chapter 5
Technical and Process Training
Spinning the Wheels of Process
A help desk manager has emailed you asking for help with his team. Although his team uses very sophisticated software tools to help communicate issues, the tools aren't used consistently. Instead, each person has his or her own way of working, creating redundant work. Calls are not processed quickly, and big backlogs of work accumulate.
What They Say—The Situation
What You Hear
Your conversation with the client and your research has brought you to the conclusions outlined in table 5-1.
Based on these inferences, you build agreement with the manager that the goals of this process improvement program are the following:
Improve customer service by streamlining the communication of the help desk staff.
Improve customer service by reducing rework and redundancy among the help desk.
Increase speed of issue resolution at the help desk.
Because the help desk cannot close, there will be two groups going through the sessions. One group will cover the help desk while the other goes to the session.
Table 5-1. Logical conclusions.
| What the Client Says | What You Hear |
| My people need software training. | The new software must be the problem. People aren't using it right even though they don't report any problems with it. Help me figure out what else I can do! |
| My customers are less happy with our services than they were last year. | Customer feedback is the most important metric to me. No matter what they are upset about, we need to fix it. |
| My people are solving the problems, but in an inefficient way. | My people are good at what they do and they are dedicated to our customers, but they may be working so independently that work is done twice when handoffs occur. We need to trust each other a bit more perhaps. |
What You Do
Begin where all good performance solutions begin—with asking the right questions. Your training and performance instincts have already given you some good guidance, but as is the case with all successful interventions, you first must figure out what's really behind what is said. Here are some questions that you need to ask before the solution can be proposed:
What types of behavioral changes would you like to see after the program is completed? How would a help desk staff member provide better service to the customer?
How are problems escalated currently? Who owns the problem after a handoff? Who follows up with the customer to ensure that the customer's needs have been met?
When is the software used during the process? How do handoffs occur through the software?
What is a reasonable goal for customer service results for next year? How long would it take after changes to see this change?
What is a reasonable goal for average time to solve a customer problem? How long would it take after changes to see this change?
Results of Questions
You have learned from asking these questions that:
There are three levels of escalation: Tier 1 (answers the phone, basic knowledge base through the software), Tier 2 (more advanced general knowledge), and Tier 3 (SME).
The last handoff currently is perceived to own the problem. However, each level believes it is responsible for issue logging, generating double or triple records related to the same problem.
Tier 3 SMEs are highly technical. Tier 1 staff have the strongest people skills. Follow-up will be done by Tier 1 after a problem is solved, so this group will retain ownership even after escalation.
Within 6 months, the help desk manager would like to see an improvement of 25 percent in customer service (as measured by the customer service survey) and a decrease of 15 percent in the time required to solve a problem (as measured by the reports from the software).
Your Triage Intervention
Upon consulting with the executive, you have identified several constraints around which this learning intervention must function. First, there are 16 people staffing the help desk. The sessions must be short (less than half a day) to ensure that half of the staff can be covering for the other while they are learning. The manager, however, will attend all of the sessions. Second, the sessions must begin in 2 weeks and be completed 2 weeks after the starting time.
You have proposed to the manager the plan shown in figure 5-1, and he has accepted.
Session 1 (3 hours):
Four Facts, a quick team-building exercise. Purpose: Increase the trust between staff and help desk staff as people get to know each other outside the work environment.
Signatures Simulation. Purpose: Amplify the very problems that are challenging the help desk.
Metaphor Sculptures for the help desk staff. Purpose: Develop a team vision of the help desk and create artifacts to leave in the office to reinforce the lessons learned from the sessions. Sculptures will also serve to connect the separate groups.
Figure 5-1. Your technical and training process intervention.
Session 2 (3 hours):
Handoff and Communication Process Design Dialogue. Purpose: Create common processes specifying owners, steps, handoff points, communication points, and measures.
Team Temperature Assessment. Purpose: Create a set of five to 10 assessment criteria to use 6 months after the session to check the perceived trust and communication success of the help desk staff.
