Develop Your Dream Team: Goal-led Collaboration Strategies

Collaboration is a crucial component of any endeavor, yet it may be difficult. In this blog post, we’ll look at ways to work with people who can help you reach your goals.

Collaboration is an essential part of any project, but it can be challenging. Not everyone has the same skill sets, so finding the people who can work together effectively can be challenging. To be successful, you need to collaborate with the right people. In this blog post, we look at how to collaborate with the people who can help you achieve your goals. We’ll look at the different types of collaboration and how to develop your dream team. No matter where you are in your collaboration journey, you can take steps to improve your effectiveness. Let’s get started.

men paddling in inflatable raft boat during daytime
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What is collaboration?

Collaboration is when two or more people work together to achieve a goal. This can take many forms, including team brainstorming sessions, project meetings, and regular collaboration activities. The most critical factor in successful collaboration is finding the right people to work with. Finding the right people to collaborate with requires carefully assessing skill sets and personalities. Find out where your strengths lie and hire people who can support your strengths. If you have a strong sense of communication or project management skills, find people who have those skills. You can also look for other ‘soft’ skills, such as cultural understanding, different life experiences, and emotional intelligence. These can be the difference between collaboration and a breakdown due to poor collaboration. You’re less likely to have issues when you hire people with similar skills to you, rather than trying to hire people who have a completely different skillset from you.

Why is collaboration essential?

Collaboration can help you better understand your team and each other. This can help you find your strengths and hire people who can support you. It can also help you identify areas where you need to develop skills. This may seem like common sense, but it’s essential to understand why collaboration is important. Poor collaboration can lead to misunderstandings, missed deadlines, and other problems. These issues can be costly. For example, if you hire new people, they are likely to want to work with people who are effective collaborators. If you’re not a good collaborator, then they may not fit in with your team. Poor collaboration can also lead to high stress. Working with people who aren’t effective collaborators can lead to high stress, leading to burnout or poor performance.

woman in white long sleeve shirt holding white book
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Finding and working with collaborators

First, you need to find collaborators. Finding the right people is a challenge, but it can be done by carefully assessing skill sets and personalities. Next, you need to work with your collaborators. Working with your collaborators requires effort, but it’s important to remember that collaboration is a skill. If you’re not working on your collaboration skills, then you’re likely to fall back into old habits. One way to work on your skills is through deliberate practice. This means putting in the effort each day to improve your collaboration skills.

Collaboration types

There are different types of collaboration, which can be useful to know. We’ll look at the most important types of collaboration in this blog post. –

Long-term or permanent collaboration – The classic collaboration type is working with one or more people for a specific period of time. This is likely to be the most common collaboration type. –

Short-term collaboration – Another type of collaboration is working with one or more people for a specific amount of time. This is likely to be the type of collaboration that you’re most likely to experience. –

Co-location collaboration – This is working together in the same physical location. You may want to co-locate with your collaborators to increase collaboration. The advantages of co-location are often related to the advantages of working together in the same physical location.

Finding the right collaborators for your team

Now that you know the types of collaboration, you can start finding the right people to work with. Start by identifying the skill sets and personalities that matter most to you. For example, if you want to work on a team with a specific skill set, you can start using that skill set on a résumé or LinkedIn profile. Next, identify people with the skill sets you want. One way to do this is to identify people who have skills similar to yours. For example, if you’re going to work with data people, find data people applying for jobs. If you have multiple skill sets that you want in your dream team, then you can identify people who have those skill sets. You can also look for people with skills that are different from yours. This can help you identify people who have different skill sets that you want in your team.

Strategies for developing your dream team

battle black blur board game
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Now that you’ve identified the people you want to work with, we can talk about developing your dream team. You can work on building your dream team by deliberately practicing collaboration skills. This means putting in the effort each day to improve your own co-operation skills. You can also work on building your dream team by actively communicating with your team members. This means exchanging ideas with your team members and actively listening to them. You can also work on building your dream team by actively building your team.

