Collaboration Skills
Friday: September 7, 2007 9:02 AM
So you are deploying a collaborative solution (Sharepoint) or rolling out Social Software, what skills would you look for? What skills would you need in the client-support which is the fundamentally difference between success and failure? Here are my three:
First and foremost is Customer Service skills. You must, repeat must be able to handle a wide variety of customers and interactions. From the CEO to the call center employee, you must be able to communicate the value, utility, and instruction on the application. You must be able to juggle 7-10 customers at the same time having each customer think they are the only one in the store. You must be able to listen to the customer to actually understand their needs and the best way to address them in an empathetic manner. I’m not talking about the generic corporate speak of customer service, I am talking about Disney level customer service skills. We must be able to deliver quality service that exceeds the expectations of the customer every time. The good news is that most IT groups are so bad at customer service that it won’t take much to stand out above the crowd.
The second skill is a combination of Design and Information Architecture. Our group had been doing Enterprise Metadata since 1999 and that training made us perfect for looking at a customer’s environment and finding structure. Great information architects can quickly look at an environment and instantly visualize the structures required as well as the associated unstructured elements. Same if true with great usability skills. While we can’t always describe what defines great design, we know bad design when we see it. Both of these skills are critical to the success of collaborative and social software.
Finally, technology skills are also needed. Yes, you need to be able to engage your logic side as well as your creative side. We still need the basic IT skills such as development, analysis, implementation, and architecture.
Which skills are the most critical? Well, the percentages actually vary based on the role. For example, client-support folks need more customer service folks versus the product development ones. All three are always required, just different percentages.
So you are deploying a collaborative solution (Sharepoint) or rolling out Social Software, what skills would you look for? What skills would you need in the client-support which is the fundamentally difference between success and failure? Here are my three:
First and foremost is Customer Service skills. You must, repeat must be able to handle a wide variety of customers and interactions. From the CEO to the call center employee, you must be able to communicate the value, utility, and instruction on the application. You must be able to juggle 7-10 customers at the same time having each customer think they are the only one in the store. You must be able to listen to the customer to actually understand their needs and the best way to address them in an empathetic manner. I’m not talking about the generic corporate speak of customer service, I am talking about Disney level customer service skills. We must be able to deliver quality service that exceeds the expectations of the customer every time. The good news is that most IT groups are so bad at customer service that it won’t take much to stand out above the crowd.
The second skill is a combination of Design and Information Architecture. Our group had been doing Enterprise Metadata since 1999 and that training made us perfect for looking at a customer’s environment and finding structure. Great information architects can quickly look at an environment and instantly visualize the structures required as well as the associated unstructured elements. Same if true with great usability skills. While we can’t always describe what defines great design, we know bad design when we see it. Both of these skills are critical to the success of collaborative and social software.
Finally, technology skills are also needed. Yes, you need to be able to engage your logic side as well as your creative side. We still need the basic IT skills such as development, analysis, implementation, and architecture.
Which skills are the most critical? Well, the percentages actually vary based on the role. For example, client-support folks need more customer service folks versus the product development ones. All three are always required, just different percentages.