Magic of 9's. Purpose: Reinforce the importance of internal communication during handoffs as a closing activity.
You only have 2 weeks to build the initial executive session, then 2 weeks after that to complete all four sessions. The solution is broken down into more detailed overviews in the following sections.
Prerequisite: Team Temperature Assessment
This prerequisite assessment (activity 5-1) will be used so that the participants will start with a shared view of the problem. This prerequisite will contain questions written by you, the consultant; but in session 2, the help desk staff will build new questions to use for checking the team temperature on an ongoing basis. Web-based assessments would be simpler to do than paper-based instruments, and the data would be easier to summarize.
Session 1: Four Facts, Signatures, and Metaphor Sculptures
In this session, the help desk staff (split into two different classes) will begin to identify the communication problems they have and start to grow a shared vision of what the communication should be like.
Opening with the Four Facts activity will help each person appreciate the diversity of his or her co-workers. It is not uncommon for people who have worked together to think they know everything about each other. This type of exercise usually proves that mentality wrong.
The Signatures Simulation can provoke similar communication patterns to the ones causing problems in the team presently. You, as facilitator, will be able to debrief extensively on these problems and help the participants see what the communication issues are.
Finally, breaking into small teams and creating Metaphor Sculptures gets them to discuss the essentials of good communication. You will facilitate a brief discussion of the characteristics of communication that these metaphors represent. The Metaphor Sculptures from each team will be exchanged at the beginning of session 2.
Session 2: Handoff and Communication Dialogue, Team Temperature Assessment, Magic of 9's
At the beginning of the second session, participants will view the Metaphor Sculptures from the other group, and you will facilitate a brief discussion of the characteristics of communication that these metaphors represent (similar to the first session).
At this point, you have reinstated the trust that was initially built in the first session. The teams are ready to discuss common communication scenarios and build a model for handoffs and communication.
The group will then build a list of suggested questions for the ongoing Team Temperature Assessment and end with a quick closing activity using the Magic of 9's to reinforce that, although they bring many diverse strengths to the help desk, they are all similar in their need for communication and their need to help their internal customers.
Ongoing Team Temperature Assessment
You will review the proposed questions from both of the sessions, and create a new Team Temperature Assessment to be used every 6 months.
What You Build
The plan is approved, and now it is time for you to design the measurable learning objectives for each part of the proposed solution, determine facilitation requirements, and create materials. At this time, you must also establish appropriate learning objectives. In this case, each participant will learn how the entire team views the communication problems.
Prerequisite Team Temperature Assessment
Required Equipment and Supplies. Assemble the following items prior to undertaking the assessment:
paper forms or a Web-based assessment (activity 5-1)
email notification
tracked email reports to make sure assessments are done on time
printed results reports (also electronic).
You may use a Web application such as www.surveymonkey.com or even do the surveys using email or paper. The choice depends on your budget and the number of survey participants. As is true for any survey, the more responses, the better the results. It is critical to ensure that the results will remain completely anonymous and that the language is very clear. Consider testing the initial questions on a few help desk staff members before rolling it out to everyone.
Step-by-Step Design.
1. Determine from the executive sponsor the type of communication problems that are rumored to be occurring. Create questions that do not “lead the witness” and allow the person to respond that an item is “not applicable.”
2. Force the person to take a stand by using an even number of responses, such as a rating scale from 1 to 4, to eliminate the middle-of-the-road response of 3 on a scale from 1 to 5. This is shown in the example assessment provided as activity 5-1.
3. Send the survey to all the members with a clear “return by” date, or else do the assessments quickly during other face-to-face meetings to get a better return.
4. Create material to distribute in the first session to summarize the responses.
Tips. Create questions that address how a learner views the communication practiced by those around him or her and the communication exercised by him- or herself. That way you can see whether people as a whole see the problem as their own, everybody else's, or a mixture. Also be sure to limit the questions to no more than 10. People stop thinking when assessments involve more than 10 items.
