(from Texas, USA) After taking a couple of days off last week, I arrived at work Monday with a couple hundred emails and many tasks and issues that needed to be addressed. An urgent item that needed my attention was coordinating a conference call with our Region Staff to discuss service gaps at one of our facilities that had damaged our relationship with a good customer.
Before setting up the call, I emailed the manager of the facility requesting a copy of the formalized corrective action plan. The manager responded that she did not have a plan to present. This manager does not report directly to me and I was frustrated by her response and also with her Director for not “holding her accountable”. My first thought was to respond to the manager and her director chastising them for not only damaging the relationship with the customer but for not taking the necessary steps to address the operational gaps. Fortunately I had The Company Cube on my mind and chose instead build a bridge by being “The First to Help”.
When the manager answered the phone, I simply asked her how I could help her. She thanked me for calling and explained that she had never been on one of these conference calls and was not sure what was expected from her and that she was very nervous and intimidated. I offered to work with her on the root cause analysis and corrective action plan and told her I would postpone the call for a couple of days to give her more time to prepare. I closed by telling her that even though she did not report to me, I was always there to help and support her and that I would “have her back” on the conference call. She was immediately relieved and very appreciative of the support.
Then I called her director and asked if he had an objection to my involvement with his manager in this capacity. He was very happy with the offer and explained to me that his manager was fairly new and was still a little bit overwhelmed. He had not been able to spend as much time training her as he would have liked. He also assured me that she would be a very good manager, given time and the understanding, compassion and support that I had shown her.
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