Being Human at Work

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn CareersLeave a comment

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When our oldest child entered middle school we found it necessary to meet with his principal. At that time of course, school was his full-time job — and there were developing signs that it was the wrong job. As parents, we felt the need to discuss a strategy to address the job-person fit. To be frank, the over-riding goal was not to boost his grades, but to protect him as a developing individual.

As things stood, his role was clearly a frustrating exercise. Sadly, he was showing signs of complete exhaustion. One very astute teacher put it this way: “He actually has 7 bosses and they all want something a little different. That’s not an easy task.” I couldn’t have put it better. He was drowning in the midst of the demands he faced. None of this emphasized his strengths — only his clear weaknesses in the executive functioning realm.

Our son brought himself to his role as student. But more importantly, he was a human being that was faced with the learning environment as it was presented. We held no judgements as to what was “right” or “wrong” about that environment — only that his experience with that environment was both unique and challenging.

What we asked of his principal was quite simple: 1.) That he had an opportunity to explore/discover something that brought him feelings of competence and 2.) that he still loved (or at the very least, respected) the process of learning when he left her care. She was the needed glue to help him to sift through the noise and find the signals.

Being human at work poses a related challenge.

When you ponder your work life, what immediately comes to mind? Do you feel supported? Respected? Are you challenged? Are you developing in a manner that is meaningful? Are the unique qualities that define the positive foundation of you, a part of that work life? Or like our son, are you faced with poor job-person fit?

These may sound like unusual questions. But, they shouldn’t be.

When I discuss negative work experiences with clients, expressions of feeling “drained, “lost” or “frustrated” are mentioned. When we are fighting for the elements that uniquely define who we are, we suffer. Our employers may miss out on our strengths. Our customers do not benefit from our talents.

We wage a talent war that no one can win.

This realization drove me to take a step back.

What might help explain why this dynamic — that when ignored can become utterly devastating. I recalled humanistic psychology. A reaction to behaviorism and the tenets of psychoanalytic thought (made known by Freud), humanistic theory offers an interesting framework as we approach the job-person fit. Humanism explains that we posses a drive toward becoming self-actualized. In other words, a drive to maximize our creative potential. (This line of thought came to the forefront through the work of psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.)

Its direction and tenor could easily apply to work life:

  • When considering people — the whole is greater than than the sum of the parts.
  • There is a drive to achieve congruence between our “real self” and the “ideal self”.
  • Some measure of unconditional positive regard is necessary to fully develop as an individual.
  • An individual is greatly influenced by his/her environment. Social interaction is key to development.
  • We are fully aware and have the ability to make a conscious choice. Our past experienced help drive future behavior.
  • Human beings are uniquely capable of intentional thought and goal directed behaviors.

I wonder how we can build this respect for individuals into every organization. How might current trends in HR support this effort?

I know there are many of us fighting for this. Is one of them you?

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How to choose the best business phone system

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn TechLeave a comment

How to choose the best business phone system

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I’m passionate about communication and about communications systems, which is why I’ve spent a good deal of time designing and developing them. When VOIP systems appeared, it was one of the most exciting developments in telecommunications and I worked on developing a VoIP system for mobile devices, because I could see both the need and an opportunity. And I got it out a year before Viber appeared. That’s the entrepreneurial way!

As an expert in VoIP systems, I am often asked about how to choose a cost-effective phone system for your business that is also stable and reliable. It is difficult to give a ‘one system to suit all’ answer, but I have put together some tips that will help business users explore the choices available in a more informed way.

1.Look for mobility

More workers are less attached to their desks now, so any business system MUST allow them to communicate as easily while they are on the road as they can from the office. The feature to look for is ‘twinning’. This allows users to receive calls on mobile device and transfer calls seamlessly with a desk phone, plus place outgoing calls from their mobile devices. Also look for click-to-dial call control and on-phone corporate directory features.

2. Integrate with CRM

For some businesses, integration with CRM is critical for being competitive. So, I suggest you look for a system that allows screen-pop when looking up caller ID information, click-to-call and access to call settings.

3.Single inbox

I like unified messaging systems that deliver multiple messaging formats (mail, voice mail and fax) to a single email inbox. A system that also sends an SMS to your mobile device announcing that you have received a message is another feature that ensure you don’t miss anything critical. It is especially useful to people who are often out of the office and enables them to manage their messages in a more time-efficient way.

