Chances are, whether you have direct client contact or not, you and your team members are providing some sort of customer service. You may not be dealing with outside clients, but in almost every situation you have some sort of internal client (another team, accounting, human resources, etc). Regardless of who your client may be, you need to have the customer service skills necessary to make your customers happy.

But how do you offer great customer service, from a management standpoint?

• Start by hiring a great group of people. We’ve spoken quite a bit about interview skills – so use them. Make sure you aren’t only hiring people who can get the job done, but who can get the job done while remaining friendly and interested in their work.
• Make sure you outline a clear set of customer service standards for your team members to follow. They should dictate how they speak to customers, how they act in the presence of customers, and how they respond (in both attitude and time frame) to the needs of their customers. Once you’ve set the standards, hold your team members to them.
• Ensure your team member are getting the training they need. Believe it or not, most people aren’t born working in customer service industries and, as such, the skills needed to deal with people do not come naturally. Ongoing training will support your cause.
• Develop an incentive program through which those who go above and beyond the call of duty can be  rewarded for their efforts. Sure, you should be paying well, but you should show your team members a bit of respect by acknowledging their hard work from time to time as well.
• Take criticism seriously. People who are unhappy with your business aren’t likely to tell you about their experiences – they’ll tell everyone else they know instead. If someone has something to say – listen. Others probably have the same sentiment.

The happier your team members, the more their attitudes will rub off on their customer interactions – guaranteed.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Manager Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

I’ve learned a new word. Hyperopia is, simply put, the fancy medical term used to refer to farsightedness.

What does farsightedness have to do with your career as a manager?

It all has to do with work/life balance.

From an economic standpoint, hyeropia is the failure of an individual to make a long-term estimate about the benefits of the work he is doing. In most cases, we believe that the future benefit will be greater than it actually is, and, as a result, we opt to work during times we should be relaxing or spending time witho ur families.

There was an article in Harvard Magazine, in the September-October 2009 issue. In the article, researchers surveyed a group of individuals about the choices they had made in business, and they found something incredibly interesting. If they asked someone if work was more important than leisure time right after a person had to make a decision about that time, they’d choose work. The longer it had been since a pivotal decision making point, the more people felt as though they should have taken some time for themselves.

Hindsight is 20/20, right?

My point is that you, as a manager, need to find great work/life balance. You need to really think about whether or not working overtime is going to have a huge impact on your future – or whether or not you’d rather spend time watching your kids grow up – or preventing illness from overwork.

The choice is up to you.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

Too often I see people earn the title of manager and then lose themselves in their new identity. Some will thrive and grow in their new positions while others will become stagnant after a period of time.

Most, when asked, will say they are “a manager” and my next question is always this:

What type of manager are you?

Truth be told, there are plenty of differences. We have general managers, senior managers, managers, supervisors, and – well – you get it… you could place a wide variety of different terms on the different levels or types of management. I know of one company that assigned the title of “Assistant Vice President” to every mid-level manager in the organization. Sounds nice, right? The problem is that many people don’t understand exactly what their titles mean.

Let’s take a look at a couple of those titles and their definitions:

• General managers have a very broad responsibility, in most cases. General managers aren’t responsible for one specific part of an organisation. Instead they are responsible for the function of all areas – with each individual manger of those areas to get the jobd one.
• Senior managers usually work in organisations with a lot of employees – those who feel as those there are so many levels they need to add additional people to the hierarchy to help keep control. Senior level managers generally fall somewhere below the general manager, but above a regular department manager.
• Managers, in general, are individuals in charge of directing the work of a specific group of people. Managers may be in charge of an entire department, or they may be in charge of a team within a department. They’ll either report directly to the general manager, or to a “senior manager” above them.
• A supervisor, in some cases, is considered a manager. In other places, a supervisor is someone who is in a junior management position. Supervisors may be in charge of a small portion of a team, reporting back to the manager at the end of the day as to the status of a project. Supervisors generally have very little authority, and in some cases can’t even hire or fire employees.

Where do you fall on the management mall map? Are you where you want to be, or are you aching to move up the corporate ladder?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

Despite what television commercials would have you believe, depression is relatively common. The difference is that the majority of the population experiences some sort of situational depression (due to a relationship, illness, death, job issue, etc) and then works past it. Some need professional help and others do not. Others have hormonal imbalances that cause them to become depressed and, in many cases, seek regular medical attention.

Regardless of the cause, depression in any form is an illness, whether short term or long term. If your employees become depressed they may begin calling out of work, putting out work that is not the same high quality you are used to, or simply stop getting as much done. In the end, depression in the workforce causes organisations money.

People are people. It’s important to think about your employees rather than your bottom line. If you begin to notice the signs of depression in your employees you’ll need to take action. Here are a few things to consider:

• Make sure you educate your team about depression (preferrably before you notice it). Make sure your team members know that they will not be reprimanded or punished if they are diagnosed with a depressive disorder.
• Give your employees access to help. Your organisation may have an in-house physician that can help, or you may want to refer your employee to his own physician. Either way, let him know you’ll work with him (reasonably) while he obtains assistance.
• Know the difference between “burn out” and depression. While burn out may cause depression, it may not be the reason for your employee’s troubles.

With your help, your team members can recover and return to their previously productive selves. Be compassionate and show you care. They’ll always remember the helping hand you gave.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

The tasking of interviewing potential new employees is a daunting process all by itself, but sometimes we forget about the process that comes before it – sorting through resumes.

Now let me clarify one point first. The online world is wonderful when it comes to making job postings public. Whereas we were once limited to word of mouth and print advertisements, online job boards give us the opportunity to extend our reach to areas we may not have been able to make contact in before.

And there’s the rub.

We’re exposing ourselves to a wider audience, giving us access to a more talented pool of applicants – but we have to deal with the flood of resumes that comes in as a result – and not all are qualified.

So how can you save yourself from hours of unnecessary sorting? Here are a few things to consider:

• Scan the resumes right away and see if the technical skills, attributes, or education requirements you are looking for have been met. Automatically discard any resume that doesn’t have a certain percentage of the requirements you’re looking for upfront.
• Stick to your guns. If you tell your applicants that the only resumes you will accept are the ones emailed to a certain email address, then don’t accept those that come in via other sources. Throw them away. Your applicant obviously can’t follow directions.
• Will you accept resumes without cover letters? Make this point clear in your job posting. If not, immediately discard all resumes that do not include one. Quickly review the letters you do receive and discard the ones that have no content.
• Include the starting salary for the position in your job listing. Some companies want to see what the salary requirements of their applicants are, but this is a waste of time. Truth be told, if you include a salary in your job posting you won’t get resumes from people who don’t qualify from a financial standpoint.
• Delegate your authority. Is there a trusted team member you can use to help with some of the sorting? If so, get the help you need so you can focus on filling the position without letting your other work suffer.

Remember, you don’t have to bring every person you hear from in for an interview. If you end up with a short-list of applicants you are interested in you can start with a very short phone interview – asking a few qualifying questions. If you like the answers, bring them in for a formal interview. If you don’t, decline the application.

It’s really that simple.

Don’t let the resume collection process become overwhelming. You may receive 200 resumes, but in the end you only have one position to offer. Don’t feel bad about searching for the most qualified applicant!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”