Survey Results. For illustration, assume that the results show that the vast majority of the staff believe there is a communication problem. They feel overwhelmingly that the team avoids difficult conversations and holds communication with others as a low priority. The interesting conflict is that most individuals do not believe that they personally have a problem with communication. This disconnect will be useful when you begin session 1 and share these results.
Session 1: Four Facts
To open the first session, you ask each participant to write down four facts about him- or herself, one of which is false. The others will try to guess which fact is not true.
Learning Objectives. After participating in Four Facts, each learner will
question their own personal labels for others
broaden their appreciation of the complexity of others
see others as whole, interesting people
begin to enjoy each other's company (laugh!).
Required Equipment and Supplies. All you need for Four Facts is scrap paper and pencils for writing.
Step-by-Step. Here are the steps for foolproof implementation of Four Facts:
1. Make sure each participant has blank paper and a writing implement.
2. Explain that all the participants will write down four facts about themselves that they will read to the others. Explain that one (and only one) of these facts will be a lie. Write your Four Facts on a flipchart paper as an example, but do not tell them what your lie is yet. For example:
I enjoy camping.
I was captain of the lacrosse team in high school.
I got my first computer last year.
I have published a book.
3. When you are done writing your Four Facts, give the participants time to write down their facts.
4. Return to your example. Read your four facts and ask people to vote on which one is the lie. Tell them. Now, break into teams of three to help move this exercise along or else it can take forever. Have each team do exactly what you did: Each person will share with the other two and then identify the lie when voting is done. Then have each team select the best Four Facts set in their group to share with everyone.
5. Each of the winners will share their Four Facts with the group. When this is done, debrief briefly by asking anyone what surprised him or her the most about what was heard. Help people discover that people tend to assume things about those with whom they work, but these assumptions aren't always accurate.
Tips. To make this activity a meaningful part of your triage intervention, be sure to do the following:
Encourage people to share surprising truths in their Four Facts, but keep them appropriate to work (of course).
Keep this exercise moving along; it is not difficult for it to drag or for discussion to take a side track because of the interesting facts coming up.
Be sure to close with debriefing to bring the exercise back to task. This opening activity might seem disconnected to anything of consequence to people who aren't sure they want to be at the session at all.
Be careful to control the debriefing. If someone says “I am so surprised that Bill is a Sunday school teacher because I've never heard him say a civil word!” be quick to respond. I like to bring out Negasaurus whenever someone starts to sound negative, trigger the toy dinosaur's roar, and give him to the offender saying “Oh! That's negative, so you get Negasaurus! It's your job to catch the next person being negative.” This will get everyone laughing, and give you a powerful way to keep the discussion from hurting people.
Top Priority
When debriefing the group, use these questions:
Which true fact surprised you the most? Why?
Which false facts threw you off the most? Why?
What have you learned about how well you know each other?
What assumptions have you made that might be hindering your ability to communicate with each other? (If this question is too tough, have them write their responses on their own and not share.)
Session 1: Signatures Simulation
In this quick, simple simulation, you will catch people behaving in ways that hinder communication similarly to the problems in their current team. You may find that people:
tend to tell rather than ask when they are in a team situation
compete with each other rather than work collaboratively
resist asking for clarification when something is not clear
react quickly instead of thinking about what they are trying to accomplish.
Learning Objectives. After completing this simulation, the participants will be able to:
identify some communication problems that exist in the team
recognize beliefs and assumptions that trigger these problems.
Required Equipment and Supplies. Assemble the following items prior to undertaking Signatures Simulation:
flipcharts and markers
scrap paper and pencils for writing
a timer, watch, or clock.
a requirements sheet as a handout, one per team of three (provided as activity 5-2).
Step-by-Step. If you follow these ordered steps, you should be able to run a successful Signatures Simulation:
1. Break the room into teams of three to four participants, and tell the groups that the person who was born farthest from the room we're in will play the role of the leader. (Pets can be a tie breaker, if need be.) The leaders are the ultimate authority, and they do not have to do anything to help if they don't want to.