Wrapping up

Collaboration is essential, but it can be challenging. Not everyone has the same skill sets, so finding the people who can work together effectively can be difficult. To be successful, you need to collaborate with the right people. You can identify the right people by carefully assessing skill sets and personalities.

Why do so many organizations struggle to become truly customer-centric?


I’m going to do a bit of “Q&A” today.

First question…
QUESTION: Why do so many organizations struggle to become truly customer centric?

Production line thinking passed its sell-by date?


ANSWER: They are using an out of date mindset. The thinking is borrowed from the industrial age when optimising production and throughput was the thing. That way of thinking is about production management, efficiency, effectiveness and elimination of waste. Does that feel familiar? 
Next question…

QUESTION: What is (probably) the biggest hurdle to overcome on the way to becoming Outside-In?

Hurdles to Outside-In thinking

ANSWER: It is getting passed this industrial age mindset and all the things that come with it… our reward structures… our approach to employee engagement… the processes and systems…
Alright, one more…

QUESTION: If listening to the customer is so important what is ‘best practice’?

Do you really understand customer needs?

ANSWER: Often times many companies are trying to drive forward by only looking in the rear view mirror. That is listening to subjective perceptual feedback, rather than at every interaction 100% of the time.

The GOOD news is…
In the ACX Masters program, we show you step-by-step how to handle these challenges so you don’t have to Fall into the Bear Pit.
You can get the full scoop and preview here: https://bit.ly/GCCACXP

Cheers for now!
Steve

PS. We have got to get more scientific about the customer experience!
I have just done a 3-minute explainer video for Outside-In – see it here: https://bit.ly/OIDifference

Step #1 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE* https://bit.ly/OI2021now

Step #2 – Get The Training:

Certified Outside-In Master® | https://bit.ly/COIM2021

Certified Process Professional Master® | https://bit.ly/CPPM21

Accredited Customer Experience Master® | https://bit.ly/ACXM2021

Step #3 – Get the Software:
Parallel | https://workinginparallel.com

Step #4 – Connect With The Community:LinkedIn | https://bit.ly/Steve2021
Blog | https://bit.ly/CXO2021
BPG Website | https://bit.ly/BPG2021
Steve Towers Web | https://bit.ly/SBT2021
Twitter | https://bit.ly/SteveTowersTwitter
YouTube | https://bit.ly/ST_Youtube

You may be doing things right, but are you doing the right things?

CX Metrics are being abused and misused… see how the road to hell may be paved with good intentions.

Jeff Bezos implemented these Inspirational Five Principles for global domination

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos employed 
rules and principles to make the company successful that are revealed in a new book,  “Flywheels: How Cities Are Creating Their Own Futures.”

The book was written by Tom Alberg, an early-stage investor and ex-Amazon board member of 23 years, and he explained Bezos'”Day1″attitude.

The book also talks about how Bezos overcame the company’s early difficulties in attracting investors.

Alberg described the rules that Bezos followed at work based on his experience watching the tech magnate make judgments.

Customer Obsession

In his book, Alberg noted, “The most important thing is customer obsession.” He went on to say that too many organizations, in his opinion, focus on their competition rather than Their customers.
According to Bezos, who testified before a congressional committee, “Customers Are consistently, delightfully unsatisfied.

We are continually inventing on behalf of our clients out of a desire to delight them” Alberg writes. According to him, Bezos made moves that harmed Amazon’s short-term business line but benefited customers and ultimately helped Amazon become a trillion-dollar company.

Continuous Invention & Innovation

“Continuous invention and innovation” is the second principle. According to Alberg, client happiness and inventiveness are inextricably linked. “When making decisions, customer happiness and innovation are powerful touchstones,” he added.


When you ask yourself, “What is the best decision for the customer?” it becomes much easier to make decisions. “Is there a way to invent our way to a solution?”and”Is there a way to invent our way to a solution?” Alberg writes.

