It’s pretty safe to say that throughout the course of my career I’ve had quite a number of experiences, both good and bad. As a leader, manager, and salesman I’ve had to learn how to work and communicate with people on many different levels. I took some time to think back on my own experiences and want to share four key lessons that I’ve learned and hope you can learn from as well.

First of all, you are your own best teacher. The number of continuing education classes and workshops you attend will not define you as a person. Your ability to further your own knowledge by doing research and then applying what you’ve learned will enable you to teach yourself how to implement the things you’ve been shown.

Second, a good leader accepts responsibility for his actions and blames no-one else. Ever. We are all human and we all make mistakes. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying. A true leader recognises his own faults and takes responsibility for them instead of placing the blame on someone else. Did one of your team members make a mistake? If so, should you blame him or wonder if there was a problem with the training you gave him that caused him to make the mistake?

Next, recognize that you can learn anything you want to learn. Never feel as though you are stuck in a position or situation due to a lack of knowledge. There are enough classes, telecourses, and web resources available today for anyone on earth to learn just about anything. You have to find those resources and use them.

Finally, true understanding comes from your ability to reflect on the experiences you’ve had. A concept you may not have fully understood earlier in life may suddenly become clearer after you’ve had your own experiences. Your mental knowledge suddenly turns into wisdom.

Hopefully you’ll be able to start your week off by taking the time to reflect on your own experiences as a leader. How have you grown and evolved over the years? Have you learned anything about yourself?

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

You will, most likely, find yourself faced with a number of challenges as you work to build your growing team. Each member will need to be properly trained and at the same time you’ll need to ensure that every individual is able to work both on his own and with the group.

One of the best ways to monitor the development of your team is through the GOALS model. The GOALS model, developed by Simon Hayward, provides you with a simple blueprint for success. The model is as follows:

• G – Goals: Does each member of your team have individual goals; and, is each member of your team aware of the group’s overall goals?
• O – Opportunity: Will everyone have the opportunity to use their strong skills and contribute to the team? Will there be opportunities for advancement within the team or, in some cases, out of the team?
• A – Authority: Does one person (you) have the authority to lead the projects the group is responsible for? Does each individual member of the team have the authority to access the information he needs to do his job?
• L – Learning: Will every member of your team have access to the educational resources he needs in order to grow and succeed?
• S – Standards: Do you expect every member of your team to live up to the same high standards you have set? Are these standards reflected in both their individual and group contributions?

Use this model as you evaluate your team and each individual member. You may be comfortable with the way your team functions now, but why settle for a good team when it could easily be transformed into something great!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Now that you’ve had a chance to determine whether or not your customer service team members have the skills necessary to get the job done, let’s take a look at a model you can follow while training and monitoring your group.

The PACT customers service model was designed to ensure that all major aspects of the customer service process are covered with every transactions. The model itself is as follows:

• P – Process
• A – Attitude
• C – Communication
• T – Time

In short, you are responsible for making sure that your customer service team members know exactly what process they are to follow from the beginning of a transaction straight through to the end and they should have a positive attitude throughout the entire experience. They should be able to clearly and effectively communicate with not only your client but with other internal teams who may play a role in completing the job as well. Finally, they should have a good sense of time management – getting the job done within a reasonable amount of time and reporting back to the client as soon as possible.

Does your customer service team follow the PACT model? If not, can you make a few simple tweaks to get them back on track? You’ll be surprised at the increased customer service satisfaction levels you may achieve by doing so.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

What do you see when you lookat your current customer service team? Do you see a highly functioning group of individuals capable of keeping your clients happy or do you see – well – something else.

I’ve spent years working with customer service representatives as well as HR managers and salesmen. We train IT helpdesk staff on how to hone their own customer service skills; we teach customer service representatives the proper steps for dealing with complaints, and we even provide customer service trainers with their own training courses.

What I’ve found, after years of watching these people in their different roles, is that there are really three core factors that make up a great customer service team. They are:

• The ability to listen and communicate – with themselves, their customers, and their management teams;
• Reliability – including consistent responses, fair decision making, respect for others, courtesy, and ultimate dependability; and
• The ability to solve problems. That’s what they’re there for, right?

Do the members of your current customer service team exhibit these qualities and skills? Are they polite and productive at the same time? Do your customers love working with them?

You should have answers to all of these questions. If not, you need to take a closer look at your team!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Courses

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Change is a constantly evolving issue. We face change every single day and, as managers, have the responsibility of guiding our teams through change unscathed.

In order to do so it is important to recognize that different types of change exist. The three main types are:

• Developmental change,
• Transitional change, and
• Transformational change

Developmental change occurs when you recognize a need to make improvements to an existing situation. You aren’t recreating the entire workflow but are instead refining it to make it better.

Transitional changes happen when you recognize the need to implement a completely new course of action. You have a set plan for making this change happen and are able to control the implementation process over a designated period of time.

Transformational change is one of the most interesting, though. Transformational change isn’t necessarily something that you control as much as you recognize and survive. A new process or “norm” creates itself as a result of the failure of another and usually takes its own shape. You can, of course, refine it as it develops but it is not usually planned.

Being able to recognize the three types of change should help you to develop your own change management skills. If you can identify the type of change occuring in your workplace you’ll be better able to control the reactions your team members have to those changes!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”