News for the Hospitality Executive |
Ron Kaufman has some
eye-opening news for you. He says, at some point, we’re all viewed by
our
colleagues as the organization’s “difficult person.” That’s why it’s
important
that we find a way to provide uplifting service internally all the
time…even
(and especially!) when difficult situations arise so internal tiffs
don’t lead
to rifts with customers. “Once you’ve
characterized someone as a ‘difficult person,’ you’re already in a
lose, lose
situation,” says Kaufman, author of the New York Times bestseller
Uplifting
Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and
Everyone
Else You Meet “It’s like my view on difficult customers: There are
no difficult customers;
there are only difficult customer situations. Similarly,
there are no
difficult coworkers. There are only difficult coworker situations.
And
once you start to think differently about how to manage those difficult
situations, everyone can be more satisfied and better served, including
you,
your colleagues, and most importantly, your customers.” What Kaufman is
talking about is an uplifting service culture change. In Uplifting
Service,
he writes that service is taking action to create value for someone
else, and
that “someone else” can be outside or inside your organization. “When the entire
organization agrees to define the way they work together using this
definition
of service, everyone will be able to focus on creating value and
serving each
other better, which leads to better external service,” says Kaufman.
“Instead
of seeing an angry coworker and not wanting to have anything to do with
him,
you will naturally stop and think, What does this person value?
What is he
not getting that he needs? What can I do now to serve him better?
When
this culture of service takes hold in the organization, everyone feels
better
and works better together.” Kaufman
offers advice on how you can use difficult situations to start building
an uplifting
service culture in your organization…from the inside out. Assess the situation carefully. Is your
colleague deeply
upset or simply having a bad day? Is she angry about an ongoing
internal issue
that must be addressed and solved, or a one-off situation like a
presentation
gone wrong? Is this a process problem that persistently provokes, or a
one-time
irritation that will naturally fade away? “Once you have assessed the
situation,” notes Kaufman, “you can then determine whether the person
just
requires a little personal attention from you—or whether a larger plan
must be
created.” Shift your perspective. Stop thinking of
your colleague as
“difficult” and start thinking about the difficulty he is experiencing,
and how
you can serve him in his current situation. What is it he is concerned,
disturbed, or upset about that’s leading to his behavior? Once you realize what a difficult situation means to another
person, you can
approach the issue with more compassion, generosity, empathy, and
patience.
This is far more effective for both parties than concluding that
another person
is difficult all the time or is always overreacting. “The reality is that you never really know all that is going
on with another
person, with his family’s health or his financial situation,” notes
Kaufman.
“You don’t know what happened at his home that morning or the night
before. You
don’t really know what triggered this emotionally upset moment. You can
therefore decide, Let me choose compassion for this person instead
of
judgment and start exercising empathy.” Lean in and work on the problem together. A
“difficult”
person often behaves that way because she is trying to get something
she needs,
or is trying to make something happen. She probably thinks the only way
she can
get her colleagues’ attention is by outwardly showing her anger. But we
know
from experience that the way to get better service is to be
a
better customer. And the same goes for getting the help we all want
from our
colleagues. “Let your colleague know—as subtly as possible—that being
upset, angry, or
‘difficult’ is not the best way to get what she needs,” suggests
Kaufman. “You
can start by saying, ‘I care. Help me understand what you are concerned
about.’
By saying this and then listening, often her anger will fade away. Once
your
colleague has calmed down, you can say, ‘Thank you for explaining this
to me.
Let’s solve this problem together. It’s not us or them. It’s just us.’
And then
you can both get to work solving the problem.” Plan how you’ll work together. One way to
defuse a
difficult situation is to pull out a piece of paper and decide what
actions
each of you will take next. This helps remove emotional tension and
gets
everyone down to work. “The sooner you say, ‘Let’s figure this thing out. What action
can I take
that will create value for you? Let’s agree on next steps. Let’s make
some
promises to each other,’ the better,” says Kaufman. “Working this way
creates a
culture of colleagues taking action to create value for each other. It
takes
emotion out of the equation and creates a platform where people can
work more
effectively with each other.” Role model the right behavior. One of the
best ways to make
this behavior a part of your company culture is to role model it
yourself. And
you can do this from any position in the organization: from the top,
the
middle, or the frontline. Eventually, your colleagues will see how you
handle
these situations and how well your approach leads to positive action. “When others see that problems don’t need to be painful, that
emotions don’t
need to be escalated, they’ll realize that ‘difficult situations’ don’t
need to
consume all your energy, or your entire day,” notes Kaufman. “As more
and more
people inside your organization take this approach, they will recognize
this is
what the culture is becoming, this is what our company really is.
Everyone will
see that this approach really works, and everyone will want to take
part.” “Think about it like
this: The ‘difficult’ coworkers you encounter on a given workday are
simply
people seeking service,” says Kaufman. “Being able to recognize and
reconcile
those situations internally is just as important as being able to
recognize
when a customer interaction has gone south. With surprising service
coming from
the inside, it’s easier to step up your service on the outside. And
when that
happens, everyone at the organization wins.” Ron Kaufman is a popular keynote speaker and is the author of the New York Times bestseller Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet (Evolve Publishing, 2012, ISBN: 978-09847625-5-2, $14.95, www.UpliftingService.com). He is a thought leader, educator, and motivator for uplifting customer service and building service cultures in many of the world’s largest and most respected organizations, including Singapore Airlines, Nokia Siemens Networks, Citibank, Microsoft, and Xerox. He is the founder of UP! Your Service, a global service education and management consultancy firm with offices in the United States and Singapore. Ron is a columnist at Bloomberg Businessweek and the author of 14 other books on service, business, and inspiration. Ron has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today. |
Contact: Dottie DeHart DeHart & Company Public Relations (828) 325-4966 [email protected] |