The last Month was not the best on in my life. The 24th of February my mother in law died at the age of 73 caused by cancer. Because we are a close family and the speed of this tragic incident (one week) it had a huge impact on my creativity, you start to focus on important things and you learn to relativize quickly.
One important thing I learned is that the service in the hospital is on very high level and a good place to learn where WE can improve. I would like to share some observations, there is a learning in everything, even in the sad moments in life...
Communication is key. Starting with the top. The specialists where very good in (frequently) explaining what happened, the approach they take and the showing options (will she survive?) of the treatment. This approach gives a lot of 'piece of mind' to the relatives. Now, 3 weeks later we do not have the feeling 'if we would have done this then....' .
The medial people on the floor (nurses). They where great in executing the approach suggested by the specialists and where key player in the process by regular checks, measurements (blood/heartbeat/temperature/... etc) and feedback to all parties. They also took ownership and showed initiatives to proactively inform family and medical staff but they where also professional enough to keep distance and point to the specialists for more detailed information.
Finally the overall 'atmosphere' in the hospital. Although you 'know' this is a routine, the staff was able to give the patient and their family the feeling that they really care about you. From the moment we entered the hospital till we left it for last time .
Oke, now the IT world. We seem to promote as much self service as possible. When you have a real problem that is not tackled in the online documentation, please log a service request and use the reference number in the rest of the conversation. When you have a real problem, call use, and we might even decide to escalate. You might even get an actionplan (when you are lucky) . However realize that we have more customers with even more severe problems so be patient....
I agree this is a bit exaggerated but it makes my point clear... WE can do much better when we are willing to raise the bar. IT community, lets take better care of our (critical) customers. Make sure there are specialists who can provide and communicate a clear action plan. Ensure that the support organization follows the action plan with the customer. Perform regular checks and measurment to track progress. Stay in contact with the stakeholders, even in times when they are less responsive because they have other things on their minds. Last but not least, create the atmosphere that YOU CARE !! even if this is escalation #10 of the week.....
Hans
