Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Organizational Quality Makes a Difference

Recently I had to call our family's three credit card companies.  You know how those calls go.


"Thank you for calling ---------------------.  Please be sure to listen to the entire message as some of the choices have changed.  For balance on your account, please dial...  For the customer rewards program please dial...  For lost or stolen cards, please dial...  For customer service, please dial..."

(Did you ever notice whatever the option you need in the automated menu is always the last option?)

"Thank you for calling customer service.  Our current volume of calls is extrememly high.  Please leave a message with your name, reason calling, and phone number, and a customer service representative will return your call as soon as possible.  You can also remain on the line for the next customer service representative....  You are number 7 in the cue."

(If you choose to stay on the line, you get to listen to some rousing muzak until finally the phone clicks and a real voice answers...)

"Thank you for calling.  This is William in Ohio.  How can I help you?"

I understand why large companies have call systems like these...  I just don't like them.  I find myself pushing zero in hopes of getting to a real person sooner...  It doesn't work.  Sometimes I use speaker phone so I can do the dishes or something else while I am waiting.  Sometimes I just give up and forget the call.

The hard part sometimes starts when you get to the real person.  In my case, I had to inform the companies we were taking an international vacation.  Since I have had bad experiences with cards being turned-off, I try to make these calls before any major trip.  Plus I had a couple of questions regarding the potential transaction fees on international purchases.  Each call was a unique experience.

  • The first call had a bad connection, and the representative suggested I call back.  I pleaded that I could hear him just fine (I couldn't.)  because I didn't want to go through the automated menu again.  He laughed and was able to help me.  He actually anticipated my question about the international transaction fee, and I was off the phone in a matter of minutes.  I was hopeful my other calls would go as well.
  • My second call wasn't quite so positive.  Even though this agent was reading from a script, I could tell from his voice he was having a bad day.  I asked the same questions I had asked the previous company, but it was as if I was speaking from a different planet.  He didn't seem very interested in helping me, and I almost asked to speak to the manager.
  • My final call was OK.  I basically wanted to get off the phone as quickly as possible so I could tell I wasn't the greatest customer either.  The representative, however, was friendly and tried to engage me to answer my questions.  She even offered a protection plan for a slight fee.  I declined...politely.
Expereincing three different levels of organizational quality from three different companies got me thinking about one our district's goals regarding organization quality:

The Novi Community School District will improve organizational quality and customer service by creating common standards, systems, and principles.

As you can imagine, this is a lofty goal.  We should have common standards, systems, and principles, and our district has worked to standardize and provide training for staff  regarding many of our systems including hiring processes, staff evaluations, and curricular implementation.  We always need to get better through better and more clear processes.  Getting better helps our students be more successful.

What was missing from my credit card experience was the relationship.  We are the Novi Community School District.  By definition our name implies we are a community.  Communities work together.  Communities support each other.  Communities grow together and work as teams.  I am fortunate to see this at all different levels.  For example, I see teachers and parents calling each other in the evenings to help a child overcome potentail anxiety concerns.  I see building-level secretaries who go above and beyond to help new families to our district feel welcomed.  I see students who greet visitors each morning with a happy, "Good morning.  How are you today?"  My list is endless.

Unfortunately companies don't have those types of relationships.  When I get in an automated caller menu, I feel like I am a number and not a customer.  Actually, I feel more like a number than a real person.  I never want to teach in a disrict that treats kids and families like numbers.  Each of our students are unique.  Yes, we crunch data and post charts.  We share trends and use overall averages to guide some of our work.  I never want us to forget that behind each of those numbers is a child...a child with hopes, dreams, and goals.  Our district's organizational quality goal should help us get better at serving our ultimate customers...each and every student.

 
 

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

How do you learn?

How do you handle learning something new?


It's an interesting question that I've been thinking about quite a bit recently.  Our school district is in the process of changing our e-mail platform.  We are moving from Outlook which I've used for over 20 years to Google which I've had a smattering of experience with for about two years.  The concept is basically the same in both platforms.  The new format is not terribly hard to learn.  I've had some hands-on help, and I've watched a couple of tutorial videos.  I'm going to make it, but the Google platform is still new for me.

A long-time colleague shared with me today that she can now do everything she could do in the old format, but each step just takes longer.  We laughed and replied to each other that our "learning curve" is steep!  I recently opened my Outlook account, and the settings are changed where I can no longer receive any mail there.  I commented to the person who was helping me that I actually "missed" my old account.  What did I miss, however?  Did I miss the comfort of what I could do?  Did I miss the fact that I really didn't need to think about what I was doing?


Let's shift gears to a recent conversation I had with a new student and her teacher. 

I was talking with a student who had just joined our building about how the transition to our school was for her.  The first thing she said was that she wasn't very good at reading.  Her teacher was quick to respond to both of us that she just hadn't learned everything yet.  The little girl then told me she couldn't do her math.  Her teacher replied even faster that we don't use "can't" when we are learning.  The new student then jumped into her math to get to work.


Learning anything new is a challenge, and it can be frustrating.  When I walk the halls in our school, I am still in awe of what our students are learning.  We ask them to live in a world where they are always learning something new.  We build scaffolds and supports to help them be successful.  We "pick them up" when they make mistakes, and we encourage them to learn from those mistakes.  We want kids to take risks, and we help them.

Do we model this for our students?

As I move into a new "in the cloud" method of computing, I'm grateful I work in a school where it's OK to not know everything yet, and we don't use "can't" when we are learning.