2. Give each team a requirements sheet. Tell them they have 2 minutes to create a strategy. They can't begin until you tell them to.
3. After 2 minutes, tell everyone they have 3 minutes to complete this assignment. Tell them to begin. Start your timer.
4. Observe the behaviors of the teams, making notes to use during the debrief. Try to stay low key and keep away. Don't call attention to yourself.
5. Give the teams a warning after each minute. Tell groups to stop after 3 minutes and return to their tables to count their results. Ask the teams to share the number of signatures they acquired by saying “Which team thinks it is the winner? How many did you get?” This language will continue to encourage win-lose behavior.
6. Give a prize to the team with the most signatures. (No need to count or verify the numbers.) There might be some grumbling from people who didn't win. Begin the debriefing by asking: “Does anyone want to challenge the results?” At this point, another team may complain that the winning team cheated. Continue the debriefing.
Tips. Resist the temptation to say more than necessary. The fewer instructions the better because you are trying to catch people in suboptimal communication behaviors. Act as if you have given them all the information they need.
If one of the teams approaches you with a question about the requirements, answer them quietly so that other teams don't notice. If a team asks you if the signatures have to be unique, quietly tell them no. If a team asks you if they can sign their own signature over and over again, or if they can leave the room, quietly tell them yes. It is likely no one will ask you any of these things because most people will assume answers and continue with their strategy without asking.
Top Priority
Debrief using the following process and write key ideas on a flipchart:
Ask the winning team what they did to make them successful. When you've captured that team's thoughts, ask other teams what they did that made them successful. You should elicit such responses as:
— We worked well together as a team.
— We communicated well as a team.
— We had a really creative idea.
— We had a very clear, shared goal.
Ask all the teams what they would do differently next time. Listen for:
— We would be more flexible and change our strategy if it wasn't working.
— We would spend more time strategizing to get a more creative strategy.
— We would learn from others and adapt.
— We would take the time to ask for clarification.
Continue debriefing using some of these questions:
What prevented you from asking me for clarification? I like to really pester teams at this point because they rarely ask any questions and seem to prefer to assume answers. Some of their reasons have been:
— If we asked you, you would have told us we can't do it. (Is it better to do it fast and wrong, rather than slow and right?)
— We didn't know we could ask questions (assumptions about communication).
— It's more fun to do it the way we wanted to (lack of alignment with the team or customer).
What effect do the pressures to be fast have on communication?
What effect does competition among teams have on communication?
What prevented teams from collaborating on this project?
The results of this exercise set the stage for finishing up Session 1 by building Metaphor Sculptures.
Session 1: Metaphor Sculptures
This is an individual exercise. Each person will represent a metaphor by making a sculpture of modeling clay. The metaphor should symbolize how they wish communication would be within the help desk team.
Learning Objectives. After completing their Metaphor Sculpture, the participant will
describe how he or she would like the help desk communication to change
list the competencies making up good communication within the help desk team.
Required Equipment and Supplies. Before beginning this activity, assemble the following items:
Modeling clay or Playdough modeling compound (three colors per person). The small party-favor packs work best.
A small plastic plate to put the structure on so it can be transported to the next session.
A small index card to list the competencies of communication.
Step-by-Step. Playing with modeling compound is one of the things that brings most people back to the lightness of playing as a child. Thinking of metaphors does not come easily for many adults. The business world does not usually have the time to think creatively like this. Sculpting helps people loosen up their brains. Many will be reluctant initially, but once they get started, they will be fine.
1. Pass out the modeling clay or compound, plates, and index cards.
2. Explain that each person will create a sculpture representing a metaphor for how he or she would like communication to occur within the help desk. Explain that you will help them figure out how to proceed in small steps.
— Have everyone list three competencies that would lead to great communication on their index card.
— Looking at these competencies, have people think of something that represents them.
— Once they think of a metaphor, they are ready to build it. Encourage them to share if they need additional colors.
3. After all the participants have completed their sculptures, ask people one at a time to bring them to the front of the room and explain the metaphor and competencies. Document on the flipchart a list of unique competencies. (There will probably be many that are repeated on multiple sculptures.)
