"How can I help you be less of a pain in my ass?"

[muckefuck]

Well, I survived our in-service training for today, a three-hour workshop on serving internal customers. This despite the fact that (a) it was presented almost entirely through the medium PowerPoint slides of LOLcats and (b) I sat myself at the same table as the Big Boss so I wasn't able to surreptitiously mark up photocopies of Abendpost articles for later translation. I survived with my dignity mostly intact, though in case anyone in the Division didn't already know I was a bastard, I made sure to point out that empathy was all good and well the first couple times someone screws up, but by the tenth they can go sit on a stapler.

The presenters spent a considerable chunk of time trying to reshape our speech patterns, despite the fact that one of them readily acknowledged "tone trumps words". I was particularly amused by the suggestion that we de-escalate adversarial conversations through strategic use of the phrase "Help me to understand you", since it immediately struck me as exactly the sort of thing a Miranda Priestly might say. In fact, no matter how many times I hear it, it's inseparable in my mind from Meryl Streep's fantastically withering delivery. The presenters even confessed that it's basically become code between the two of them; I can think of worse euphemisms for "You are getting on my wick today."

They also tried to wean us off the word "try" because it usually means "no" (e.g. "I'll try to get that to you today" = "In your dreams you'll get it today"). Thank God the Big Boss stepped up and pointed out that they were essentially inviting staff to lie to each other so I didn't have to be the one to. They said point blank that nice people get "slammed" because they're the ones everyone would rather deal with, although they tried to undercut this mixed message by claiming unpleasant employees were on track to get fired. Well, when it comes to our organisation, they're half right.

Comments

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm odd, then. When I say I'll try, I mean it. I usually say I'll try to get something done by time X, but definitely before Y, and 60-75% of the time, I'll have it done by X.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

"Try" for me generally means "I'll probably have it done it by then, but don't nag me if I don't."

[mollyc-q.livejournal.com]

I am not quite sure how to say this, but I find it amazing that they feel it necessary to conduct workshops to teach librarians to be "helpful" and "service the client" oriented - you are not working in a Department Store or a Government office.

My perspective is bit warped by my feelings toward the collective known as the "internal client." And depending on how that's defined, when its not based on mutual professional respect but rather and implied "I am your internal client SERVICE me" its an utter disaster and recipe for developing entrenched hostility in a work place.

I agree with you both, when I say "try" - its my stating that based on what I know of the issue I can likely take it down and will ASAP, but "do not nag me if I don't"