On customer service

I went to Dunkin’ Donuts to buy a cup of coffee. I asked the crew why there is a timer next to their coffee decanter. 

Crew: For our TA.
Me: What's TA?
Crew: Throw away (TA).
Rule #1 in Customer Service: Do not use jargon with your customers. 

The crew could have  said,  "we use a timer to check the holding time while ensuring that you only get the best quality of coffee." There was no attempt to proactively offer donuts by saying something like, “your coffee will be perfect with our donuts. ”

The supervisor is in her office and missed the opportunity to coach her direct report. It is important for leaders to observe their direct reports while working.  This will allow the supervisor or manager to praise or correct the crew.

Watch your language

I encountered the following in a learning session and I saw it again in one of the social-networking sites.


In one school, a teacher wrote the following in the chalkboard:

"A woman without her man is nothing" The teacher instructed the students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the male students wrote:

"A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the female students in the class wrote:

"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Did you notice how punctuation and perspective changes everything? This can happen at work or at home. Have you communicated with people using jargons? People tend to assume that "we speak and understand the same language" and that we have the same perspective.

When I was new in my job I did not know " 201 file." nor "SOP." One professor in college said, "this is very simple" but it was complicated for me.

To avoid confusion be clear when speaking to new employees or people coming from a different background or department. What you know, they don't know.