Office Vignettes 2

Office Vignettes 1

The call was mercifully short and sweet.  It was a matter of re-directing towards the e-mail support page of a department in our company.  Before the call, I was experiencing something akin to stage fright; I was a tight bundle of nerves right before the call.  But the moment I opened my mouth, I fell into a light and confident banter with the caller.  The flow of words had an easy feel to my tongue.  Everything dissolved into a blurred background.  There was no coach, no department head, no on-going activity in my surroundings.  It was just me, and the caller, and his issue on hand.

Natural and easy does it, so to speak.

When the call ended, the coach gave me his input.  So did Department Head.  It turned out, the coach being graded as well: what feedback was being given to me, and the manner with how it was being delivered.  After the session, both the coach and Department Head gave me the thumbs up.

I smiled, and said thanks for the pointers.

I also smiled because I knew I was in the right direction.

-----

"Thank you very much! You've taught me how to fish, instead of relying on others." - Customer

"You don't sound like a newbie to the industry." - Various coaches

"You're the last person I'd expect to receive a dissatisfied customer feedback." - Immediate Boss

"For somebody starting out, you're doing very well." - Department Head

-----

This is my first desk job, and I intend to do great at it.  Even if my grizzled office mates have taught me various tricks on how to skirt and drop calls, I still have not employed them.  It's not that I'm playing the goody-goody guy here - I just want to test the protocols and procedures already set. These have been in place way before I came in.  They wouldn't be there if they were not found to be effective in the first place.

So far, they haven't failed me.  It's a two-thronged approach: by simply following the rules, I'm still churning out good numbers; at the same time, I'm able to keep the majority of my callers happy with the service I deliver.

Not to mention I keep my integrity intact.  And I come out sweet-smelling with the powers that be.

-----

"And most of all, remember to use your resources of articles available.  Everything's there.  It'll be your best friend," Boss Lady reminded us on our last day of training.

Others would call what I'm doing as sucking up something calculated.

I would call it using your resources.