Yesterday, while watching the daily news, I saw a commercial that caught my attention.  In order to win over new customers, this organization is using a strategy that I like very much.  Their approach is creative, it’s innovative, and was sure their competitors would need to respond to this advertising campaign in some form or fashion to maintain market share.

However, after seeing this advertisement a second time, I came to the realization that this “new” approach is classic conflict avoidance.  Take a look at this video clip.  Can you see where I’m coming from? 

Now, please correct me if I’m totally off base, (I’ll be confident and say I’m not), but don’t the fundamentals of business acumen tell us that competition is good?  In a situation like this we should want to create a little constructive conflict, forcing these two companies to battle over our business.  If we ask Allstate to “break up” with our existing insurance provider for us because we’re too uncomfortable to handle the situation ourselves, we’ll never know whether the current insurance provider would be able to match the offer, or offer a better deal, ultimately saving use the hassle of switching insurance providers.  Come on people. Buck up!  Step out of your comfort zone and grow a little!  Given this type of situation, the customer has all the power.  If you add a little conflict to the mix, these two companies will need to compete for your business, “sweetening the deal,” and offering you greater gains.   One company claims that it can “save you serious cash,” but the other company wants to retain business and compete for your business.  Keeping a customer is much easier than winning a new one.   Two companies knowingly vying for our business puts us in a great position, but if your existing insurance company gets a call from Allstate, “saving you that uncomfortable break-up moment,” your opportunity for beneficial conflict has been lost, and so has your power as a consumer. 

Confront conflict head on; avoidance never hurt anybody but you.

So how does one operate on a conflicted team?  We still need to be able to create a win-win solution for the team and the organization.   How do we use conflict to our advantage?

1. Acknowledge Conflict
Acknowledging conflict can be uncomfortable, yet once the conflict is recognized and discussed the team will feel a sense of relief.   People tend to be more effective when they can agree to work together and find mutually satisfactory solutions to common problems.

2. Gain Common Ground
Is there common ground between the parties involved in the conflict?  Put the conflict in perspective based on the team’s goals.  If everyone is committed to a common purpose, they should be willing to address any issue that may affect the team’s final outcome.

3. Understand Each Point of View
Gaining an understanding of difference perspectives does not necessarily mean gaining agreement on all sides.  Here we must take the time both to understand and be understood as we gain information from all sides.

4. Attack the Issue(s), Not Each Other
Bickering or fighting with someone on the team is an unwanted stress, yet the issue needs to be addressed in order for the team to maximize its potential.  The goal is to reach a solution that allows everyone to achieve individual/team goals without violating anyone’s values.

5. Develop an Action Plan
a. The team will outline specific steps that each person on the team will take in order to reach the team’s goal.  Each person will be accountable for his/her role in the action plan, and the plan will be written on paper so that each person is aware of his/her responsibilities to the team.

As team members utilizes this five-step process to address issues and conflicts, they will see more win-win situations and the team will increase their levels of productivity.

Many people fail to solve problems effectively because they don’t carefully analyze what went wrong, nor fully understand where future improvements can take place. If you are a fan of the NBC sitcom, Saturday Night Live, then you may have seen the recent skits about how “Oscar Roger’s” the Weekend Update’s Financial Expert strongly feels someone needs to quickly “fix” the current economic crisis.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-thursday-part-2/742141
(start when there is 2 minutes and 16 seconds left).

When problems receive a quick Band-Aid® and aren’t given the attention justified to create and implement the right solution, it is likely because the person solving the problem said “fire, aim, ready” rather than “ready, aim, fire.” Like in the skit, many people hurry to fix the problem before doing their homework. Below are a few helpful tips from CMOE’s Problem Solving Workshop and Decision Making for solving problems more effectively in your organization.

• Define the pattern and profile of the problem so you can track down the cause. The pattern allows you to compare what is actually happening with what should be happening or what the plan calls for.

