I was surfing around the marketing blogosphere yesterday, and came across this great story from Patrick Schaber. As soon as I read it, I knew I had to share it with you all. It's the best example I've ever come across of how real, honest communication - something that has, in this age of mobiles, Blackberries and email, fallen by the wayside - revolutionized a fast-paced, technology-laden Fortune 500 company.
What spurred this revolution? A couple of chairs.
Jill works in the Communications department of a large Midwest retail corporation in the U.S. and is a friend of Schaber's. He says:
She’s not the type to boast or draw attention to herself and to further put this in perspective, she’s the antithesis of the corporate, political-playing title climber. She’s got an incredible personality, truly enjoys people, and rarely is found without a positive glow...She had a simple idea that - at first - was met with opposition. But, her perpetual optimism won over management and they told her to give her idea a try.
What was her idea? Listening. Jill took two chairs and set them smack in the centre of the corporate campus. She hung a sign from them, stating the topic for the day, sat down in one, and waited for someone else to sit with her and have a conversation.
Well, her wait was short. People started to sit and talk. One at a time, Jill sat and spoke with employees. Taking notes on employees concerns and feedback, she promised their input would be anonymously passed on to upper management - and it is.
Would you believe that at times there are lines waiting to talk with her? They trust Jill and love sharing their thoughts with her. There are plans to not only increase the frequency of when she’s there to talk, but now she might sit at stores and talk with customers about their experience.
No official meetings. No laptop. No boardroom or blue suits. Just Jill and her chairs - and it worked. Old fashioned, face-to-face communication. Who'd a thunk it?
Here's the copy used to advertise the chair:
“The Chair” is designed to spark open, face-to-face, one-on-one conversation with employees in the simplest way possible: by offering employees a topic to talk about, an empty chair to sit on and an Employee Communications team member to listen to them (really listen - without a laptop, cell phone or Blackberry in the way). “The Chair” gives us a pulse-check on employee opinions, thoughts and ideas, while giving employees a place to be heard. “The Chair” is set up every other Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to noon for corporate employees, with plans to expand it to store employees in the future.
Ultimately, business is people. Your co-workers, employees, clients - they are what makes your business, whatever it is, exist. How well your business works depends, in part, on how well you communicate with these people. And that means more than just talking to them - it also means listening to them. Honestly. With intent. It means raising topics and issues that matter, to you and to them, and then really hearing their feedback. And it means that sometimes, you just gotta put the tech stuff down, take a breath, and sit down with them.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: when you're meeting with clients or co-workers, how often do you answer your cell? Receive a text? Send an email? Next time you're face-to-face, turn the gadgets off and get engaged. Take it a step further - hold a meeting for the explicit purpose of connecting with your co-workers or clients. Ask them questions that you really want the answers to, and then shut up, sit still...and listen. Take notes with a pen and paper. Then act on their comments - who knows what benefits you'll reap from their input?
If you want to know more about The Chair, visit Schaber at The Lonely Marketer and he'll put you in touch with the now-famous Jill.
Comments