Over the past year I've collected a few interesting pictures of signs in (or near) restrooms. They all made me stop and ask, "What are they trying to tell their customers?"

When I facilitate training, I like to ask participants a simple question right before the class begins. "Why are you here today?" This shouldn't be a difficult question to answer, but too often it is.

Young toddlers are famous for asking the question, "Why?" It's too bad we don't ask that same question very often in the workplace because it turns out that "Why" is a very powerful tool for diagnosing the root cause of many performance problems. The simple technique, pioneered by Toyota, simply involves asking "Why?" an average of five times until you uncover the real cause of a particular problem.

Communicating in writing seems so much more efficient that taking the time to draw up visuals, but our audience typically doesn’t feel the same way. As a trainer, a consultant, and as a leader, I’m constantly encountering situations where a visual can make the point far better than written or verbal words ever could. The challenge is creating a good visual is often difficult.

Most California employers know about the mandatory sexual harassment awareness training. Are you up to date? If not, it could mean big trouble. I was reading my October edition of HR Magazine and saw a headline that caught my attention, "Survey: 10% of Employees Report Harassment at Work". The article discussed global trends from a recent survey by Reuters-Ipsos and pointed out that 8% of respondents from the US claimed they have been victims of sexual harassment. These figures suggest that many workplaces are at risk for harassment claims if employers aren't diligent about prevention.

People often wonder why customer service providers don't apply common sense to seemingly simple situations. As I recently discovered, many customer service behaviors don't come naturally. Let's add another reason to the list: our common sense often gets hijacked by our emotions.

I called a customer service line today to schedule some minor repairs at my home. The person who answered the phone gave me an unusual greeting:

I've been blogging about a customer service challenge I experienced with the Avis car rental company. The problem is now mostly resolved and I think I'm ready to share a few lessons learned.