Using the tools
The past few days have been interesting at work. We have introduced some new policy that was communicated via email to the entire work force. In the email, agents were instructed to use the normal tools they already had for processing.
I also talked with the director of our office. She just returned from a visit of our offices in the Asia/Pacific market. She commented how frustrated her agents were in that part of the world because their jobs were not easy. She explained that we have policies ans procedures that need to be followed. With those procedure, we also have technical tools that will help them. She asked why they were not using these tools, they told her that the tools do not work. This concerned her.
I have been thinking about those two items all day. Agents were concerned in our office because the were not and still are not clear what the corporate offices meant by telling them to use the normal tools in place. They did not feel that they understood them. Trying to be pro-active, I started doing some briefings to demonstrate how to use these tools and follow the procedures. What I learned is that the tools they suggest we use, don't work with this new policy. So, I am doing what I can to make sure they are fixed.
On the other hand, in Asia, these agent are not using the tools they have because the believe they do not work. Yet when recently demonstrated, they do. The agents were amazed. When the tools first came out, they did not work all the time. Now they do, but they never trusted the communication that they would work.
I learn from this that we need to know what tools we have at our finger tips. We need to know what they do and how they work. Then we need to test them. Some times this step can be a little scary. The tools may not work the way we want them too. However, we can either adapt or fix the tool so that it does work properly. Once we have done that, we need to test our faith again and move forward.
We cannot just give up and never try again. We cannot just send it off to someone else and expect them to take care of it for us. We need to do something to make it work or make sure that it is working when we are told that it is fixed.
Once we have them, we need to sharpen them, become more proficient at using them, and apply them to all that we can. Know our tools. Take care of them. Use them.
I also talked with the director of our office. She just returned from a visit of our offices in the Asia/Pacific market. She commented how frustrated her agents were in that part of the world because their jobs were not easy. She explained that we have policies ans procedures that need to be followed. With those procedure, we also have technical tools that will help them. She asked why they were not using these tools, they told her that the tools do not work. This concerned her.
I have been thinking about those two items all day. Agents were concerned in our office because the were not and still are not clear what the corporate offices meant by telling them to use the normal tools in place. They did not feel that they understood them. Trying to be pro-active, I started doing some briefings to demonstrate how to use these tools and follow the procedures. What I learned is that the tools they suggest we use, don't work with this new policy. So, I am doing what I can to make sure they are fixed.
On the other hand, in Asia, these agent are not using the tools they have because the believe they do not work. Yet when recently demonstrated, they do. The agents were amazed. When the tools first came out, they did not work all the time. Now they do, but they never trusted the communication that they would work.
I learn from this that we need to know what tools we have at our finger tips. We need to know what they do and how they work. Then we need to test them. Some times this step can be a little scary. The tools may not work the way we want them too. However, we can either adapt or fix the tool so that it does work properly. Once we have done that, we need to test our faith again and move forward.
We cannot just give up and never try again. We cannot just send it off to someone else and expect them to take care of it for us. We need to do something to make it work or make sure that it is working when we are told that it is fixed.
Once we have them, we need to sharpen them, become more proficient at using them, and apply them to all that we can. Know our tools. Take care of them. Use them.
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