Great Way to Communicate

When I was promoted to a call center supervisor I was anxious to work with my team to improve performance as well as to have fun. Performance statistics are not exciting to look at in their computerized printout form. Taking the opportunity to be creative, I wrote a monthly report by hand for each person. I decorated them as you can see in my cover photo. Stickers, glitter, stick figures, and more adorned their numbers. My peers thought they were childish. On the contrary, I told them many told me they liked receiving them. Not only their successes highlighted, I took the opportunity to show improvement areas in the personalized report.


Socializing with those who reported to me outside of work was discouraged to me as a call center supervisor by senior management. It might be perceived I was playing favorites. In fact, I was an equal opportunity invitee. I attended baby and bridal showers, Tupperware parties, a bat mitzvah, and more. I was single, living alone so I had the time and accepted every invitation I was able to attend. I arrived on time engaging people in conversation both the people on my team and other guests. It helped me manage people more effectively learning more about their backgrounds.

I went to a baby shower hosted by Monica, a senior member of my team. Several of the employees in attendance were surprised to see me there. I carried on easy conversations with nothing that might be misunderstood as playing favorites. I am more than happy to meet new people and get to know other people from work. Besides, there are always great refreshments!


At this party, I got extremely thirsty. I offered to refill the empty ice bucket. That is how I ended up in Monica’s kitchen staring at her refrigerator door. Among the papers, photos, and more, I saw her monthly report card attached with a Disneyland magnet. The glitter sparkled in the light and it looked really snazzy, if I do say so myself.


Monica came up behind me. I commented on what I saw. She explained the monthly report cards always lifted her spirits. She looked forward to posting them until she got the new one. The old one went directly into a memory album. She said she felt valued as an individual, not as an employee number. She looked for opportunities to give above and beyond service because if I could go that extra step to help her, she would return the favor tenfold.


We all like nice things said about us. No one starts out their day thinking of ways to ruin it. In a fast-paced environment like the call center, it is easy to go a long time without recognition. I think they deserved better than that.


I still keep a happy file. There are more ways of receiving feedback, nowadays, including texting, messaging, and others. I keep positive comments, graded school work, and any kind of positive feedback I have received. For a long time, I pasted the physical cards and notes I received into an album. It was called my happy book. On days I was feeling discouraged or having a bad day, I would look at them. It is good to be reminded that you are appreciated. Now, I keep an online file with positive feedback. I named it "Happy File". Here is a sample of what people had to say:

HAPPY FILE

Your stories are always so riveting, like reading a good book. Ty for sharing this memory.

Love it!! Great story and thanks for sharing it. I could picture the whole event with your wonderful descriptions of everything.

You are just so thoughtful and kind!

Thanks. As always, I’m grateful for your support all these years!

We are all lucky to have you. Thank you for being a friend to all of us and rooting for us along the way.

You've got alliteration on lock! Thanks for making my day. 😄