Operational Excellence

According to Alberg, the third principle championed by Bezos is operational excellence. “Two-pizza teams,” “one-click shopping,” “single-threaded leaders,” and “working backward/becoming Outside-In” are some instances.

One of Bezos’ more inventive techniques is the”two-pizza rule,”which aims to avoid wasting a full day on unproductive meetings.

So, how does it work?
The more people you have at a meeting, the less productive it will be. The notion is that instead of expressing their viewpoints and ideas, most people will end up agreeing with each other (groupthink).

What is the solution?
Never have a meeting where two pizzas aren’t enough to feed everyone. According to Alberg, the fourth principle underpinning Bezos’ decision making process at Amazon is to think long-term.

Think long term

This can be everything from starting a new business to investing in new technology. Bezos’ early use of AI is one example.

“Jeff told the board that he intended to apply AI in every element of the business when firms were just beginning to understand the possibilities of machine learning and AI,” he wrote. The next step for Bezos was to employ AI experts and instruct the existing engineers on how to use AI.

According to Alberg, Amazon produced and made AI capabilities available to clients on Amazon Web Services, originally run by Andy Jazzy, now the new global CEO since the Jeff Bezos exit. Making AI available to employ in their businesses actually to compete against Amazon.

Staying Optimistic

Alberg noted that his fifth principle, and probably the most important, is his “staying optimistic for the future and how we are only in Day 1.” Bezos’ “Day 1” mindset is founded on the broader premise that, “while the internet and Amazon may appear mature to many, we are still at the beginning, according to Bezos.

Alberg commented, “It is his greatest expression of optimism about what the future will hold.”

These concepts are “not hidden,” according to Alberg. “However, you must adhere to them at all times, something most businesses are unwilling or unable to do.”

What is the Best Decision for the Customer?

Tom Alberg


Get the book: https://bit.ly/CXObsessed

Watch Bezos talking about Customer Obsession: https://youtu.be/Yr_vQgzAgDM

Image Credit: CC: Daniel Oberhaus, 2019


Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?

https://lnkd.in/djWxB8m

👉 Step #1 – Review the upskilling options to become an ACX Professional & ACX Master: https://lnkd.in/dANgYX59

👉 Step #2 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE*  https://bit.ly/OI2021now

👉 Step #3 – Connect With The Community: https://linktr.ee/SteveTowers

👉 Step #4 – Keep Pace with Change: Recent Keynote – The Hard Benefits of XM | https://cemnext.com/xmroi2023

👉 Step #5 – Review the Testimonials Accredited Customer Experience Professional – BPG (bpgroup.org)

Employee Liberation for Successful Customer Outcomes!

I am happy to invite you to the #VIIICongresoDEC, a reference event in CX in which I will be participating as a keynote speaker.  

This year it is about Employee Experience and its relationship with Customer Experience. October 5th. Do not miss it! 
https://asociaciondec.org/eventos/congreso/congreso-2021/ 

Employee Engagement


It should stand to reason that great Customer Experiences are born with fantastic Employee Engagement. Why is this so often not the case? There are three attitudes that top teams can apply to help their people provide the ultimate experiences – both engineered and free-flowing.

It is perhaps simpler than most people think…

Successful Customer Outcomes

A concept not well understood comes from Apple’s playbook of crafting Successful Customer Outcomes. One of Steve Jobs most famous quotes highlighted a different starting point to craft truly successful customer outcomes. For many leaders, the stark contrast between Industrial Age thinking and Customer Age/’Outside-In’ practice provided a platform to liberate their employees from scripts, tasks, and outputs. The best of these examples shows us all a better way.

Simple truth often misunderstood – do you get it? Really?

Measurement Systems

How are you currently measuring success? Is it by the number of jobs done, tasks completed, and outputs achieved? If those things represent your major Key Performance Indicators, or the more fashionable Objectives and Key Results then you may need to think again.

