beginning of time we’ve tried to cover our mistakes.  Remember the fruit and the garden?  In the business world owning up to a wrong-doing is absolutely the best road. Apologize first then carry on with the business transaction.

1.      Learn How to Apologize with Poise

If something goes wrong or when the customer perceives something went wrong, apologize. Be quick to do it.  When a customer blames or claims something wasn’t done right or to their satisfaction say something like, “I am so sorry if there has been a misunderstanding!”  “I am sorry that happened.  I can help you, tell me about what happened.”  “Let me see how we can get this turned around.”

I'm hosting a webinar that teaches apologizing with poise and more:

CustomerService Expertise

Webinarwith Honey Shelton

 

2.      Ask for Their Name, Use it Often! 

This is the key to the door of building rapport with customers!  When the customer states what they need you can say, “I will be glad to help you, may I have your name.”  Sometimes when you introduce yourself; customers will respond in kind.   If they have a name that is hard to understand, you could say, “Tell me how to say your name” or “Please spell your name for me”.  

When to use their name?   As soon as you obtain it!  And, when asking a question and always with a thank you!    Number one rule of customer service experts is to always ask their name before ever asking for an account number.  Using their name personalizes the conversation!

3.      Set Up Success for Obtaining Information You Need

Tell them you will need to ask questions.  It might sound like this.  “Mr. Jones, I will need to ask you a few questions, may I have your account number?”  It is like asking permission before barging into another person’s office.  Sort of the knock on the door to prepare the other person for what you are going to need.

4.      If you Need Approval to Make a Move, Clue the Customer In

Let the customer know this.  “Excuse me, Mr. Wilson, I need to take the next step on getting this resolved, I will be back shortly.”   “Mrs. Jenkins, excuse me, I need to verify what options are available.”

When you put a call-in customer on hold or step away when they are in person, always thank them for waiting when you return.  “Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for your patience, let me tell you what I found out.”

5.      Follow Through, Follow Up

  If you agree to do something, follow through on your word.  Call, write a personal note or email the customer and give them an update, let them know what is happening.  Remember to thank them for their patience and loyalty.

Put these 5 best practices into play and you will be on your way to nailing down customer service excellence.

Still learning,
Honey

P.S.  To learn more about customer service that pays off,  join me at my next webinar:

CustomerService Expertise

Webinar with Honey Shelton

 

Get What You Want

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Step Right Up and Get What You Want! 

 Continuous Improvement - Part 1

Continuous improvement is empowering!  Adopt continuous improvement as an approach to your life, your work and your relationships.  You will start to tweak your choices so that they have a positive impact on what matters most to you.  I use a process to coach myself and others called, Coaching Choices, it’s based on the legendary work of Dr. William Glasser’s, Choice Theory®.   Choice Theory teaches a person that the only behavior one can control is their own, yet there are many effective ways to influence the behavior of others.

Coaching yourself begins with identifying what you want to have in your life, keep in your life, and work for in your life.  Discover what in your life needs attention and what you might need to give up.  You will be adding to your wants and adjusting your wants throughout your continuous improvement journey.   The first step is for you to dig in and explore what you want.

Purchase a five-section spiral notebook.  Begin to explore and record what you want in the first section dedicated to Wanting.  Utilize the other four sections of your notebook to create four separate categories.  Write on the section dividers the category headings.  Here are ones I suggest: 

Relationship Matters

                  Family

                  Friends

                  Work

                  Others

Health and Welfare

Self-Care

Spiritual

Work

Financial

Fun, Fears and Feats

                  Pleasure

                  Learning

                  Avoiding

                  Achievements

Planning

                  Prioritizing

Overcoming obstacles and objections

                  Boundaries

Next, turn back to your Wanting section, pick up your pen, and focus on what you want.  Begin to write down everything you can think of that you have that you want to keep or make better.   Next list all the things you don’t have that you believe would make your life better.  Don’t edit, don’t count off for spelling or worry that you might be writing out a want that you can‘t have or one that might conflict with other wants.  Most wants present challenges. Coaching Choices will help you uncover what your choices are around what you want. Refining your wants will be what you work on next.

Stay plugged in to my blog for inspiration on how to organize and determine what you want. This is a process that can change your life, improve your personal and professional effectiveness and ramp up the quality of your relationships.  Are you willing to engage in the process?

Goal setting is coming up next…

Still Learning,

Honey Shelton

Nix Rudeness

You just can't allow rudeness in your workplace.  Rudeness quickly ruins teamwork.  Teamwork is a key element in a welcoming environment.

A rude employee brings down the morale of his colleagues, decreasing productivity and work satisfaction. If the employee shows his rude side to co-workers or customers, he could hurt business. Rude behavior often falls outside the scope of basic workplace policies, making it difficult to remedy and discipline. Squashing the rude behavior is essential to creating a more productive, positive work environment that all employees deserve. Learn to deal with the negative employee effectively to get the lousy behavior problem under control quickly.

You have choices:  Kill them with kindness, ask them to stop being rude, seek counsel from your manager but don't ignore it for long or try to get even.  Protect your happiness and job satisfaction and seek a solution!

Rudeness is contagious, don't start it and never spread it!

Still learning, 

Honey
www.interaction-training.com