I’ll start with one of Tayo’s frequently used quote, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far go together”. We all know businesses are more successful when they focus on their customers and put them at the heart of all they do! There are different ways of doing that, from offering products or services that customers want to buy, to ensuring a seamless customer journey and fast resolution of any issues. True customer focus means operational efficiency: teamwork and cooperation to provide a positive customer experience.
So where do bees come in?
I recently read an interesting article about how honeybees work together to survive high winds when the queen bee leaves the hive. Working together can certainly help a group of individuals weather a storm. This isn’t just an important lesson for humans, it’s also precisely how honeybees survive bad weather and protect the queen. As they cluster into a hanging hive, they begin to behave like a single superorganism. These hanging hives are vulnerable, yet they sometimes manage to hang on for days on end. As individual bees moved toward a position of higher stress, the average stress on each bee in the whole colony decreased as a result, even though for some bees, that meant taking on more stress than they’d had at the outset.
As we strive to meet our customer experience expectations, we are sometimes met with situations that stretch our processes, decision making and ability to work together to produce results, it’s how we react in these circumstances that determine the kind of experience we deliver. Like the beehive we stand a better chance doing great work together! Teams should be able to rely on each other and seamlessly pass on processes to other teams till a process is complete. Teamwork and cooperation, not only within customer facing staff teams but across the entire business and processes ensures great experience . In other words, altruism and teamwork guarantee success.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” — Henry Ford
TEAMWORK doesn’t mean everybody doing the same thing or everybody being able to do each other’s jobs. It’s more a means to a synergistic way of working, where the sum is greater than the parts. Properly managed, teamwork maximizes strengths, bringing out the best in each team member. The value of teamwork is regularly seen in sports. How often do we see teams made up of expensive star players outperformed by teams with players who may be individually less talented? (Assuming transfer price tags really are an indicator of talent!) The answer lies in the synergistic value of teamwork!
Our success at Paga is ultimately determined by our ability to work together across teams, departments and divisions! Identifying gaps between needs and expectations from customer feedback helps prioritise where improvements need to be made and making the next step to improved customer experience. Businesses that don’t work well together can become siloed and won’t achieve their customer centric potential.
Mastering teamwork builds the following characteristics;
Efficiency: A good team runs like clockwork because the individuals communicate openly and can improve their processes. This creates a smoother customer experience. The communication practices within the company go a long way toward creating a team-oriented feeling.
Consistency: Service is more consistent because the team is more communicative, and everyone understands their role and responsibilities within the team.
Resilience: A good team is able to handle unexpected problems that may arise at work with efficiency and calm, resulting in a better customer experience.
Warmth: Good teamwork goes hand in hand with happiness. If you’re on a good team, you’ll generally be warmer and more upbeat than if you’re on a poor team. And customers can pick up on this.
There is a link between communication and collaboration at work and happiness. People who communicate and collaborate well with their teams are more engaged, less stressed, and happier at work. Such people will be good brand ambassadors for your company, and they will be better able to engage and ultimately serve your customers. Thus, deliver better customer experience!
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” — Andrew Carnegie
