Reflection – Storytelling

Challenge and Selection

I have done a few other online coursed on DT and amongst all the tools that I have learnt storytelling  has become my favourite.  Since it based on story, there is virtually no limit to the imagination that  you can use to craft and weave stories.

I am a customer service and customer experience management consultant. I work primarily with  small and medium companies in the IT Infrastructure services industry and in the hospitality  industry. As a part of my consulting services I also train and conduct workshops for my customer’s  teams on how to improve the customer service they give to their customers. Most of the  participants in these workshops are in the lower and mid-management category and most of them  are in the 40-plus age group. Many of them do not have formal training in customer service. Many of  them deal with irate customers every day and managing the customers is a big challenge. Earlier I  used to do a very text-based slideshow presentation to them.  But I soon realised that I was not able  to connect with them and invoke their interest in the training as they were not used to classroom  type trainings. Their participation level used to also go down. Then I then started sharing stories with  examples of bad and good customer service for each different aspect of service.  Most of the stories  came from my own background in customer services field and the others were what I had read  about. I noticed a drastic change in their participants and some of them also shared their own  experiences through stories and this made the training session very interactive and interesting to all  the participants.

Application

I was once taking a customer service training for the customer-facing staff of the hotel chain which  included the front-office staff, the restaurant staff, the concierge and his team and a few  management team members as well.

I was talking about the need to empower the employees especially the customer facing members so  that in case of any problems they could take immediate and necessary steps for the guest without  waiting for multiple levels of approvals. As an example, and to drive home the point I recounted a  story based on my own personal experience.  Once I was on a vacation in a remote jungle resort in  South India with my wife who was five months in her pregnancy. Unfortunately, one night she  developed some complications and had to be rushed to the nearest hospital which was in a town a  couple of hours of drive away through dense and elephant infested forests. However, the resort  team went out of their way to help us and arranged everything including ambulance to ensure that  my wife reached the hospital without any problems. The resort staff did this on their own initiative  without waiting for approvals from their management.

On hearing my story, one of the management team members of the hotel chain who was part of the  training program came to me told me that this story was a big eye-opener for them. Their hotel did  not have employee empowerment policies in place and in fact they had a very rigid formal  hierarchical structure which required lots of approvals. They would now make the changes in their  policies immediately.

Insight and Approach

When the management member said that they would change their policies, I realised how powerful  storytelling as a tool can be. If I had tried to convey the same message using normal slide  presentation I might not have been able to drive home the point so well and so vividly. But listening  to the story their mind could paint a picture of the incident and the importance of the employee  empowerment.

I encouraged the participants to also share their own stories of incidents wherein they had helped  their guests beyond the normal call of duty and many of the participants shared their own stories.  Listening to these stories the management also realised another area where they were lacking – a  formal process to recognise and reward employees who were delivering excellent service to their  customers.

I have realised that people find it interesting and easier to remember something when it is conveyed  through a story .

This course has further emphasised the importance of story telling to me and I intend to use it much  more going forward.

I also started asking them to share their own stories based on their own experiences during the  workshop and especially how they handled a difficult customer situation. This really helps the  participants to open up and makes the training much more interactive.


Reflection – Storytelling Challenge and Selection I have done a few other online coursed on DT and amongst all the tools that I have learnt storytelling has become my favourite . Since it based on story , there is virtually no limit to the imagination that you can use to craft and weave stories . I am a customer service and customer experience management consultant . I work primarily with small and medium companies in the IT Infrastructure services industry and in the hospitality industry . As a part of my consulting services I also train and conduct workshops for my customer ’s teams on how to improve the customer service they give to their customers . Most of the participants in these workshops are in the lower and mid - management category and most of them are in the 40 - plus age group . Many of them do not have formal training in customer service . Many of them deal with irate customers every day and managing the customers is a big challenge . Earlier I used to do a very text - based slideshow presentation to them . But I soon realised that I was not able to connect with them and invoke their interest in the training as they were not used to classroom type trainings . Their participation level used to also go down . Then I then started sharing stories with examples of bad and good customer service for each different aspect of service . Most of the stories came from my own background in customer services field and the others were what I had read about . I noticed a drastic change in their participants and some of them also shared their own experiences through stories and this made the training session very interactive and interesting to all the participants . Application I was once taking a customer service training for the customer - facing staff of the hotel chain which included the front - office staff , the restaurant staff , the concierge and his team and a few management team members as well . I was talking about the need to empower the employees especially the customer facing members so that in case of any problems they could take immediate and necessary steps for the guest without waiting for multiple levels of approvals . As an example , and to drive home the point I recounted a story based on my own personal experience . Once I was on a vacation in a remote jungle resort in South India with my wife who was five months in her pregnancy . Unfortunately , one night she developed some complications and had to be rushed to the nearest hospital which was in a town a couple of hours of drive away through dense and elephant infested forests . However , the resort team went out of their way to help us and arranged everything including ambulance to ensure that my wife reached the hospital without any problems . The resort staff did this on their own initiative without waiting for approvals from their management . On hearing my story , one of the management team members of the hotel chain who was part of the training program came to me told me that this story was a big eye - opener for them . Their hotel did not have employee empowerment policies in place and in fact they had a very rigid formal hierarchical structure which required lots of approvals . They would now make the changes in their policies immediately . Insight and Approach When the management member said that they would change their policies , I realised how powerful storytelling as a tool can be . If I had tried to convey the same message using normal slide presentation I might not have been able to drive home the point so well and so vividly . But listening to the story their mind could paint a picture of the incident and the importance of the employee empowerment . I encouraged the participants to also share their own stories of incidents wherein they had helped their guests beyond the normal call of duty and many of the participants shared their own stories . Listening to these stories the management also realised another area where they were lacking – a formal process to recognise and reward employees who were delivering excellent service to their customers . I have realised that people find it interesting and easier to remember something when it is conveyed through a story . This course has further emphasised the importance of story telling to me and I intend to use it much more going forward . I also started asking them to share their own stories based on their own experiences during the workshop and especially how they handled a difficult customer situation . This really helps the participants to open up and makes the training much more interactive .