Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to remember that you work with people, not
Speaker 1: email addresses or job descriptions. Remembering that will help create
Speaker 1: more pleasant environments and you'll get things done more smoothly too.
Speaker 1: It's easy to forget that almost every interaction involves another person.
Speaker 1: This is particularly true for one time interactions and when
Speaker 1: we're interacting remotely with people we've never met in real life.
Speaker 1: When you call about your refrigerator delivery, you just want
Speaker 1: to know when you need to be home for the
Speaker 1: delivery and how much longer you'll be eating takeout. When
Speaker 1: you email the it help desk at your workplace, you
Speaker 1: just want to all of your printer problem. But sometimes
Speaker 1: you get a little bit more than you are expecting.
Speaker 1: You may find out that the appliance delivery scheduler is
Speaker 1: covering for a colleague and that she just bought the
Speaker 1: same model refrigerator that you are having delivered. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: unclear what you are supposed to do with all this,
Speaker 1: though it's probably preferable to the situation of getting no response.
Speaker 1: You call the help desk and no one is there,
Speaker 1: and so you're frustrated because it is supposed to help
Speaker 1: you do your job. If we're not careful, these interactions
Speaker 1: can lead to us being rude, but that's usually not helpful.
Speaker 1: What is helpful is recognizing that we work with people.
Speaker 1: Almost everything eventually has a human being on the other end,
Speaker 1: no matter how much people try to automate things. By
Speaker 1: remembering this, we can at least be in a better
Speaker 1: mindset about these interactions. There are a few approaches that
Speaker 1: can help. First, pay attention to people's names. You are
Speaker 1: often calling a person, and that person has a name.
Speaker 1: It's not the main office at Anna's school. It's Missus Watson.
Speaker 1: The receptionist Wayne, who manages mail and deliveries in your building,
Speaker 1: is the one who needs to let you know right
Speaker 1: away when the messenger delivers the document. So it's Wayne
Speaker 1: you need to talk to about it, not the anonymous
Speaker 1: mail room. When we think of people by name instead
Speaker 1: of by roll, we subtly shift from an entirely transactional
Speaker 1: perspective what are they doing for me? To a more
Speaker 1: relational perspective, Because it turns out that Missus Watson and
Speaker 1: Wayne and even dispatch over at the refrigerator place if
Speaker 1: you don't know her name. All have real lives. They
Speaker 1: have as much drama and joy in their lives as
Speaker 1: anyone else. So learning a little bit about anyone you
Speaker 1: interact with repeatedly can make any interaction more pleasant and
Speaker 1: probably more productive. You might know that one person is
Speaker 1: thrilled that her first grand baby is due next month,
Speaker 1: and another person is fascinated by astronomy. Asking or commenting
Speaker 1: on one little tidbit they care about can create a
Speaker 1: moment of connection, even for one off interactions or what
Speaker 1: you think will be a one off interaction. There is
Speaker 1: no downside to remembering that you're dealing with an individual human.
Speaker 1: Spend the moment marveling that the person scheduling your refrigerator
Speaker 1: delivery is getting the same fridge as you. How wonderful.
Speaker 1: There's a human reason for this. Mean you just made
Speaker 1: someone feel seen and heard. But there is also a
Speaker 1: practical reason. Your fridge delivery may wind up earlier in
Speaker 1: the day's run of show, and if you need to
Speaker 1: call back about a problem, it is more likely to
Speaker 1: get addressed. Lately, I have gotten a surprising number of
Speaker 1: human beings responding to those info at email addresses. It
Speaker 1: is helpful to remember that unless the business is so
Speaker 1: huge that they have figured out perfect automation, info is somebody.
Speaker 1: Even if I'm annoyed about a problem with a product,
Speaker 1: it is not really the personal fault of Terry who
Speaker 1: answers the info emails. I wouldn't scream at Terry's face
Speaker 1: in real life, so it's best not to send an
Speaker 1: email that does the equivalent to the human being on
Speaker 1: the other end. And there is always the chance that
Speaker 1: Terry might be more helpful with a customer who doesn't
Speaker 1: come across as a terrible person. We don't work with
Speaker 1: job descriptions or help desks or email addresses. We work
Speaker 1: with people. Remembering that can create connection in even the
Speaker 1: most mundane of moments. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then
Speaker 1: breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.