Why so? Liberating employees from the shackles of these measures will produce better customer experiences, improved bottom lines, and enhanced shareholder value from the get-go. Creating Results-Oriented Communication (Jim Sinur) is a quantum leap from the industrial era praxis. We will review those next practices and layout a plan to deliver immediate and sustained results.

Here’s a piece on flawed measurement systems: https://www.cxobsession.com/2020/07/27/call-canters-fail/

Are you employees like caged birds?

So please join me on CX day 2021 in Spain and we will demonstrate a better way!
https://asociaciondec.org/eventos/congreso/congreso-2021/ 

Congreso 2021

Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?

https://lnkd.in/djWxB8m

👉 Step #1 – Review the upskilling options to become an ACX Professional & ACX Master: https://lnkd.in/dANgYX59

👉 Step #2 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE*  https://bit.ly/OI2021now

👉 Step #3 – Connect With The Community: https://linktr.ee/SteveTowers

👉 Step #4 – Keep Pace with Change: Recent Keynote – The Hard Benefits of XM | https://cemnext.com/xmroi2023

👉 Step #5 – Review the Testimonials Accredited Customer Experience Professional – BPG (bpgroup.org)

Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?

https://lnkd.in/djWxB8m

👉 Step #1 – Review the upskilling options to become an ACX Professional & ACX Master: https://lnkd.in/dANgYX59

👉 Step #2 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE*  https://bit.ly/OI2021now

👉 Step #3 – Connect With The Community: https://linktr.ee/SteveTowers

👉 Step #4 – Keep Pace with Change: Recent Keynote – The Hard Benefits of XM | https://cemnext.com/xmroi2023

👉 Step #5 – Review the Testimonials Accredited Customer Experience Professional – BPG (bpgroup.org)

What Rests, Rusts. Step Up to the Bright, Shiny New Accredited Customer Experience® Program

Delivered by Been There and Done It Professionals for Professionals

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East

The ACX Program features the Accredited Customer Experience Professional®
(ACXP® 2 day x 5 hours per day)
LIVE online INTERACTIVE

The ACX Professional & ACX Master program

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East

The ACX Program also includes Accredited Customer Experience Master®
(ACXM® 4 day x 5 hours per day)
LIVE online INTERACTIVE

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East

Australia & Oceania | Americas | South Africa | Europe | GCC – Middle East


Testimonials… hear what others say…

It’s been an honour and privilege to participate and attend the ACX-M course, It was an eye-opener and quite a revelation for me, I became conscious of these important concepts and aspects of customer experience, Thank you for showing us the way.
Product Specialist at Laerdal Medical, India

Thank you Steve for the high quality & insightful training you delivered
Your innovative approach, critical thinking & up to date case studies facilitated this achievement 👍
Muath Al-Azzam, Principal Services & Operations Specialist at Dubai Municipality

I have to say, every day since I left Denver, I have been able to apply some bit of learning that I got during the ACXM event into not only my job, but my personal life as well. Thank you so much for everything that you’ve done to advance the field of customer experience!
Brett Gill, United States

Thank you Steve for another enlightening and engaging course that just keeps challenging the way we do things®
Edwin De Lange, South Africa

Thanks again for four great and inspiring days.
Christian Becker, Germany


It’s been great training with lots of new tools that we will be able to implement soon I hope. Super interesting information, I am looking forward to reading your book as well. I really appreciated your energy and enthusiasm throughout the training.
Silvia Fernandez Calvo, Spain

Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr. Steve. Your teachings are timeless and they stick perfectly and forever in our minds. We shall never forget you wherever we find ourselves on this planet. Thank you so much, Steve 🙏
Benignus Otmar, Tanzania

Thank you, the experience was enlightening, empowering, educating, encouraging, and engaging.
Natasha Doren, South Africa