• Break the problem down into component parts. The better you understand the problem, the more accurately you will be able to solve it. A well-defined problem is half solved. Ask the journalist questions: “What is happening that indicates a problem? Who is involved in the situation? When is it occurring (process cycle, timing)? Where is it occurring (location, area)? How much is occurring (magnitude, trends)?

• Define what should be happening by defining what is not happening. Draw comparisons. What is unique and different with the problem areas? What separates the problem from areas that are not affected? Describe the standard or plan against which you’ll compare the data. If you don’t have a comparison plan, describe your preferences, what would you prefer to see?

• Gather the most specific detailed data available. Don’t accept opinions or conjecture. Carefully note assumptions when in doubt.

For more information about CMOE’s Problem Solving Workshop and Decision Making Workshop, visit http://www.cmoe.com/problem_solving_decision_making.htm

Although this news story seems hilarious and far-fetched, I can relate it to happenings in the workplace.  Co-workers often find themselves in the middle of legitimate conflicts and problems.  Rather than solving these conflicts and problems themselves, co-workers commonly run to their managers in hopes that they will make everything all better.  This occurs for a variety of reasons.  Employees may lack the skills to problem solve, they may feel uncomfortable with conflict, or they may lack the confidence to confront issues head on.  Like the police, effective leaders don’t come to the rescue.  Rather, they arm their employees with the ability to overcome such challenges.  Like the police, effective managers have bigger and more important situations to deal with and can’t waste time on situations that can be handled without them.  If you are a manager and feel like your employees are constantly dialing 911, you may need to to provide some training or skill development around problem solving, decision making, and conflict management.

Several days ago, I was able to see a great effort by a sales associate as she dealt with a very difficult customer. I was in my wireless carrier’s store picking up a couple of phone accessories. As I was completing my purchase, a lady entered the store and shouted she would like to speak to the store manager now. Apparently the store manager was at lunch so a young sales associate walked over to woman and asked if she could help. The customer was visibly angry. She shouted “you guys are liars” and stated her bill was wrong again.

Because the customer kept shouting, employees and customers alike were focused on the situation. The sales associate was doing everything possible to keep the woman from exploding even more. Unfortunately, this customer was in no mood to be told to calm down. I watched the sales associate closely. She was poised. She listened and spoke to the customer in a soft and kind tone. She apologized for the problems, asked for clarity about the customer’s frustrations, and offered her personal assistance to solve the problem as best she could. I was very impressed that she was prepared for this kind of extreme customer situation.

After several minutes of this customer yelling, causing a scene, and embarrassing herself, the situation finally ended in a positive way. The sales associate never took the yelling and nastiness personal. Instead, she realized this customer needed special attention and took it upon herself to quickly respond. Steve Yastrow the author of the book We – The Ideal Customer Relationship says that “a policy designed to ensure that all customers get consistent service ensures that personalization will be blunted.”

Good thing the sales associate recognized this customer was different and therefore required deviation from “consistent service” for their customers. The sales associate explained the contract and the billing process clearly to her customer and asked the customer a very important question. Did I resolve all of your concerns? It was gratifying to see the sales associate take a “we are in this together” approach. She consistently communicated to the angry woman; I am your partner in this problem, so let’s work on it together.

Rigidity and inflexibility usually mean an end to customer satisfaction. When businesses are inflexible with their customers, you can bet that conflict will arise, customers will become frustrated, and ultimately will take their business elsewhere.

To learn more about customer service training initiatives, please contact us or leave a comment below.

The benefit of this question is that at least one member of the team recognizes some flaws and is looking for guidance on how to influence and change the team for the better. Of course from my standpoint, I need more information to give appropriate suggestions as to what to do. But, after digging a little deeper and getting more information, the same problems seem to be occurring within the majority of teams. The common themes typically are:

1. The team isn’t very focused.

2. Team meetings are not effective.

3. Certain members are working harder than others on the team, causing frustration and negatively impacting cohesion and unity.

Within these themes, the element that is commonly missing, which causes these symptoms to surface, is processes. I have found that when teams have frustration, it can often be traced to lack of processes, or processes not being used, or processes that are outdated, or even processes not being followed correctly. Regardless of the problem, teams need to take a serious look at their processes.

