In my many years in the technology service industry, one of the most valuable compliments I received was also one of the simplest. A client matter-of-factly mentioned, “your team had a great understating of our needs.” With that short, but impactful feedback I knew that we were doing ‘something’ right. And that ‘something’ was the core of what we do – anticipate, appreciate and acknowledge how to best serve our customers.
Fused into this philosophy, we regularly host ‘virtual water cooler (VoC) meetings’. Comprised of colleagues representing hundreds of active projects, products and solutions, we provide a forum for project team members from around the world to discuss (among other things): new practice ideas and solution, project challenges, and to highlight successes.
Such forums, when run consistently and effectively:
– Encourage team building to enable better communication, better relationships and ultimately increasing productivity
– Avail key project support by highlighting resource and tool needs/gaps/availability
– and, increasing learning through project/product specific conversations and lessons Learned
There are many very helpful VoC tools and methodologies; but, in my opinion, providing a well-managed platform for problem solving and sharing real-world experiences ranks second to none!