One of the most common misunderstandings I see in services is thinking that the work that we do is ‘ours’. Whether it’s entering transactions, working on projects or answering customer questions in a contact center, if it’s on ‘our desk’ or in ‘our in-bin’ it’s ‘our work’. Problem with this type of thinking is that we forget that the work that is appearing in ‘our in-bin’ or sitting on ‘our desk’ is really our customer’s work. Work that needs to be done so that they can be successful in their business or get on with something in their personal life. When we think of their work as ‘our work’, we focus on our preferences – how ‘we’ feel. Not about how our customer feels. Thinking this way makes it seem like it’s okay for us to do the work in the ‘best way for us’ and on ‘our timeline’. What we need to remember is that service organizations exist to serve – which means putting the needs of customers before our own. That means we need to think about ‘our work’ as ‘our valued customers’ work so that we can actively look for the best ways to work to serve their needs.