One of the reasons process improvements continues to be a vital aspect of an organization is because of frequent changes in the marketplace. Paradigms change and the goals of the organization and the team change regularly. Because of change, processes must be in place to ensure stability and constancy.

Teams with process issues need to be prepared to question them. Some of my recommended questions would be:

1. What processes do we need to create and follow to have efficient meetings that produce the results we are all seeking?

2. What processes do we need to eliminate or modify that are hindering our success currently and will continue to affect us in the future if we don’t so something about it now?

3. Does the whole team understand our processes and are we committed to following them from now on?

Processes are the playbook by which teams operate. When team members don’t understand the playbook, the rules, and the tools that are in place to create success, teams do not reach their potential. If your team is not quite reaching its full potential take a hard look at your processes and see how well your team is following and using your playbook.

The Pluses
The best part of the Plus/Delta assessment and feedback tool is its ease of use. On a piece of paper or on a flipchart, divide the sheet using a “T” shape. The right side of the vertical line is for things that should be continued or the positives, the left side of the vertical line is for things that need to be changed or the negatives. Positive feedback can be given first, followed by the negative, or feedback can be given randomly and the meeting facilitator or individual can identify which side of the diagram it falls under.

In a training atmosphere, CMOE’s facilitators have found success with a small deviation of this tool for enhancing learning. Working on the Plus/Delta as an individual, participants use the right side of the diagram to identify what their strengths are in relation to the workshop topic and the left side of the diagram for areas needing change or improvement. The responses of the participants can be used to evaluate their implementation of the knowledge and skills learned at a later time.

The Deltas
While a Plus/Delta helps identify key problems, it may not surface root issues. As a result, it is often a great place to start, but once key problems are identified, other assessment and feedback tools may be the right next step. The brainstorm-type style can easily get out-of-hand in a group situation. People may speak out of turn, side conversations may develop, and feedback comments may be missed. Ground rules are highly recommended!

We hope you utilize and enjoy this simple, yet effective feedback tool!

Scenario 1 – Perhaps the storm wouldn’t be too bad and our facilitator would still arrive into Milwaukee without any glitches.

Scenario 2 – If the facilitator was delayed and unable to get into Milwaukee that night, we decided that we would start the workshop a few hours later since the participants were in town for an additional day and would be able to work later into the day and evening.

After discussing the two scenarios, we also made a plan to check in with each other 2 hours later to report the status of the facilitator’s flight. The first report, the airline loaded his flight and took off for Milwaukee. We hoped we had dodged the storm. A couple of hours later our facilitator called me to report that his flight had been diverted from Milwaukee to Grand Rapids, MI. He would not make it into Milwaukee that night. The plan was for him to get back on his flight and return to Atlanta for the night, and take the early morning flight and get into Milwaukee at around 8:30 am. If all went well he could still arrive in town and only have a delayed start.

Well, the next morning, I received a call from our facilitator; his flight had been delayed enough that he wouldn’t be able to get to Milwaukee in time to teach the workshop. This is when we began implementing scenario three. Our facilitator would teach the workshop from the Atlanta airport via telephone. This was possible because our client contact had seen the workshop on occasion and while he couldn’t teach the content, he could help keep structure and organization to the “tele-training.”

This created some additional everyday strategic thinking to take place. Since Atlanta is a busy airport, our facilitator was faced with a challenge to find a quiet location, that also had an outlet for power where he could keep his phone plugged in as well as his computer. With a little searching he was finally able to find a location, create a mini-mobile-workstation, and subsequently deliver a training session over the phone. The great part about this whole story is that it was a success. The company’s representative was amazed at the efforts that our team went through, from discussing the options to the final way we were forced to teach the workshop. While we couldn’t control the weather, we could control our focus and attention for how to cope with its inconvenience and put together a collaborative and strategic effort to make sure that the show went on, and pull it off successfully.