Back to basics!

Yesterday I read a very good whitepaper on going back to basics in the IT Service Management world. Sitting on the train this morning, I thought: "We should do this for more aspect of our lives!"

Here's one to start with: Greet everyone you meet with a smile!

You know how it goes. You start a job at a new customer and there's a zillion new names to learn and faces to remember. I had the same thing when I started my job at my former customer in July last year.

So I made myself a promise. Greet every single colleague every single day and you'll learn all those names in no time. And so, from day one, anytime I came into the office I went to each person individually and said with a smile: "Good morning [name], how are you doing?". If I didn't know the person's name, I said: "Good morning, can you please tell me your name again?" And it worked! In about a week's time I knew everyone by name and what their role was in the organization. This made my job a lot easier in a very short time. But there were some unexpected additional things that happened...

By doing this, I created personal connections with thesee people. I got to know their stories, their hobbies, their families and their issues. I didn't have to do the weather report chit-chat because I could talk to them in a more personal way. And most of all, it gave me so much joy and energy.

I've left that organization for about a month now, but for the past 1,5 year I try to extend part of this behaviour everywhere I go. Every person I cross in the street, in the train station, on the train or in the office of my new customer get's a greeting with a smile. With most of them, I see eyes light up and faces turning into a smile. And that is a basic joy all of us should embrace more.