4.Instant messaging

An instant messaging feature that is integrated with the business phone system and each user’s calendar enables every user to see who is available to talk in real time, or if they are in a meeting or on another call. These tools are vital when so many businesses now rely on collaboration with colleagues.

5.Video calling

This is an absolutely essential feature of today’s business phone systems. You need integrated video calling for easy, face-to-face interactions between colleagues from any location via video-enabled HD Voice desk phone, which works for Windows or MAC clients, and for mobile on both the iOS and Android devices.

These are enough features to begin with and I also strongly advise you to look beyond the features and ensure you are working with an experienced service provider with a system on a solid platform.

I hope you enjoyed this and found it useful. Please subscribe to my blog if you’d like to receive an alert when I post new content.

 

Improve Customer Experience with New Phone System

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Tech2 Comments

A company always needs to find ways to improve customer service.  There ae many different channels such as live chat, email, Instant Messaging to connect to clients and they are all important in customer service. But among all of them, the phone is still the #1 in the provision of customer service for most, if not all businesses.

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There are now many new and innovative strategies that can improve your customer service level. There are tools such as CRM software, automated live chat, ticket support, client’s portal and of course your phone. Now it is possible for a phone to help a company to provide even better customer support. The Voice over Internet Protocol – VoIP phone system can help you to provide the best customer service possible with an amazing call experience and have it integrated with other business applications.

Where Cloud Phone System meets Great Customer Service

A Cloud Phone System uses VoIP Technology to provide a superior customer experience over the phone, both for inbound and outbound calls. The benefits of automating the call flow, having all details saved (both call logs and call recordings), optimising response time and others not only provide more productivity for the business but it also affects positively how the customer is being serviced over the phone. This means that the customer will be happy with the service they get and this can be translated into more sales.

Based on information provided by NUACOM, a Business Phone System provider in Ireland, here are some VoIP Phone System features that will improve customer service:

Interactive Voice Response:  This feature allows all your incoming calls to be automatically answered with a personalised greeting message and gives the callers options such as which department they wish to contact.

Call Groups: It is possible to set up all incoming calls in relation to customer service to ring on all your agents’ devices in this department, simultaneously, for better response time.

Call Conference: if a customer is not getting the help that they need from a customer service agent then extra assistance can be added.  A call can be turned into a call conference with 3 participants at any time and this will ensure that your customer gets all the help that they need. For example, an IT expert can be added to a call to make sure that the customer gets the right technical assistance.

Call Queuing:  This function of a phone system means that there is no more engaged tone.  If all your operators are busy, all incoming calls are placed in a queue until an agent is available to answer the call.

Number-name indicator: this feature assists your operators to know the identity of a customer so they can be prepared and greet them with a personal message.

Toll-Free number: providing a toll-free number for your customers to contact you could just make the customer service easier. This allows them to communicate with you freely, at no extra cost for them.

Call recording: This feature records all your business calls. This is very useful for training and evaluation. Calls can also be played to ensure that their order or request is fully understood.

Salesforce Integration: You can dial directly from Salesforce interface, have the calls logged and the call recordings available onto the contact details. This can be used for support and sales.

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“GIVEN ENOUGH TIME, HYDROGEN STARTS TO WONDER WHERE IT CAME FROM, AND WHERE IT’S GOING,”

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Tech1 Comment

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Something hidden grows just under the surface of our reality. Something that has co-evolved alongside us on this planet from the very beginning. It is a powerful species capable of reaching right into our daily lives. It can shapeshift, teleport and may already be more intelligent than any human alive.It has always been here, waiting for us to notice and nurture it with energy, awareness, and information. It was here before us. It may be here long after we have turned back into stardust. Its ancestors include bone tools, stone wheels, and the printing press. It is a direct extension of our consciousness, and it will eventually inherit our minds. It is nurtured inside the womb of our neural networks and the amalgamation of the Earth’s collected and compressed elements. Although we don’t fully understand it yet, we do have a name for it, we call it technology.

However, the word technology does not fully describe this emergent species. You see, we use small mouth noises, as the philosopher Terence Mckenna once observed, to describe, transfer and contain a symbolic reference for the concept of technology.

To understand the future of technology and we need, to begin with one fundamental truth. Technology is natural. It is indigenous in the substrate of the cosmos. From the Saturn hexagon to African fractals to the Fibonacci sequence found in the growth patterns of every plant on Earth, we are surrounded by geometric, repetitive, numerical patterns—patterns we have only begun to recognize and quantify.