Blog Articles By Topic

We know it takes a lot more than pizza parties and praise for a leader to push her team to greatness. There is a science to successful leadership, and two studies provide you more insight with their findings: Great leaders have a keen understanding of their team’s dynamics: The dynamics of a team are more important […]

There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the work environment – and for many, the changes are permanent. As the work environment continues to evolve, we are seeing less employee visibility and fewer traditional career paths for promotion and advancement. Furthermore, there is a growing pressure on employees to carve out their own […]

Have you ever found yourself suddenly motivated or inspired by someone else and thought, “how did they do that?” You’ve probably conjured a person in your mind whom you consider as having a strong influence. What sets them apart? You may be thinking of charisma or charm, or possibly assertiveness. But influence isn’t about personality. […]

Let’s Do an Experiment Go into any search engine and type in “business negotiation” – you’ll learn a lot about negotiating contracts, getting the best deal for your company, and finding win-win solutions. Now try “business negotiation for women.” It’s all about salary. You’ll find maybe one or two pieces about how to do your […]

It’s officially Customer Service week! No one is an island. All year your team has been working tirelessly to serve and support your customers and clients. This week is the perfect opportunity to give back to your hard working team by letting them know how much their efforts are appreciated. Re-engage and re-energize! Myra Golden […]

The first week of October is Customer Service Week! We want to give you the best resources to help you and your team succeed. One of our experts, Myra Golden, is a Customer Service rockstar and has some great tips and ideas for celebrating this week with your team on her blog: Are you still […]

Stress will happen. It’s a very natural response when you’re juggling work, family, social life, and everything else you have on your plate. The key is to make sure it isn’t getting the best of you. Make sure you’re taking the time to work actively on managing stress when it’s really building up. 3 fun […]

Burnout is an epidemic affecting the modern workplace today. All of us experience stress at work at one time or another, but burnout is a different beast. While the two can feel very similar, it is crucial to your well-being that you’re able to recognize when you are crossing that line.  Equally, if not even […]

No matter where you are in your career, you’re aware of the challenges many women face as they try to advance their career into senior management. That’s why this initiative, which asks companies to sign a pledge to fast-track women’s progress up the corporate ladder, is a step in the right direction. Started by Frustrated […]

Want a way to close the pay gap in your own company? Pay transparency is one way. Yes, it can certainly pit employees against each other, but it could also be the answer to closing the pay gap between men and women. Citigroup, the fourth largest bank, just revealed that women earn 29% less than […]

It’s officially Customer Service week!

No one is an island. All year your team has been working tirelessly to serve and support your customers and clients. This week is the perfect opportunity to give back to your hard working team by letting them know how much their efforts are appreciated. Re-engage and re-energize!

Myra Golden is a Customer Service expert, and rocks this week with some tips on how to do just that.

Myra’s 10 Energizers to Bring Fun and Connectiveness Back to Your Team:

1. Invite someone from the C-Suite to come to the front line and take calls!
2. Plan a lunch with the President. 
3. Eat together at the same time with an office buffet, or virtual meetup over food with take out or a home cooked meal. 
4. Virtual break-room – make a place always open for people to come hang out for a time period, no agenda, just an open zoom or place to meet online.
5. Use the Start, Stop, Continue goal method to make personal, team and company improvements. Ask – What will you start doing, what will you stop doing and what will you continue doing. 
6. Virtual Scavenger Hunt – type up a list of 10 things that people can go hunt for in their homes then share. First people to get all 10 items (and show them) wins!
7. Virtual Show and Tell – ask everyone to pick up something that is near by them and have them tell a story about it. 
8. Virtual Dance Party – play music, dress comfy and dance together for 3 minutes. Dancing can be done at anytime and any place to up the energy. 
9. Getting to Know You – have everyone take the same Personality test before your event and then gather to share what you learned. (Try it out with our Influence Styles quiz!)
10. Guess the Baby! – Great ice breaker that makes everyone smile. Assign a moderator to gather pictures of the team members or attendees as babies, post the pictures on the virtual meeting screen and have the participants guess who. 

