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