Most businessowners understand the advantage of an exceptional customer experience—the crescendo of customer service, value, and convenience. And while knowing this is an important first step, finding your way to the apex of the customer-experience mountain requires action.
The good news is that achieving the first part—the customer service—is a lot simpler when your employees understand the importance of teamwork. That is, when they understand that they have “at least two jobs,” as Shep Hyken explains in his article, Customer Service is a Team Sport: “The first is to do the job they were hired to do. The second is to take care of the customer.” While we must recognize that individual efforts are crucial to this process, delivering the ultimate experience requires everyone to work together.
Synergy Through Leadership
Synergy is one of those business buzzwords that’ve been overused to the point of meaninglessness. Let’s take it back to basics to appreciate what the term actually means, however. According to Dictionary.com, synergy encompasses “the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.”
For our purposes, a synergistic team is one that manages to maximize its output by dividing and conquering the challenges before it, which it can only do when its members are in the best position to actualize their skillsets. This must be fostered by a thoughtful and watchful manager, someone to whom everyone is accountable, and is likewise accountable to everyone. If business owners are serious about putting their employees in the best position to succeed, they need someone to curate the team’s strengths, ideas, and efficiency. To use a rowing metaphor, the oarsmen need a coxswain.
Minding Everyone Else’s Business
In most situations, we are rightly taught that we should keep our noses out of other people’s affairs, but business teams cannot afford this. Sustained success requires that we not stay in our own lanes and only focus on our own individual work. Employees must endeavor to care about what’s going on around them and not fall back onto the apathy of thinking, this isn’t my job.
That’s not to say that unqualified employees should attempt to perform the duties of their trained teammates; we’re talking about is working together, not working in place of. Indeed, imagine a crowded restaurant, one where the kitchen is falling behind. Should the servers hop onto the cooking line and begin flambéing the steaks? Probably not. But they can show care for the diners by setting time expectations, and they can really show care to their team by subtly suggesting dishes that are simpler for the kitchen to handle, like soups, salads, and sandwiches until the cooks can catch back up.
Collaboration Fosters Community
The interdependency that emerges from your employees’ teamwork will reinforce their bonds with one another and ultimately result in stronger work environment. Just as we mentioned the need for everyone to be accountable to a manager and vice versa, the bonds of teamwork will also dictate mutual accountability with one another. That’s how you build a company culture on a foundation of excellence.
Moreover, the camaraderie and knowledge-sharing that emerges will promote professional growth for all involved, with opportunities for cross-training and skill development. The net result of this will be increased job satisfaction, better engagement, and lower turnover. This is what all businesses should strive for.
Now, you can’t have a team without wise teambuilding. The Brandt Group offers a number of services that will aid your business on this journey. We are your scouting service, the people you turn to when you want to get real-world feedback that is honest and thorough. Whether it’s through anonymous employee feedback surveys, manager training, or customer-experience testing through a mystery shopping program, we’re ready to join your team and help you realize your business’s destiny of ascending to the summit of the customer-experience mountain. If you’re ready to begin the climb, let’s get started today.
