Every once in a while, when you least expect it, somebody actually ‘gets it’.
Late last year a colleague of mine was looking for a check from a client. In this case, it was a government entity, and the check was long overdue. The gig had been completed in mid-June, the check reportedly processed in early July. Yet, here it was, mid-October and still no check.
The meeting planner had gone more than the ‘extra mile’ trying to sift through the many layers of bureaucracy that are often typical of large organizations (unfortunately this is not a situation peculiar to ‘the government’). There were lots of rationales provided to the meeting planner as she went from one area of the department to another.
“It’s not our job.”
“The person who takes care of that is on holiday.”
“The check is in the mail.” (now, there’s an original comment) 🙂
“The invoice must have been wrong.”
And so it went.
Finally, my colleague made a decision – send another invoice for the ‘interest’ on the balance due. And wouldn’t you know it, that very morning a phone call was received from a very nice lady at one of the government offices? “Your check was returned as undeliverable.”
After sorting through ‘the rest of the story’, it was determined that ‘they’ had addressed it incorrectly. (Oh, by the way, did I mention that this was not the first time a check had been mailed to my colleague from this particular client, and the address had never been wrong before).
In reporting the situation to the meeting planner, she agreed to go pick up the check and hand deliver it – kudos to her.
A little later that same day, Mina, the nice lady who had called earlier to report that the check had been returned, called again. “You know,” she said, “if you’ll scan a voided check for your account and send it to me, the next time you invoice us, we can just make a direct deposit to that account and this ‘lost check’ business won’t be an issue.”
Wow – somebody actually took initiative, made a practical decision, took individual responsibility, and made it happen!
Who’s taking initiative in your shop? Are there processes and procedures already in place that might make things easier for your clients, your suppliers, and/or your customers that folks just aren’t thinking about or using? What stories are being told about your team, your organization that are the kind of stories you want to have told?
When I heard about Mina, I was thrilled to know that she ‘got it’. Who ‘gets it’ in your organization and are you sharing the story with the rest of the team?
