We beat the heat & turned lemons into lemonade.

September 3, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal, Serious About Service · Comment 

lemons & lemonade

 Can you think of a  time your organization made a mistake and then handled it so well that the customer was pleased, kept doing business with you, and maybe even recommended you to others?

If so, congratulations!  I hope it’s part  of your company folklore so that everyone there can learn from it – both the mechanics and the philosophy.

And I hope you will share the story here so that people outside your organization can learn from it.  Who knows…you might be on the receiving end of better mistake management because of it!

Need some examples first to trigger some memories?  Here are a few stories we have collected over the years. Read more

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It’s Mistake Management Month!

September 3, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal, Serious About Service · Comment 

   

September is Mistake Management Month here at Business Class.  

The purpose  is to raise awareness of mistake management and to celebrate those who do it masterfully. 

The mechanics of and the philosophy behind managing mistakes is missing in most Customer Service Plans.   

And that is a BIG mistake.   Because as much as we all try not to make mistakes, we will make them from time to time.  And if we aren’t prepared to handle them,  we leave ourselves wide open for aftershocks such as: Read more

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Movie of the Week: Next Steps

September 3, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal, Movie of the Week · Comment 

Football season has just begun and so our feature film is from the locker room…a scene from the movie Any Given Sunday.

This is a good one to show your team if they need encouragement to keep on pushing, inch by inch, toward the goal.

In case football isn’t your thing or in case showing a movie with this message is not the best next step for your team…

don’t worry!  There are many other options in our cineplex.   Scroll below to see all the choices.    You can watch one or all for the same price.

So grab some popcorn and enjoy!

Read more

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Watch Your Step

September 3, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal · Comment 

A word of caution about next steps…

…be sure your next steps are connected to your desired outcome.  

Doing so can save you lots of unnecessary steps.

By the way…do you know your desired outcome?

Use this (below) as a helpful reminder.   Post to your computer screen in 3 easy steps (see below).  

Related Articles: 

Related Themes:  Read more

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Brainteaser of the Week #44

Use a brainteaser to start, revive or end a meeting. It’s a great way to shift the brain, spark new energy, maybe even cause a giggle or a smile. All of which can help you boost morale and productivity. Making it easier to get wherever or whatever it is you want to get.

This one reveals a great tip for….oops…better not tell you. Have already given you enough hints.

Brainteaser #44 is below. Read more

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10 opportunities to get more done in less time

August 31, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal, Quick List · Comment 

Have you witnessed any of these morale and productivity busting situations in your office?
 A. Have you ever sat in a meeting with a group of people, discussed a “situation”, come up with solutions and then a few days or weeks later found out that no one has done anything about the “situation”?

B. If you asked meeting participants why nothing had been done yet, have you ever been dumbfounded to hear responses like: Read more

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Quote of the Week: What’s the next step?

 Do less.  Leave things undone.  Stop the busy-ness.   Get going.  Build momentum…even if it is with baby steps.  Sound contradictory or confusing? 

 This week we clarify and reinforce critical points and share helpful how to’s.    So…

It’s a question asked frequently by take-charge-make-it-happen leaders.

It keeps things moving… Read more

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Theme for the Week: Next Steps

August 29, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal · Comment 

For four weeks straight, we shared quotes and tips and lists that suggested doing less, leaving things undone and even coming up with a list of things to stop doing altogether in order to stop the busy-ness

And then last week…we said to get going, to build momentum…even if it is with baby steps.

Sound contradictory or confusing?

This week we will clarify and reinforce critical points about next steps.  Plus helpful how to’s. Read more

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Movie of the Week: What about Bob?

August 27, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal, Movie of the Week · Comment 

 

There’s NO way!”

That’s what we heard Wilma say as she stood at the bottom of that uncountable number of steps to be climbed.    And all in those high heels. 

She has been standing there for quite some time now.

Is she frozen with fright?

Or indecision?

Maybe she doesn’t know how?

Everyone is talking about how she is procrastinating.

Whatever it is, she feels bad about herself – morale and productivity at rock bottom.

How can her manager or leader help? Read more

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The power of inaction

August 25, 2010 · Filed Under 2 Little Time, Be a Better Manager, Get 2 Goal · 2 Comments 

Theme for the Week: There’s NO way.

That’s what we imagine the woman at left is saying. 

And we are hoping that she will read and post our Quote of the Week as a reminder that even the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. It can be step that takes 5 minutes or less. It just must be taken. Just to “get the ball rolling”. To feel a hint of progress. A bit of achievement. A sense of success.  

And what if she doesn’t take a step.  What if she stays right there frozen with fright or indecision?

Read these wise words that Baby Boomer Talk Online sent in one of their daily quotes:  Read more

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