Thank you, Steve, I have never enjoyed anything more than the CX course, The weight of knowledge I gained and the enlightenment that I got is indescribable.
Reem Elsadig, Sudan

Thanks, Steve for such an excellent program, the dedicated manner you use to share with us your wonderful knowledge and wisdom in CX, and the time to respond to all our questions! God bless you, thanks a lot!
Yanese Angeles, Dominican Republic

You started me out on this journey my friend. Thanks for letting me live out my passion!
Molly Redenbaugh, Iowa, United States

Thank you! It’s been an amazing journey and you have been a great mentor.
It was an honor taking your class, I am now a confident CPP Master🙏🏾
Masele Masudi Msita, Tanzania

Thank you Steve for your high-quality wonderful Master. I thought the course was brilliant. Thank you for everything.
Ashraf Mohamed, Philadelphia, USA

Thanks again, Steve. Not only have you been a fantastic mentor to me but you have taught me how to mentor others. Thanks for being so supportive and getting me through.
Chandan Chhabra, Delhi, India

Another fantastic learning, personal and professional development experience with you!
Lyall Shapiro, Australia


Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?

https://lnkd.in/djWxB8m

👉 Step #1 – Review the upskilling options to become an ACX Professional & ACX Master: https://lnkd.in/dANgYX59

👉 Step #2 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE*  https://bit.ly/OI2021now

👉 Step #3 – Connect With The Community: https://linktr.ee/SteveTowers

👉 Step #4 – Keep Pace with Change: Recent Keynote – The Hard Benefits of XM | https://cemnext.com/xmroi2023

👉 Step #5 – Review the Testimonials Accredited Customer Experience Professional – BPG (bpgroup.org)

The Crazy Secret of the Worlds Top Five…

Hey Hey!

I just wanted to reach out, so you don’t miss out on this limited time offer on my new book Outside-In The Secret of the 21st c. leading companies.

You might be thinking, what is Outside-In?

To sum it up, ‘Outside-In The Secret’ reveals the fundamental difference between the top-performing companies and the failing also-rans. It is a massive shift in perspective that revolutionizes work forever.

The insights shared are based on my work and research with companies like BMW, Emirates, Zara, Zappos, and Amazon over the last two decades.

But hey, don’t just hear it from me…

So, I have codified the learning and the ‘Secret’ approaches, tips, tricks, and hacks to make them accessible to all. Initially published in 2010 and it is now wholly updated as Edition 10!

My colleague and BP Group co-founder says this…

Why You Should Read Outside-In The Secret

You may be wondering why you should invest your precious time reading this book. With all the pressures of the current business climate, why will this investment be worthwhile?

I’d like you for a moment to think of ‘high jumping.’ This is a sport that has been pursued actively from the Ancient Greeks in the original Olympics to modern times. And for nearly 3,000 years, people jumped using similar techniques. Then an innovator, Dick Fosbery, thought of a new approach that was incredibly simple and yet at the same time delivered ‘breakthrough performance’ levels enabling him to win the gold medal in the 1968 Olympic high jump bar. He leaped over the bar backward, overturning thousands of years of ‘best practice.’

So I would like you to give yourself permission to consider that you, too, can achieve ‘breakthrough performance’ in your own business endeavors. In this book, ‘Outside-In,’ Steve Towers will introduce you to some remarkable concepts that at first seem simple and obvious, and yet when applied, will allow you to win the gold medal in your own field of business.

John Corr, Director, Alix Partners, London, England.

And Guess What? Do you want something special?

It is FREE for a short period of time…

This is what you need to do RIGHT NOW to get your copy:

http://bit.ly/OI2021now

First go to this website and let him know where to ship it to (you’ll have to pay a tiny shipping fee):

http://bit.ly/OI2021now

Secondyou should probably post on FB, tweet, and let EVERYONE else you know about it ASAP (because this cool book promo will be over soon…).

http://bit.ly/OI2021now

This book will be sold retail in 2021 at $30, but you can get it FREE now.

