Disney

I have a confession to make: There is an email that's been in my in-box since July 21, 2010. It's from the Disney Institute, and it asks me, "Are you ready to D-think your organization?" The D in D-think looks like the one from Walt Disney's signature. I can't bring my self to delete it.

Disney is a company known for excellent staff development and superior customer service. They offer a one-day seminar (held at the Disneyland resort) entitled "Disney's Approach to Quality Service." Lest you think that this is aimed only at theme park employees, the first line of the course description says:

No matter where you dine, shop, or travel, there’s always one thing that you always expect to find: quality service. So, why should your customers [or users] expect anything less?

If I could waive my magic wand and say, "Bibidy Bobidy Boo," I would zap us all to Disneyland to take this course.

I was reminded of this email that I can't part with because of the reference to one of Disney's strategies in the book, The No Asshole Rule, by Robert Sutton,which I'm reading for a class. First off, this is a great little book on workplace civility that I highly recommend. Well, the Disney reference talks about dealing with irate theme park guests. Basically, the passage suggests that, when dealing with angry or upset people, the best strategy (both the most effective and the one that will keep you from going crazy) is to neither blame yourself or the upset (or irrational or hostile) person:

Years ago, a former student of mine took copious notes during her new employee orientation classes at Disney University. Her instructors emphasized that although 99% of guests are nice, the real test is when you are encircled by an angry family of eight who are all hollering at you about all the things that have gone wrong. The new [employees] were instructed to avoid getting angry at or blaming the nasty guests. They were asked to imagine all the awful experiences the family suffered that whipped them into such a hostile state (e.g. to imagine that their car broke down or they just got soaked in the ran) and to not take their anger personally (as it isn't your fault).

Cast members were also reminded to see the abuse as something that wouldn't last long (because most other guests are nice) and that it "didn't need to ruin your day" because, if they "just kept smiling" and treat people as VIPs," it will create friendly interactions with other guests, and might even turn the family that is hollering at you right now into nicer people. (Kindle location 1601)

So, there's a little piece of Disney wisdom. As I was reading this I was thinking about my own experiences on the front lines, with not only library users but also ice-cream buyers and Macy's shoppers. About 10 years worth (and at Macy's there's no such thing as an off-desk project, although I must admit that when I scooped ice cream I often volunteered to dishwash to get a break from the front line), a lot of which wasn't exactly exemplary service. Take it from someone who used to be pretty surly: Things are a lot more pleasant for the service provider if you don't take it personally and treat users like a VIP.

Can we make the library a more welcoming place?

Congratulations on another incredibly successful Book Circle. I was so glad that I was able to attend. What I found there was a cozy, intimate, welcoming atmosphere full of great conversation. What a great event sponsored by the Access Services Advisory Council and made successful by everyone who attended. Yet another reason why I'm really proud to be part of Access Services.

I just returned from a vacation that included a really long plane ride and no household responsibilities (I do love my in-laws) so I actually had some time to read for the first time in a long time. I'm reading a book called Setting the Table, written by restaurateur Danny Meyer of the Union Square Cafe. If you've never been to USC, I highly recommend it. By New York City standards, it's a high quality restaurant (Zagat top 10) that's pretty reasonably priced. But, what sets USC apart is its service, or what Danny Meyer calls hospitality. It's a very relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Making the distinction between hospitality and service, he writes:

Understanding the distinction between service and hospitality has been at the foundation of our success. Service is the technical delivery of a product. Hospitality is how the delivery makes the recipient feel. Service is a monologue--we decide how we want to do things and set our own standards for service. Hospitality, on the other hand, is a dialogue. To be on one's guest's side requires listening to that person with every sense and following up with a thoughtful, gracious, appropriate response. It takes both great service and great hospitality to rise to the top. (p. 65)

If library service is the technical delivery of a product, we certainly have excellent service. We know how to place claim returns, create reserve links, create guest passes, shelve books and borrow materials from other libraries without problems. There is no question that with all of the demands on us, we are getting the job done. But there is another level of service that we have yet to conquer, and that's hospitality. Delivering hospitality is what stands between providing good service and providing excellent service.

Tomorrow, we roll out our Service Excellence Initiative. Unlike other one-off customer service training classes, this is a semester long series of experiences designed to get all of us thinking about how we can provide welcoming, hospitable service. How we can listen and be genuinely empathetic to our users. I know this is possible because Access Services has created an exemplar of a welcoming, hospitable environment in the Book Circle, so we simply need to extend this to our communications with users and co-workers. This will be a shared goal that we will all work together on through the Spring semester. Eileen, Eric, Deb and I, aided by the rest of the Access Sups and the Access Services Advisory Council, have devised a program that will be both fun and informative and we look forward to experiencing this process together.