Imagine a bakery that prides itself on using traditional recipes.
The head baker, who is the owner, has noticed a decline in sales and customer satisfaction. Upon investigation, he realizes that the issue lies in the consistency and quality of the products.
Sometimes the bread is perfect, but other times it’s either undercooked or too hard. The head baker knows the problem is due to variations in the oven temperature and the staff not following the recipes precisely.
To address this, he doesn't just stop at identifying the issues. Instead, he implements a continual improvement plan.
He invests in a new, more reliable oven that maintains consistent temperatures and holds training sessions for his staff to ensure everyone understands the importance of following the recipes to the letter. He also sets up a feedback system where customers can leave reviews, allowing him to track the results of these changes.
This proactive approach leads to better product consistency, improved customer satisfaction, and ultimately, increased sales. The bakery owner’s experience highlights the importance of not just identifying problems but also implementing concrete, actionable plans to drive positive change.
So, in this scenario, the elder brother might implement stricter work hours, provide constructive feedback on the quality of work, or even introduce performance incentives. If done right, the younger brother could go from the office sloth to employee of the month.
Similarly, in a corporate setting, continual service improvement could mean refining processes, providing additional training, or restructuring teams. It's all about turning insight into action to drive positive change and improve performance. So, the next time you find yourself dealing with a 'late-coming, inconsistent-working younger brother' in your business, remember that there's always room for improvement!
As a management expert, I have seen time and time again how organizations need to constantly improve their service delivery to meet the changing needs of their customers and remain competitive. A Continual Service Improvement Plan (CSIP) is a critical document that outlines the steps an organization will take to improve its service delivery on an ongoing basis. Despite its importance, many organizations fail to create and implement a CSIP, leading to decreased performance, missed opportunities, and even failure.
The CSIP is not a one-time effort, but rather an ongoing process of identifying areas for improvement, setting goals, implementing changes, and monitoring progress. It helps organizations maintain a competitive edge by ensuring that they stay relevant and responsive to the evolving needs of their customers, market trends, and technological advancements.
Without a CSIP, organizations may find themselves struggling to keep up with their competitors, losing customers to more innovative and customer-centric companies, and experiencing decreased performance due to a lack of improvement. In this article, we will explore why a CSIP is critical for organizations and how they can develop and implement an effective plan to continuously improve their service delivery.
Situation: The client's IT department was outsourced to a service provider. The service provider then outsourced the work. As soon as the work was relocated overseas, practically every SLA/SLO began to suffer. The greatest impact was the service desk customer satisfaction score, which averaged 65 percent against a goal of 95 percent.
Task: Increase the customer satisfaction rating and bring it in accordance with contractual obligations.
Action: 1 - Review the impact of High Wait Times leading to prolonged downtimes, negative business impact, high abandonment rates, and client frustrations. 2 - Review the impact of Low First Call Resolution rates leading to delayed resolution, prolonged downtimes, and poor client experience. 3 - Review the impact of Employee Experience issues leading to poor client interactions and experience. 4 - Review the impact of SD Skills, Capabilities, and Capacity issues leading to prolonged talk times, dead air, hold time, and shooting in the dark. 5 - Review the impact of Ticket documentation issues leading to delays as client callbacks need to take place to obtain necessary information. 6 - Review the impact of Ticket Reassignment/Bounce issues leading to prolonged downtimes and interaction with multiple teams. 7 - Review the impact of Premature Closure issues leading to Repeat/Chronic Issues. 8 - Review the impact of Lack of timely updates leading to client frustration. 9 - Review the impact of Aging Ticket Backlog issues leading to prolonged downtimes and productivity impact. 10 - Review the impact of Response/Resolve Time issues leading to delays in issue resolution
Results: The service counter required an extensive redesign. The outsourced management teams lacked the capabilities essential to properly manage a service desk with a large volume of requests. The contract was no longer in jeopardy of being terminated as a result of establishing the following processes and driving management and governance during execution. Within 45 days, CSAT was improved to the desired level, and the contract was no longer at risk of being terminated.
A continual improvement program is like a compass for any organization. It helps point the way to steady and meaningful progress. Before jumping in, it's vital to understand what makes a program effective and how it can benefit your business. With the right approach and mindset, this program can sharpen your management skills, ensuring your business not only survives but excels.
But here's the thing: How do you know if you're doing it right? How can you check in on your progress and make sure you're on the best path forward? This brings us to 'Management Self-Assessments'. In our next module, we'll dive into the importance of regularly taking a step back to assess and reflect on your management practices. Think of it as a health check-up for your management style. So, stick around as we discuss how to give yourself a management 'check-up' and keep your improvement journey on track.