Just go here to see what you need to do next:

http://bit.ly/OI2021now

But you MUST get your copy of this book now. The last time I made an offer like this, I ran out of books within a week ….

So go get your copy now:

http://bit.ly/OI2021now

To Your Success!

P.S. — this book is the real deal. James Dodkins said that it’s: “the map that will allow you to turn your specialized knowledge, talents, and abilities coupled with this new perspective into a way of working that transforms you and your company! This is one of the shortcuts of the New Stellar Performers.” — and TODAY, you can get it for free, right here:

http://bit.ly/OI2021now

My previous book, Dare! Became an Amazon Number 1 Best Seller in February 2020. This book Outside-In The Secret will also be… get your FREE copy here:
http://bit.ly/OI2021now



Call Centre Metrics are the Reason Customers Are so Unhappy (part 1)

Here are seven classic examples from a recent blog of someone selling Call Centre Services. No, I really am to polite to call them out. I thought I had travelled back in time 50 years, but I am appalled there are people still doing this?!

This hurts my Head

Why are these so Wrong?
Answers on a post card but Part Two Next week will provide more insight.

And then in Part Three we will explore the alternatives…

Call Centre Measures that cripple Your Customer Experiences
(the seven deadly sins)

Service Level – “The service level is the percentage of calls responded in a particular time limit. It assesses the skills of agents to deliver the service as per the Service Level Agreement (SLA) given to the clients.”…. It is a significant way to judge the performance of a call center.

Average Call Handle Time –  “This KPI measures time an agent needs on a call.”

Average Queue Time – “To assure that the wait time of callers rests in the fair scope and the patience of customers should not be tested”

Call Abandonment – “It is a usual experience in the call center that clients disconnect the calls before even connecting to an agent.”

First Call Resolution – “The client is frequently in a rush. Thus, he requires that the concern of the caller must be fixed in the first call”

Occupancy Rate – “It is completely about the ability to complete the work within minimum time.”

Agent Turnover Rate – “It measures the rate of agents who switch the job. It not only causes customer service conflicts and delays as well as it also creates many issues.”

A person once said this to me… “If you pay people for doing dumb stuff they will get really smart at it”

A Very Wise Women

In Part Two we will review why Call Centre thinking is so BAD and should be BANNED.


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Uncovering the Secrets of the Top Influencers

Who are the best and what are their secrets?

I revisited my lists of sources, contacts and influencers, brought them up to date (the last two years or so) and collated the best across the domains I operate in. I included the recent Award winners acknowledged for their contributions to business. The result you can access below which contains the people, their LinkedIn connections, their best videos and in some cases additional resources.

My work takes me all over the planet and I get to meet some awesome people who are generous with their time and ideas. I then test, optimise and codify these great ideas into techniques and approaches we can all access.

Dare! Amazon Number 1 Best Seller (2020)

I was relating this approach at a keynote in a conference in Romania recently following the publication of our new Amazon best selling book Dare!

The keynote went well (see the extract version below) and everyone adjourned to the bar to relax and network.

At that drinks reception several people wanted to know my sources of inspiration, so naturally, we started trading names, some well known and some not yet so. As I was doing this it struck me this was one of the most commonly asked questions whether I am talking or working with some of the leading companies on the planet. So an idea was born…

Steve’s keynote in Bucharest in February 2020

Who are the best and what are their secrets?

I revisited my lists of sources, contacts and influencers, brought them up to date (the last two years or so) and collated the best across the domains I operate in. I included the recent Award winners acknowledged for their contributions to business. The result you can access below which contains the people, their LinkedIn connections, their best videos and in some cases additional resources.

So the next time someone asks me a question about influencers I am going to point them here!

All the Best, Keep safe and well,
Steve

Customer Experience, Customer Service, Leadership and Operational Excellence

Click the image to access videos, books and other resources!