The “Better Boss” Approach: Help Workers Put Themselves In The Shoes Of The Customer

I periodically have to wipe the dust from the top of the mailbox panel in the lobby of our building. That area gets cleaned top-to-bottom by the cleaning service, but they always miss that spot.

If I brought that to the attention of the the job foreman, he might respond in one of two ways:

1. The “Bad Boss” tactic of getting angry at the workers for failing to dust the mailbox.
2. The “Good Boss” tactic of recognizing that it’s not their fault, accepting responsibility and adding a new To-Do to the lobby-cleaning protocol that says “Dust top of mailbox panel.”

Oh, wait. The light fixtures get dusted but what about the tops where dust and cobwebs gather? And the carpets are vacuumed but the molding around them collects dust and dirt, week after week. Should he add a line for each of those?

Every time I check out at the super market, the checker always asks whether I found everything I was looking for. I routinely say “Yes”, and we get on with the business of scanning and bagging my groceries. But one day I said “No” because they didn’t have the brand I always buy. The checker launched into a sales pitch for all the other similar products they have in stock. I explained that I’m in the store several times per week and am very familiar with the inventory and didn’t want a substitute. I also said I thought the reason she asked was that she wanted to know whether they were out of something so she could report it. She looked at me and said “Oh, no. For that we’re supposed to refer you to Customer Service.”

In each of these situations, a procedure missed the mark, not because it failed to cover all possible situations, but because it simply was out of synch with reasonable customer expectations.

When I go into my lobby, I expect most areas I can see to be reasonably clean.

When I check out at the supermarket, I expect that if I say I couldn’t find something, in addition to triggering a product substitution pitch by the checker, he or she will take note of it then and there, rather than sending me — lugging all my paid-for groceries — to another department

When drafting processes and procedures, tell your folks to put themselves in the shoes of the customer and think about what they might expect from your product or service.