Sheila, the manager of a customer support division in a major pharmaceutical company, and her teams went through our three-day team training. During the training the teams learned conflict management skills, identified key customer service strategies and developed a cross-training plan. During the session some important conflicts surfaced that had been a problem for over two years between several team members. We facilitated a feedback session and used conflict management skills to help the coach and team come to resolution. A plan was also put in place to ensure the conflict did not recur.
Initially, the regional managers expressed concern about the new way of operating. They were worried that they would not get the same level of support as before and that they would not know who to go to if they had questions or a customer concern. The teams put in place a feedback system with the regional managers to ensure that any drop in service would be caught immediately.
We conducted a six-month follow-up and found that the conflict had recurred twice but the teams used the conflict management skills to deal with it quickly. As a result, some new root causes were identified and the conflict was laid to rest once and for all. The regional managers had reported some service concerns during that time. The teams addressed the concerns and made changes in their work-flow to meet the concerns.
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At the one-year follow-up the conflict had not recurred and many exciting things were happening. Sheila reported that a recent survey of regional managers showed that the teams were providing unprecedented support to the managers and their customers. Regional managers reported 100% that their level of support and service was uniformly higher. The thing they enjoyed the most was that the teams were able to answer their questions or get action no matter who answered the phone. The old system was much more dependent on individuals and often left the managers waiting for someone to get back from vacation or sick leave before they could get an answer.
Sheila also reported that two of the teams each lost a member and decided not to fill the positions. They found the teams functioned as well with five members as they had with six! Sheila said that the increased productivity with a reduced staff allowed her to pay for the entire training and development effort within the same fiscal year. |
