Reporting

10 Steps for Problem Solving (service excellence)

May 4th

Posted by Tracey in Reporting

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  1. Find out what the problem is.
    • Listen carefully to the customer’s explanation of the problem.
    • Ask questions to clarify.
    • Paraphrase to be sure you understand the problem.
  2. Find out what the customer expects to be done about it.
    • Listen to what the customer wants you to do about the problem.
    • If the customer’s expectations can be met, offer assurances that the problem will be solved.
  3. Take personal responsibility for solving the problem.
    • Offer to help.
    • Don’t pass the problem along to someone else.
    • Know the policies of your organization.
    • Explain the options calmly.
  4. Go out of your way to make the customer comfortable.
    • If you know that a problem may take awhile to solve, do whatever you can to make the customer comfortable during the wait.
    • Don’t leave a person on hold for more than two minutes. Instead, offer to call back.
    • In a face-to-face situation, suggest the customer wait in a more comfortable area, or come back in an hour.
    • Offer lunch, coffee, or magazines—anything to show that you care and that you will solve the problem.
  5. Maintain an objective frame of mind.When someone is angry, don’t take it personally. The person is angry at the problem, not at you. So just listen. Let the person who is angry get his or her feelings out.
  6. Stay positive and calm.
    • Apologize for the difficulty, even when it was not your fault.
    • Don’t blame others for the problem.
    • Never tell an external customer that the problem is something that always happens.
  7. Resolve the problem quickly.
    • Think resourcefully. Try to determine the fastest and most effective way to solve the problem.
    • Offer reasonable alternatives if you can’t give them exactly what they want.
    • If you need to get someone else involved, explain the problem so the customer does not have to repeat it. And stay involved, even when someone else is helping.
  8. Follow through.
    • At a later time, make sure that the problem was solved to the customer’s satisfaction.
    • Never ask the customer whether the problem was solved or what happened. You should know these answers.
    • Send a letter of apology, a gift, or premiums such as coupons, a free item, or additional service.
  9. Look at the big picture.
    • Determine if the problem is a recurring one. If so, figure out ways to prevent it from happening again.
    • Work with others to find out how they solve similar problems.
    • Try to put a dollar cost on poor recovery.
  10. Look for common sources of problems in the recovery process itself.For example, the source of the problem may be one of the following:
    • Inappropriate selection of people to handle recovery
    • Inadequate internal support systems (information and other) to do the job
    • Poor training
    • Insufficient latitude (within limits) allowed by management to deliver results to customers
    • Inadequate recognition and reward for good service recovery

Data Cleansing

Apr 26th

Posted by Tracey in Reporting

How many times have you made a decision based on the wrong information? Having the right information is key in being successful. That’s why having accurate data is critical to everyday function.

Data cleansing, also known as data scrubbing, is the process of ensuring that a set of data is correct and accurate. During data cleansing, records are checked for accuracy and consistency, and either corrected, or deleted as necessary. Data cleansing can occur within a single set of records, or between multiple sets of data which need to be merged, or which will work together.

With the power of accurate information … you could:

  • make the best decision and course of action (correct situational understanding)
  • gain perspective of an obstacle you didn’t have before (learn new techniques)
  • accomplish more (enhance productivity)
  • prevent fires (figuratively and literally)
  • change the course of history (correctly know your strategy vs. enemy strategy)
  • save money and save time (know what works best in each situation)
  • prevent disaster (accurate weather prediction)
  • increase value (correct stock & bond gain/loss)
  • prevent a war (accurate government intelligence)
  • develop new technology (understand true needs of a culture)
  • feed, heal and comfort disaster areas (accurate news coverage)
  • save a life (correct doctor diagnosis)

For this reason, it’s critical to find out all the facts and be diligent about what an impact having the right information can have… not only to you, but to the world.

Stop, hammertime….

For example data mining, on inacurrate and “DIRTY DATA” can be a waste of time for the data engineer and the data requestor. If the requestor bases their decisions on faulty data, it could hinder their outcome. Data integry plays a bigger role than most people anticipate. Most of the reasons data get’s dirty is laziness, poor input planning processes and lack of concistency input. Here are some ideas that will help your team during a data cleanse.

STEP 1
Ask the right questions.

  1. What is the data source (manual or automated)?
  2. Is the input consistent (drop lists or free form)?
  3. Are you capturing all the data you might need or are you capturing data you won’t need? (lean vs. bulk)
  4. Who will need the data and what will they want to see?
  5. How long does it take to pull data vs. how freqently do they want the data?
  6. Do you understand what they are looking for vs. what they asked for?
  7. What is the best method to interpret the data to help the requestor understand the results?

STEP 2
Plan your steps

  1. Decide the best course before taking action (don’t waste time developing on the fly… work with the end in mind and work backwards).
  2. Ask the stakeholders before taking a step (ensure that the end result you plan to deliver will contain all they need and be easy to understand.)
  3. Document delivery methods if they are new before execution (it gives you a guide and if you need to recreate this, you can always refer to your map.)

STEP 3
Step your plans – Execute

  1. Follow your plan and adjust it as needed as you go, while keeping stakeholders informed.
  2. ALWAYS double check before you deliver.

With a little time on ensuring accuracy, you will increase the trust of your requestor and ensure the best decisions are made.

Reporting rich information is like the ‘Jewel of the Nile’

Jan 19th

Posted by Tracey in Personal

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Quite often I find people asking for reports and generating reports without a clear purpose for the report. They just have an idea about something they want to find and ask someone else to generate the data.  Then it gets generated over and over without a reason why and with no ability to interpret the information, they just do what they have always done whether it’s right, wrong or even what the requestor needed. What can happen is chaos. If you don’t have a clear vision of the reason you are reporting something, you could end up with garbage data, wasted time and a frustrated reporting team.  The team should first ask the question… ‘why, what are you trying to find out?’ With a clear understanding of the purpose and vision, they can navigate the data like a tour guide through dark forest and find the “jewel of information” that the ‘data visitor’ is looking for.  In addition, the report creator can interpret any ’strange markings’ within the data to help the requester understand what they are looking at. This is essential for helping drive business improvements and help the requestor understand the impact of the information.  The main ingredient for success is having the report generator KNOW THE FOREST… er business.  Otherwise, they can arrive at the wrong destination with the information and mislead the person requesting the information. Doing this often can destroy the credibility of the report generator. If you took a tour of a forest and wanted to see the a waterfall filled with diamonds, but the driver got lost often and freqently took you to the wrong place… you’d lose confidence. Same concept. Double check the goal/destination, double check the route, double check the findings to understand it’s impact to the passenger and then ensure they have what they need to be successful.  When you deliver diamonds, you gain credibility and increase business value for your peers.