(no subject)

[alexseanchai]

I feel weird getting work kudos--from the customer and my manager both!--when I didn't go above and beyond in any way. I just followed procedure.

Comments

[maramcreates]

It has taken me a long time (and I still don't always do this, to be honest) to accept that the things I do that I find perfectly normal and unremarkable can be a big deal to others. It's tough, because there are things that are extremely difficult for me to do and I put a lot of effort into that I feel should be the focus of praise instead.

[alexseanchai]

Huh. Yes, I suppose that's true. Perspective mismatch.

[serrico]

I get that feeling, too. For me, it feels like they're rewarding basic competence, which makes me wonder how many employees there are for whom basic competence is a rewardable achievement.

(Or, to be less cynical and/or hubristic about it: what your first commenter said.)

[alexseanchai]

Yep.

The customer said she'd previously spoken to someone at my division who was "angry", and she was pleased to speak with someone "nice". Uh. Um.

[sylvaine]

Unfortunately, people frequently can't manage basic competence for whatever reason, whether because out of cope or can't be bothered or whatever. So, yes, following protocol can be a remarkable feat!

[alexseanchai]

Bah. Shouldn't be remarkable.

Tone of voice

[dialecticdreamer]

Sometimes, yes, it really is just te tone of voice when someone speaks to you, especially when you cannot see their face. My dad had severe, spastic Cerebral Palsy, and would walk out of restaurants when the server turned to my mother to ask "And what will HE have?"

The tone was distinctly over-cheerful, syrupy, with a "strange" (to a barely-thirteen-year-old) emphasis on the word "he." It took a decade to pick apart the differences between the way people talked to Dad or to me (mild Cerebral Palsy, very strange gait as a result). I got open hostility or pity with very little nuance, and tons of very rude staring until I looked like an adult. Then the other layers of behavior kicked in. Draw your own conclusions.

So, anyone in a phone call, especially if they are supposed to be helping me, who drops into that combination of vocal tone and verbal behaviors-- like repeating something i just said in syrupy tone-- is going to get cut off in seconds, with complaints to their supervisor.

Now picture someone who is courteous, pauses to let me catch up when I blurt, "Waitasec!" as one word, or simply slows down when they hear me scribbling on paper to make notes, especially of phone numbers. ALL of these behaviors have also led to, "May I speak to your supervisor? I'd like them to know that you've been particularly helpful."

Trying to explain to them WHY "just doing my job" can be amazingly, depressingly novel for someone is more than most people have time or energy to grapple with, so I leave it up to them whether they connect the supervisor.

Following procedure is sometimes not done... well. Okay, its a sloppy, scrambled mess. But if your company or department has a low turnover rate, that's not likely to be as much of an issue. I don't know about that side of it.

My money is on simple courtesy impressing them to bits.

Re: Tone of voice

[alexseanchai]

*nodnod*

[silveradept]

Most people are used to procedure hurting them in some manner, so when it happens and it turns out okay, it feels special.

[alexseanchai]

Huh. Okay. That computes.