As important as it is for your team to connect and re-engage, it is equally important to practice self-care. As Myra says, “when you can breath… you are free to focus. You are free to support. You are free to build up those around you.” Check out her tips on setting boundaries and taking your power back so you can re-energize and be available to support your team!

Myra’s 7 Tips for Taking Your Power Back: 

1. Try schedule blocking. 
2. Pause your email. 
3. Learn to say no without feeling guilty and without explanation. 
4. Physically step away from work multiple times a day.
5. Take a full lunch every day. 
6. Take a 20 minute walk.
7. Delegate more. 

We hope we’ve inspired you to celebrate your team this week. And, keep the ball rolling – these fantastic tips can be used any time of year to get your team, and yourself, back on track.

Missed the Customer Service Week day-by-day schedule? Check it out here!

About the Expert

Myra Golden is a favorite training partner to Fortune 500 companies with her customized, engaging, behavior-changing (and fun) customer service workshops, working with large brands like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Michelin, and Vera Bradley. Before becoming the go-to trainer for some of the world’s biggest brands, Myra was the Global Head of Consumer Affairs for Thrifty Rent-a-Car System.

• Myra was named one of the top 100 Rising Stars by Travel Agent Magazine for her landmark work in leading her team to restore customer confidence after service failures.
• Myra has a master’s degree in human relations and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, helping her to understand the challenges of developing the best customer experience as it relates to the psychology of the employees.

The first week of October is Customer Service Week! We want to give you the best resources to help you and your team succeed.

One of our experts, Myra Golden, is a Customer Service rockstar and has some great tips and ideas for celebrating this week with your team on her blog:

Are you still trying to figure out how to celebrate Customer Service Week?

After the year and a half your team has pulled your company through, don’t let National Customer Service Week pass without an epic celebration of your front line!

Here are three steps to easy National Customer Service Week planning!

1) Have a plan: use these themes for each day of the week to create your schedule:

• MONDAY, October 3 – Service Team Appreciation & Celebration 

Let everyone know it’s National Customer Service Week! Have management, customers, and representatives show their appreciation first hand.

Check out Myra’s video on why appreciation is so vital in the workplace and tips for how to show employee appreciation this week:

• Tuesday, October 4 – Agent Training & Retention 

Hold a virtual lunch & learn, celebrate employees. 

• Wednesday, October 5 – Customer Experience, Journey & Understanding

Creating positive experiences for employees and for customers! Create team-building activities and have a “kudos” day to say thank you. 

• Thursday, October 6 – Service Innovation

Recognize behaviors as well as outcomes. Take recognition beyond your walls – go online and use company communication outlets to post success stories about your service superstars.

• Friday, October 7 – Best In Show!

Celebrate your team with the resources in step two below!

2) Have H.E.A.R.T: create positive experiences to recognize and reward your team’s extraordinary efforts in Helping others, Exceeding expectations, Achieving goals, Responding with care, and thriving through Teamwork.

Celebrate! Download certificates of appreciation and accomplishment, kudos cards, and thank you tweets here!

3) Have fun: ​promote your events, decorate, play games and take this week to come together (even if virtually). Feel free to use these ideas and customer service week activities to make your celebration memorable.

About the Author

Myra Golden is a favorite training partner to Fortune 500 companies with her customized, engaging, behavior-changing (and fun) customer service workshops, working with large brands like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Michelin, and Vera Bradley. Before becoming the go-to trainer for some of the world’s biggest brands, Myra was the Global Head of Consumer Affairs for Thrifty Rent-a-Car System.

• Myra was named one of the top 100 Rising Stars by Travel Agent Magazine for her landmark work in leading her team to restore customer confidence after service failures.
• Myra has a master’s degree in human relations and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, helping her to understand the challenges of developing the best customer experience as it relates to the psychology of the employees.