At the beginning of 2019 we asked our customer F5 Networks to share their KCS® Resolutions and it opened a year-long discussion with other KCS practitioners. We host our KCS Roundtables every month and as we close out the year, I want to share how grateful we are to have this virtual community where we can share our experiences and learn and support each other.
During this month’s roundtable, “KCS Lessons Learned”, we did a poll asking “What went well this year in your KCS program?” and 63% of our attendees selected Growth in Adoption/Culture.
F5 Networks shared how launching their Coaching program this year brought them satisfactory feedback from employees unknown to the KCS methodology but also, how their coaches supported employees that had roadblocks in their way — helping them become better writers that published more content. They also shared how technology, or simplifying the use of certain technology helped them in their KCS program.
We followed that question with “What didn’t go well this year in your KCS program?” and not surprisingly, 45% of our attendees selected Growth in Adoption/Culture. A customer in the electronics industry, shared that they have challenges with other internal teams and executive buy-in. I shared with them how the “What’s in it for me” can help clarify the objectives for internal teams but also how coaching can support the KCS program.
These first polls triggered a new conversation with a high tech customer who hasn’t deployed a KCS Program and it was interesting to hear their perspective as to why they haven’t deployed a KCS program yet, and how executive buy-in was a challenge. For another electronics customer, the executive buy-in wasn’t an obstacle and the key factor for them was to define and share what the executive sponsorship meant to secure their support.
We then asked “What would you have done differently?” and 75% of our attendees said ‘Communicate more’. A different high tech customer shared how communicating more frequently would have been better because they need to ensure that the advantages of KCS are well understood and enable them to identify the need for more training quickly.
I invite you to join our KCS Roundtable in January where the topic will be, Introducing Intelligent Swarming℠*. To attend live and contribute to our growing community, please register here.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all KCS practitioners!
*KCS® and Intelligent Swarming are service marks of the Consortium for Service Innovation™