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One of the best ways to celebrate Customer Service Week is by doing some job appreciation, or swapping jobs for an hour, a half day, or even a full day. In past years it’s been one of the most widely participated in activities for customer service week.
I’ve also seen this go WAY wrong, where folks have been left alone to do someone else’s job, putting them way out of their comfort zone…and putting a bad taste in our customer’s mouths too.
Here are some tips for a successful job appreciation. I don’t promise perfection, only that you’ll stand a much better chance of success than if you don’t follow my suggestions.
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Find a senior leader to encourage others to participate – My CTO always gets involved and is willing to shadow my team for 3 or 4 hours during the week. He also sends an e-mail to challenge all of his leaders to do as much or more than he does. It’s easier to say no to a peer than it is to your director, so a little peer pressure can go a LONG way :)
Make folks feel welcome – We create special signs for visiting leaders, complete with their name and department, and I make sure to shake each person’s hand as they’re starting their job appreciate to let them know how much I appreciate them sharing their time with my team. The more welcomed folks are, the more likely they are to participate again, or tell other people about it.
Send a calendar appointment to all parties involved – Most managers live and die by their calendar, so look for a good time on their calendar and block the time. Best suggestion is to block it as out of the office, so other don’t try to double book and squeeze something else in.
Write an article about it for your internal website or newsletter, and include pictures of leaders in action - I write up an article and send it to our marketing team to put in the newsletter, and I include quotes from the leaders about what they learned. I also take a picture of each person who sits with someone on my team as a nice memento for all participants, and I share this with marketing as well. I find doing the work for our marketing team and letting them edit for space and clarity means my article and photo will probably get published.
What are your best suggestions to share job appreciation during Customer Service Week?
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/3225409596/