4. Summarize the list and close by asking people to think about processes that could be put in place to encourage these competencies by the next session. Share with the group how this might happen:
— I wrote down on my index card “trust,” “listening,” and “honesty.”
— I thought about metaphors that fit these three words, and I came up with the metaphor of a baby. After all, babies trust everyone, listen constantly, and can't be anything but honest.
— I built a little baby basket and baby out of clay.
Tips. If someone gets stuck on this activity, go to that person and help him or her with the thought process. Be careful not to “lead the witness,” though. Instead, ask the person questions that move him or her through self-discovery.
As you might have guessed, some of these sculptures will be very good and some will not. The sculpture is not as important as the thinking and reflecting, so focus on that.
Session 2: Sharing Metaphor Sculptures
This will be a brief opening to return teams to how they felt after the last session and connect the two teams to each other.
Learning Objectives. After completing the sculpture sharing, the participants will be able to:
recall and describe how they would like the help desk communication to change
add to the list the competencies of good communication within the help desk
collaborate with the participants from the other session.
Required Equipment and Supplies. All you need to complete this activity are the sculptures from both groups that attended session 1.
Step-by-Step.
1. As participants enter, ask them to review the sculptures displayed on a large table. To begin session 2:
a) Ask each person to write down the one competency he or she thinks is most critical to improving the communication within the help desk staff.
b) Ask each person to pair up with one other person, and share the most critical competency chosen. Ask the pair to come up with one competency between them that is most critical to improving communication.
c) Ask each pair to pair up again with another pair. Repeat the process in step a.
d) Capture on flipchart paper the competencies for each group of four.
Tips.
This is meant to be a very brief opening exercise. Do not give people very much time to pair up, share, and make choices.
It is not so critical what competencies make the list, but rather that the participants have revisited the competencies thought about in session 1. Recall that the help desk staff had to divide into two groups in order to maintain coverage during the sessions.
Session 2: Handoff and Communication Process
This will be a team exercise. Two teams will each create their own process, and then the two teams will combine to create a common process.
Learning Objectives. After completing the process construction, the teams will be able to identify how the scenarios that occur during normal help desk communication can be improved and validate these processes using the competencies established in the opening exercise.
Required Equipment and Supplies. You will need the following items for this activity:
construction paper (multiple colors)
yarn
masking tape
colored markers that will not bleed through paper onto walls
large wall areas.
Step-by-Step. Here are the steps for this follow-up activity:
1. Lead a discussion around the typical scenarios for communication within the help desk. Make a list of at least five of these scenarios on a piece of flipchart paper. Use activity 5-3 as a handout.
2. Pile the construction paper, markers, yarn, and tape in a central area. Divide the participants in half, and assign each team to a large wall area.
3. Using the construction supplies provided, ask each team to start with any scenario and build a process that creates good communication and good results for that scenario. Each piece of construction paper will indicate a step in the process. Each step should have the name of an “owner” written on it specifying who is responsible this step. Construction paper can also be used to show results or information that will be handed off to other steps and people. The yarn will be used to show how the steps flow together. See figure 5-2 to see how this works.
4. After the teams have completed a process, ask them to move to another scenario and see if their process still works. At this point they are trying to build a generic process for communication that works in most scenarios. Ask them to modify their process to meet this goal.
5. After the generic process is built, share the two processes with the whole group. Lead a discussion using the questions listed in the “Top Priority” section to clarify how the handoffs and communication are critical to the success of the process. If there is time, combine into one process.
Figure 5-2. Example of the handoff and communication activity.
Tips. Keep these ideas in mind:
Building tactile processes helps people physically understand how they occur.
It is easier to save these construction projects if you build them on blank flipchart paper taped to the wall.
Top Priority
Debrief using the following process and capture ideas on a flipchart for all to see:
How does your new process differ from the way communication occurs now? Tell a story of how the old way works, and then retell the story with how the new process would flow.
Where are the handoffs in this process? How can you minimize the handoffs?
