While this article discusses government call centers generally, and New Mexico (NM) Government call centers specifically, please do not think the problems described are specific only to, or lessons could not be applied to, many other call centers. New Mexico Government call centers all have a common problem, they are purposefully designed to not help or serve the customer. Worse, the work processes are convoluted to the point that work takes anywhere from 10 – 15% longer than it should, costing 30 – 50% more than it should. Worse, if a customer gets connected to an “Escalation Department,” the workers in that department have no authority, no tools, and nothing they can do but repeat marketing materials, and hope the customer goes away.
Essentially, the NM Government call centers, at the city and state levels of government are as emasculated as a spring-born calf! Let that sink in for a moment. No tools, no authority, no support, and only their verbal wits to make the customer go away. If you think this problem is only apparent in government call centers; well, you are wrong.
AT&T has a very similar, though not as endemic issue. Sprint, the problem is both apparent and not considered a problem. AIU, COX, Comcast/Xfinity, FEDEX, UPS, UoPX, and more, you all have very similar issues where the work processes and the customer service are disconnected, leaving employees emasculated and stuck spouting marketing lines in the hope of appeasing the customer. Sure, some of you have better call escalation processes, but these escalation processes only show the emasculation of your people more exactly.
For example, take today’s interactions with a NM Government Call Center. The representative on the call escalation line could very easily reach out to their supervisor and take the criticisms and ideas from the customer’s call, put them forth as their own ideas, and improve the call center and customer attentiveness of the organization. Unfortunately, sad experience has shown that new ideas in NM Government Call Centers are anathema to the good order and discipline of the call center. Thus, proving that the endemic lack of customer attentiveness is systematic in NM Government Call Centers and considered a benefit to the customer/taxpayer using the government service.
Purposeful customer abuse is not appreciated, not acceptable, and eventually leads the call center to ruin. Which is a monumental waste of the potential in your employees, as well as being ruinously expensive for some future disaster. In speaking with retail associates at Comcast/Xfinity and COX Communications, one learns from frontline representatives what to expect from calling the call centers. If the retail associates are frustrated with the inability to be served, this is automatically passed to the customer. Bank of America has this problem in spades!
Appreciative inquiry is a growth mechanism that states that what a business organization needs, they already have enough of, provided they listen to their employees. Appreciative inquiry and common sense tells leaders who want to know and change their organization, how, and where to go to begin. Appreciative inquiry-based leadership is 6-continuous steps that start small, and cycle to larger problems as momentum for excellence permeates through an organization. But the first step, just like in defeating a disabling addiction, is admitting there is a problem.
Coming back to the NM Government Call Center, the front-line supervisor upon hearing about this representative’s experience, chooses to believe there is a problem. Knowing that the problems are endemic and systematic in the organization, decides, “For my team, we will be the core of excellence.” Thus, this supervisor is now motivated to take the second step in the appreciative inquiry cycle, “Define.”
The supervisor defines what they can change, and then from that list of items that they can control will select the first item to change by asking themselves and their team, “Which item on this list can we tackle first?” Thus, leading to the third step in appreciative inquiry, “Discover.”
Imperative at this step is the focus upon what is already going right on the topic selected. Not focusing upon what is wrong, or upon what cannot be controlled or influenced by the team. Focus on the positive, list the best of what is going right! For example, if the inquiry will be reducing hold times, and the team has been trending down from multiple hours to single hours of hold time, focus on the positive, and get ideas about tips used from those who are successful in reducing hold times.
The idea in discovery is to create the motivation for the next step in appreciative inquiry, “Dream.” But, do not dream small! Remember, when you shoot for the sun and miss, you still land among the stars. Dream BIG! Dreaming is all about setting your sights on what currently is considered impossible, that your team can make possible. Going back to reducing hold times, set the dream at 30-minutes. You can always come back and dream bigger or repeat the appreciative inquiry cycle on this topic again in the future.
Next, “Design,” design the future and it becomes your destiny; which also happens to be the remaining two steps in the appreciative inquiry cycle. President Thomas Monson is quoted as saying, “Decisions DO Determine Destiny” [emphasis in original]. If you decide the status quo is acceptable, that decision determines the destiny, and ruination will follow. If you decide to pursue excellence, this decision will determine how successful you and your team can be. Design the future you desire, state the goal, write it down, post the goal, speak positively about the goal, and build momentum through accomplishing small steps towards the goal.
Thus, the destiny is born into fruition and what today is impossible, is tomorrow’s reality. Destiny in the appreciative inquiry cycle is defined as creating what the future will be. Positive growth occurs through incremental steps and changes the destination.
A pilot friend of mine loves the story about a new pilot who is making their first cross-country flight with a more experienced pilot. The young pilot is close to being able to solo, and the experienced pilot knows the route, the weather, and decides to let the young pilot fly solo for a few hours. The new pilot gets bored holding a single course and wavers a little to the left, and a little to the right of the base course and does not think anything of the consequences. Several hours go by and the experienced pilot returns to the flight deck to discover bad weather is moving in fast, the small lane cannot fly in the weather that is coming necessitating an unscheduled landing, and the plane is 400-miles off base course. The young pilot said, I only moved a few degrees left and right, we cannot be that far off course. Later the experienced pilot shows a track of the airplane on a map to the young pilot and reality sinks in, by a matter of a few degrees, over time, the plane got in trouble.
Appreciative inquiry is exactly like the plane, by having a destination, defined according to positive desires, through the process of discovery, dreaming of the possible future, while designing the future, the appreciative inquiry leader can make the small changes today that move the destination from ruination to success.
The first step is admitting there is a problem, and desire to fix that problem at all costs. What are you passionate enough about to fix at all costs? Whether you are a representative or a company director, the same question applies and the answer will determine your ultimate destiny. The key is action at all costs. The efforts, time, resources, etc. will be spent to achieve does not matter, the new destination does matter.
A call center supervisor friend of mine had three stellar and highly experienced employees on their team. My friend also had some young talent with incredible potential. Because the three stellar employees did not want to become supervisors, this effectively blocked the new employees from achieving potential. My friend had to make a choice, lose the new potential, or reorganize the team. My friend chooses to keep the experienced people, and shortly after this decision was made, two quit for other opportunities, the new potential quit because they longed for professional growth, my friend was promoted, and the new supervisor had no depth of experience left on the team.
Some would blame the new employees for quitting too soon, others would lay the blame on the supervisor for not developing the talent pool, others might express dismay at the senior talent leaving; honestly, they are all right, and all wrong! My friend decided to hang the costs, and the decision was a tremendous learning experience. Using appreciative inquiry will provide similar learning experiences, prepare, and commit, now to learn first and stay focused on the positive.
Appreciative inquiry can help; there are six operational steps:
- Admit there is a problem and commit to change.
- Define the problem.
- Discover the variables and stay focused on the positive.
- Dream BIG!
- Design the future and outline the steps to that future.
- Destiny, create the destination you desire.
Follow the instructions on a shampoo bottle, “Wash, Rinse, Repeat.” The appreciative inquiry model can be scaled, can be repeated, can be implemented into small or large teams, and produce motivated members who then become the force to producing change. Allow yourself and your team to learn, this takes time, but through a building motivation for excellence, time can be captured to perform.
© Copyright 2020 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the pictures.
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