It's All About Relationships

“Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll start the clock." This is a common statement we make when we present our teams with “their first team challenge.” Invariably teams interpret “you” as themselves individually. They immediately divide into small pairs or groups to complete their task. The result is low scores in efficiency, accountability, appreciation, integrity, and quality. Only as we perform together as ONE TEAM do we experience high scores.

Inside today’s talent management culture, “you” means the BIG YOU, the whole team. It is this paradigm shift from “Me” to “WE” to “ONE” that serves as the bedrock foundation for our corporate success. Through Team Development, we are moving our teams from acting totally independently to acting inter-dependently. Our next opportunity for improvement is the shift from "reaction to” into "in relationship with."

In recent surveys, our lowest company-wide scores are in the area of “communication.” The word ‘communication’ has taken on so many meanings that it no longer connotes specific action. When we say “we need to improve communication” are we talking about more one-on-one face time, or are we talking about "FaceTime" on our iPhones? Are we talking about emails, eConnections, texting, phone calls, flyers, posters, or announcements made at brief meetings? We can now also Yelp, Tweet, Facebook, or get Linkedin. The word "communication" has become so diversified that it no longer helps us to simply "improve communication." What do we mean by “we need to improve communication?"

Simply stated, communication is the ebb and flow of information.

The quality of communication is always obvious in the result that it gets.

If we did not get the result that we were seeking, we must learn to accept the onus of responsibility as the ‘communicator.’ It is our responsibility to tap every avenue possible to get the desired result. To this end,

We erase the word ‘communication’ and replace it with RELATIONSHIP! The specifics of sharing information happens best INSIDE QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS. Thus, our greatest opportunity for improving communications is in GROWING QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS. Into these varied relationships, we can diversify our style of sharing information to exactly fit the relationship.

Many leaders respond more quickly to a text message than they do email. Sometimes it’s useful to text someone and tell them to "open their email" for extended information.

As a great leader says, “Our customers vote with their legs and their wallets. The only difference we can offer our patrons is GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE. This comes as teams work together as a unified whole.” Management is working hard to increase patron benefits and incentives. Operations is working hard to decrease "response time" for our guest requests. Our teams are working hard to support our guests in having WINNING EXPERIENCES, win or lose. We are all working hard to respond to each other and our guests needs. “We believe in getting answers back to people quickly and efficiently."

It is our job to sell great FEELINGS to each other and our customers. We sell a FEELING! We want to manage the entire customer journey from beginning to end. In order to do this, WE NEED TO DO IT FOR EACH OTHER. We are a SERVICE CULTURE. The difference that makes the difference is this: Great product, good feelings, and great relationships with everyone. Into these relationships, information will easily flow all the way around our businesses and directly impact our success. Remember, erase the word COMMUNICATION and replace it with RELATIONSHIPS. Now let’s get busy growing very high quality relationships within all corners of our businesses. Improving our relationships is a fundamental step in our success. It’s ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS!