I am sitting and waiting. Two things that combined are not my forte.
It’s Friday morning and I have come to get my Brazilian driving license since 8:15. I have queued once. I have given in all my documents, which have been checked by woman nr. 1, and am now waiting for all my documents to be collected by someone else (woman nr. 2) and taken from the first counter to ‘upstairs’ to be checked by woman nr. 3.
But my documents are still sitting there on the counter.
One-hour later and woman nr. 2, whose role is to take my documents, which are now in a crisp blue folder, from woman nr. 1 to woman nr. 3, is walking around with my file and others and stops to tell my agent that woman nr. 3 is not upstairs at her desk.
She says that she is probably outside smoking.
For the past hour???
What is this?!?
Sorry, but my venting is not over yet.
Apparently this woman (woman nr. 3) makes her own rules. And nobody can complain otherwise she won’t look at your file.
And where the hell is her manager?
Woman nr. 2 is walking around with my file and no one is here to look at it.
And they need a person to actually take each file from woman nr. 1 to woman nr. 2. That is what woman nr, 2 does.
And still woman nr. 3 has vanished.
This must be her moment of power.
My agent tells me that there have already been complaints, but that this woman nr. 3 has been working there for 15 years and her managers let her do ‘her thing’.
I am sorry, but I feel like making a fuss. This is ridiculous. But I don’t. I just want to get out of here.
1h29m later my papers are back with woman nr. 3’s little squiggle on them. Oh, plus à stamp!
It is now after 10am and I am now waiting for my turn at counter nr. 2 – woman nr. 4. to get my fingerprints done.
Then another counter to get my photo taken.
Then another building to do some medical and psychometric tests.
Heaven knows when I will get out of here.
No matter which country you are in, and I have been in a few, public sector services really need to be run like a business instead of inefficient machines that just infuriate the customers.
The thing is, we don’t have a choice.
If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be here. And like me, probably a whole lot of people.
So they would lose business. Which would make them rethink things and find a way to make the customer’s experience a better one.
As a business owner it drives me mad.
I can see so many loop holes and pointless gaps.
And I can’t see any one of these employees looking pleased to be doing their job.
So customer dissatisfaction and demotivated employees – yet nothing changes.
Because it doesn’t have to.
Because they will still make money, so why bother?
Inefficiency really pushes my buttons, but still I have to sit here and wait.
So I am making the most of my time by writing this.
Because I can, and because it allows me to vent a bit.
Take a step back and look at your processes:
Is there anything you could simplify in your business?
- For you
- For your customers
- For your employees
- For your partners
- …
Taking a step back is so important yet sometimes we are so caught up in our day-to-day activities, that we don’t.
Which is a shame.
A good way to start if you want an objective opinion is to:
Ask for feedback
- From your customers
- From your employees
- From your business partners
- …
What would they love to have to make buying from you / working with you easier and a happier experience?
Just ask.
And listen.
It’s so easy and so valuable.
No fancy complicated questionnaires needed – you can pop a question on your Facepage or Twitter or whichever social media platforms you use.
And see what response you get.
Information is key. Make good use of it to make changes for the better.
It’s a win-win.
Did you like this blog? Sign up for my free newsletter to get it sent directly to your inbox.