Customer-focused teams and victims (people who refuse responsibility and accountability for their behavior) don’t go together. Members have to want to make the team successful. You cannot create a team with a group of victims.
Enemies and customer-focused teams do not go together. Team members must have a basic regard for each other. They do not have to love each other, but at minimum they should have mutual professional respect.
Expect conflict. Because performance standards are high, team members will have differing points of view for how to achieve performance standards. Open dialogue and discussion are useful to moving things forward. Remember that it does not matter who is right, but that the customer is served in an extraordinary fashion.
Finally, do not be afraid to experiment. Customer service strategies need to be planned, but it helps to be flexible and try new ideas that will make your organization indispensable to the people it serves.
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Twice in my twenties I was the "victim" of a beating. The first time because of snootiness and the second because of hubris. But already you can see that I am falling outside of your usage of the word "victim."
ReplyDeleteInterestingly today the word "victim" is nearly only used in the phrase "blaming the victim."
Brats and bullies also refuse responsibility and accountability for their behavior. It is a general mark of immaturity. Yet many children are quite capable of accepting responsibility and accountability so it is not a product of aging in and of itself.
Anyway, Bruce, there is a better word for your purpose than "victim", but damned if I can think of it. :)