Who owns each of the steps of the process?
How would you know, if you were the owner of one of these steps, that the step was completed? How would completion be measured?
Session 2: Team Temperature Assessment Update
This will be an individual exercise. Each individual will brainstorm questions on index cards to add to the Team Temperature Assessment used for ongoing measurement.
Learning Objectives. After completing these new questions, the participant will have a complete understanding of the Team Temperature Assessment.
Required Equipment and Supplies. For this activity, all you need to provide are Post-It notes and pencils.
Step-by-Step.
1. Pass out the pads of Post-It notes and pencils.
2. Display the statements in the original Team Temperature Assessment (activity 5-1).
3. Ask each person to write a question or statement on a Post-It note that they would like to add to the Team Temperature Assessment or modify a question that is already on the assessment.
4. Divide the participants into four groups and assign each group to a wall it is close to. Ask each participant to silently put his or her Post-It note on the near wall.
5. Once all the Post-It notes have been placed on a wall, ask participants to silently group similar Post-It notes together. Have them do this for about 3 minutes.
6. Using a new Post-It note, ask each group to create a question that represents each grouping.
7. Share these questions with the entire group. You, as facilitator, will capture these to update the Team Temperature Assessment after the session.
Session 2: The Magic of 9's
This is a brief closing activity to emphasize how similar people are.
Learning Objectives. After completing these new questions, the participant will view others as similar to him- or herself.
Step-by-Step. These are the essential steps for the Magic of 9's activity:
1. Ask people to pick a number between 2 and 10. Make sure they know not to tell you what it is.
2. Ask people to multiply their number by 9.
3. Ask people to take the two-digit number they have now and add the two digits together.
4. Ask people to subtract 5 from their number.
5. Now, by relating their number to the alphabet, ask them to come up with a country that starts with the letter corresponding to their number (for example, A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, E = 5, and so forth). Note that if they have done the math right, the number will always be four, and the letter will be D.
6. Ask people to think of a country that starts with that letter. (Most will think of Denmark.)
7. Ask people to think of an animal that starts with the second letter of the country they thought of. (Most will think of an elephant.)
8. Ask people to think of the color of the animal as they picture and imagine it in their heads as you pretend to read their minds. (Most will picture their elephant as gray.)
9. Announce “How many people have thought of a gray elephant from Denmark?”
Tips. Here are a few suggestions to make this activity run smoothly:
Work with a group of exemplary communicators and get their help building the initial team temperature assessment and the common scenarios.
If there is no time or buy-in to do the assessment as prework, do it in class. Summarize it over the first break and share at that time.
Consider mixing up the participants so the roster for session 1 is different than session 2.
If people miss session 1 but want to participate in session 2, ask them to build a Metaphor Sculpture as a prerequisite.
Encourage the sponsor of this effort to formalize the process created from session 2. Documenting this process and reinforcing the behavior through compliance documents, job descriptions, and performance reviews will increase the odds of lasting change.
Measuring Your Success
The Team Temperature Assessment is designed to provide ongoing feedback and measurement for the team. These results should be communicated and discussed widely each time. In addition, approximately once a year, staff members should reevaluate the appropriateness of the questions.
Debrief
“Why doesn't the help desk help?” is a refrain that is heard often. I'm not sure I ever heard someone say, “Wow, that help desk person was great and really helped me,” and certainly no one ever communicates that sentiment to the help desk person. It's a thankless job staffed by people who really like the challenge of solving problems under pressure. But, they can't do that job unless other people in the organization help them in many ways.
Notice how this intervention also contains a process (and assessment) to monitor both the improvement and the degradation of service. Many companies invest in initiatives to solve a problem, but few consider investing in the long-term maintenance of the solution.
In the next chapter you'll read about what can happen when sales staff are under tremendous pressure in the face of change. Sales are up, but so are the numbers of unhappy customers and burned-out salespeople. Your client thinks that a stress management session is the answer, but is it?
Activity 5-1
Activity 5-2
Activity 5-3