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Hub You - The Playful Policy Review
How do you define your work?Do you look to your work to define meaning and joy or just to collect a paycheck? Each carries a different result. Those who seek meaning and joy in their work tend to choose carefully what they do; they know what they do helps determine who they are. For others who work just for the money, there is little expectation of meaning or joy—just
Make a list (in advance) of key policies and procedures your staff must work with every day. Go through the list with your staff asking two questions: `What do you like least about this policy (or procedure)?' and `What do our customers find most problematic about this policy?'
Write everything down. Keep the mood
As a food retailer, do you provide shopping bags to your customers? Is your company inadvertently contributing to the litter problem in the United States? Over the last twenty years, plastic or polyethylene shopping bags have become very common in the United States. Although they require less energy to produce and they generate less solid waste than paper bags, plastic s
I wanted to play golf at a prestigious course in town, so I went to the Pro-Shop to book a time.The attendant at the counter said she could not take my booking in person as she was only allowed to accept golf reservations by telephone.
I explained that I wanted to make a booking right away. And since I was already there, wouldn’t she please make the reservation?
The attendant refused once again, repeating that she only took bookings by telephone.
A public telephone stood in the corner nearby. I walked over to it and promptly called the Pro-Shop. The attendant answered the telephone and proceeded to make my booking. The entire time I could see her at the counter while we were speaking on the phone. And she could see me, too.
This makes me wonder: If the customer had used his mobile phone to call the reservations clerk while he was standing directly in front of her, then would she have seen the absurdity of her ways? And if she did, would she have told her managers about it? Or made a suggestion to change it?
Most likely, not.
Key Learning
Point Frontline staff are taught to follow policies and procedures. Often they are hesitant to `break the rules'. Yet some rules should be broken, or changed, or at least seriously bent from time to time. Are your staff bound by rules they cannot change? If those rules are outdated or problematic, will they tell you?
Action Steps
Bring your staff together in a mood of irreverent fun for a `Playful Policy Review'. Do something unusual to set the tone: wear party hats, bring a cake to share, show five minutes of a stand-up comedian on video, put a funny sign in front of the room, or use bright magic markers with flipchart paper on the wall.
Make a list (in advance) of key policies and procedures your staff must work with every day. Go through the list with your staff asking two questions: `What do you like least about this policy (or procedure)?' and `What do our customers find most problematic about this policy?'
Write everything down. Keep the mood l
When you need system integration, do you handle it yourself or pass it on to a specializing firm? If you are one of the many that handle this process yourself, you may want to rethink just why you do this and if it is the right choice for you. Many skilled individuals even pass off the process to others simply because of the time and investment that is needed. What do you
The attendant refused once again, repeating that she only took bookings by telephone.
A public telephone stood in the corner nearby. I walked over to it and promptly called the Pro-Shop. The attendant answered the telephone and proceeded to make my booking. The entire time I could see her at the counter while we were speaking on the phone. And she could see me, too.
This makes me wonder: If the customer had used his mobile phone to call the reservations clerk while he was standing directly in front of her, then would she have seen the absurdity of her ways? And if she did, would she have told her managers about it? Or made a suggestion to change it?
Most likely, not.
Key Learning
Point Frontline staff are taught to follow policies and procedures. Often they are hesitant to `break the rules'. Yet some rules should be broken, or changed, or at least seriously bent from time to time. Are your staff bound by rules they cannot change? If those rules are outdated or problematic, will they tell you?
Action Steps
Bring your staff together in a mood of irreverent fun for a `Playful Policy Review'. Do something unusual to set the tone: wear party hats, bring a cake to share, show five minutes of a stand-up comedian on video, put a funny sign in front of the room, or use bright magic markers with flipchart paper on the wall.
Make a list (in advance) of key policies and procedures your staff must work with every day. Go through the list with your staff asking two questions: `What do you like least about this policy (or procedure)?' and `What do our customers find most problematic about this policy?'
Write everything down. Keep the mood
Looking ten years younger is flattering when you're fifty, but it's downright challenging when you're twenty-five. Trying to move up the corporate ladder when you look like a high school sophomore isn't impossible, but it does require that you use clever tactics to make people forget about your appearance and concentrate on what you can do. Here's some tips to overcome looki
Most likely, not.
Key Learning
Point Frontline staff are taught to follow policies and procedures. Often they are hesitant to `break the rules'. Yet some rules should be broken, or changed, or at least seriously bent from time to time. Are your staff bound by rules they cannot change? If those rules are outdated or problematic, will they tell you?
Action Steps
Bring your staff together in a mood of irreverent fun for a `Playful Policy Review'. Do something unusual to set the tone: wear party hats, bring a cake to share, show five minutes of a stand-up comedian on video, put a funny sign in front of the room, or use bright magic markers with flipchart paper on the wall.
Make a list (in advance) of key policies and procedures your staff must work with every day. Go through the list with your staff asking two questions: `What do you like least about this policy (or procedure)?' and `What do our customers find most problematic about this policy?'
Write everything down. Keep the mood
TAXI TO INVERNESS? WILL YOU TAKE A CZECH?Thus read a headline in a national newspaper earlier this week. These new taxi drivers from the Czech Republic are not only learning English, before they come to the UK, but 'The Knowledge' too, the 'bible' for taxi drivers. Are the British cabbies at home learning Czech or French or German?This is one phenomenon of the
Action Steps
Bring your staff together in a mood of irreverent fun for a `Playful Policy Review'. Do something unusual to set the tone: wear party hats, bring a cake to share, show five minutes of a stand-up comedian on video, put a funny sign in front of the room, or use bright magic markers with flipchart paper on the wall.
Make a list (in advance) of key policies and procedures your staff must work with every day. Go through the list with your staff asking two questions: `What do you like least about this policy (or procedure)?' and `What do our customers find most problematic about this policy?'
Write everything down. Keep the mood
Small businesses will eventually face the inevitable question of whether or not they have outgrown their current office space. If you are consistently struggling to find suitable workspaces for your employees or temporary hires it may be time to change your office space and find something a little larger that can accommodate your company during its busiest times. The last si
Make a list (in advance) of key policies and procedures your staff must work with every day. Go through the list with your staff asking two questions: `What do you like least about this policy (or procedure)?' and `What do our customers find most problematic about this policy?'
Write everything down. Keep the mood light and easy in a spirit of playful review. If you wish, ask a third question: `How would you change this policy if you could?'
After the meeting, carefully study the list, taking one of two key actions:
1. Modify the policy to eliminate or reduce the friction. If your staff have made good points and reasonable suggestions, implementing those changes will boost efficiency, responsibility and staff morale.
2. If the policy cannot be changed (and there may be good reasons not to: security, credit risk, government requirements, etc.), take the time to explain the rationale of the current system to your staff. Be sure they understand it so well that they can explain it in a positive and convincing manner to someone else. After all, this is exactly what they should do every day with your customers.
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