Page 76 - Warwickers Customers Count vflip2

colleagues are customers The foundation for outstanding internal colleague service is excellent interdepartmental communication and collaboration. Dialogue between internal colleague teams and internal providers (or vendors) must include agreements about the following topics: 1. Clear expectations. On both sides through Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) or simply communicating the principles and processes you work to (One Page) . Mutual respect of those expectations. No hijacking or pulling rank to get work done. Clear briefs including timelines and any special requests. It is ok to ask a favour but not every time. 2. Internal Provider Responsibilities. ‘Help me to help you’ – what I need in order to meet your requirements is….. This is the way we do it and these are the timeframes. It is simply about clear and explicit communication. Explain what it means to be a great customer. 3. Colleague Team Responsibilities. Most internal customer service problems are a result of the 'silo' mentality where people and departments work in isolation, consider only their own priorities, and think others are sitting around twiddling their thumbs with nothing to 76 COLLEAGUES ARE CUSTOMERS COMMUNICA do until an internal customer screams "Jump!" in a last minute panic. Colleague teams must take responsibility for understanding how their request fits into overall workflow and TION priorities. They need to communicate their needs clearly and map out timelines. 4. Negotiated Priorities. With internal colleague service, most customers believe the provider should intuitively understand priorities because they all work for the same organization. This is false! A discussion about priorities must be part of the expectation- setting talk.