The Key to Improving Company Culture? Solve Problems Together
This article is a part of our Q&A series, The Power of Conversation, powered by Aircall. Have a question about creating memorable customer experiences, meeting your business goals, and increasing internal collaboration? Join the Support Driven community, and we’ll get your question answered by Customer Support leaders and practitioners.
Q: Would be keen to hear if anyone has any success stories of managing and improving culture in their teams. We've started using Donut to encourage casual conversation amongst the team and everyone is really enjoying it. Has anyone employed similar initiatives that have created cohesion and comradery in their team?
- Harry, Support Driven Community Member
Emily Gregor, Content Lead at Aircall: Hi, Harry! At Aircall, we’re all about the power of conversation (we actually use the Donut Slackbot too!), but we also know there’s more to improving company culture than just focusing on watercooler moments. To give us some additional perspective, we turned to our community members to weigh in.
Stephen Nock: What aspects of culture are where you want them to be? In my opinion, culture itself cannot be generically improved. If the team doesn't feel united, help them find problems to solve together. Practice active and conscious listening, where people voice their perspectives and others repeat what they hear. Celebrate wins together, and strategize together when you're not meeting your goals.
Emily: To build off what Stephen said, I think problem-solving as a team is such a great strategy when it comes to fostering unity and helping people feel like they’re working toward company goals together. Any chance you get to build affinity can make a big difference! Here are some additional tips from other community members too.
Samantha Semuhin: I managed a fully remote global team for two years, and we found that meeting once a month for an hour for breakfast/lunch/dinner to talk about everything but work really helped! If your team is into reading, you could also create a book club where you bring in books related to your company’s culture, support, business, wellness, etc.
Josh Sugarman: Working on collaborative projects is something I've seen great success with. I went through a merger of two unique companies and cultures, and when we created project teams with members from both organizations, it helped us a) improve collaboration between people who weren't proactively working to get to know each other and b) create organizational change.
Carlo: I'd roughly split the topic "culture" into two categories:
Emotional aspects & team bonding
Work productivity, communication & processes
The first thing we did was to write down all important aspects of our company culture and how we work together in a company handbook. Here is a handy blueprint, but activities range from Slack huddles and coffee chats to larger team events and process documentation.
Emily: That’s so great, Carlo! Thanks for sharing such great tips. Documentation has been one of our top priorities at Aircall, too, since we’ve experienced a ton of growth over the past year. Creating it in the first place is a great first step, but keeping it updated can help your team members stay aligned too.
Community members also shared a couple of podcast episodes to check out:
Creating a Happy and Productive Customer Service Culture from GoCardless
How to Build and Scale a Happy, Motivated Support Team from Beyond the Queue with Joelle Waksman of Biteable
Before we get into our next question, how is your team working to improve company culture in sustainable ways? Let us know by sharing in Support Driven!
Our Top CS Interview Questions
Corey Purves: As the hiring manager, what are your favorite questions to ask in an interview for a frontline support role (and why)?
Emily: Ooh, I love this question, Corey! I feel like so many companies are hiring right now (make sure to check out our current openings), so I’m curious to hear what our community members have to say.
Cheryl Spriggs: I really like Help Scout's guide for Interview Questions. I've used these previously and tie them back to Company Values.
Community Member: Hard same, Cheryl. I use forms of those same questions all the time. One question I like to ask that isn't on that list goes something like this:
"As you look back on your life so far, who's someone who's impacted you and made you who you are today?"
Once they respond, I ask them what that person did/does that they admire and why it impacted them. I then usually follow up by asking how they imitate that person today.
"Is there anything you find yourself doing now, maybe a habit or a personal value, that this person inspired in your life?"
I've found this two-part question to be super helpful in enabling people to share a bit about themselves, expose their values, and highlight what motivates them to this day.
Emily: These are such great questions! It’s so important to acknowledge the people who helped you get where you are today. I love taking time to reflect on that.
Community Member B: I really like questions that probe for inquisitiveness. Not necessarily even within a work context but general curiosity. That gives me a sense of a candidate’s creative problem-solving and whether they have a growth mindset, which goes a long way toward succeeding in support.
Vicky F.: I've got two favorites for testing CS skills.
“Can you tell me about a time you've dealt with an unreasonable customer?"
You learn if they show true empathy and respect for their customers. Do they show empathy for that person and understand what lead to them acting that way? What were their methods for handling it? It’s a red flag for me if they talk about the customer in a really negative light or still shift the blame. The best candidates outline why the customer felt that way, the background, and then link that to why they chose a particular strategy to de-escalate them.
Emily: Empathy is such an important skill for customer service (and really every job function). That human element is a core differentiator for us at Aircall, and we find that it can make a huge impact on your overall customer experience.
Vicky: I also have one additional question I ask that’s specifically relevant for us (as a SaaS company).
"Some of our users struggle with technology and aren't as comfortable trying out new things. Why do you think this is? What methods do you think you could use to help these users?"
Again it's an empathy exercise, but also a problem solving and adaptability exercise. Red-flag candidates just talk about people being old and don't really reflect on why someone might struggle and don't have much to offer beyond “go slowly”. The best candidates really understand people's mindset and suggest above-and-beyond ideas, as well as some easy, practical solutions to help these users.
Emily: Thanks for sharing such great questions, Vicky!
Jacob Lee: A frontline role is all about inquisitiveness, being willing to open things up, poke around and see how they work, and empathy. So my three main questions are:
Tell me about a time you had to figure something out on your own. Maybe it was fixing a broken thing or learning how something worked so you could use it.
Tell me about a time you taught someone something. How did it go?
Tell me about a time you’ve worked with an upset customer. How do you handle that? What are your tricks for staying calm?
Emily: Problem-solving is a top indicator for great customer service. Thanks for sharing your suggestions, Jacob Lee!
Corey: These are great questions. Thank you, everyone!
About the Editor
Emily Gregor is a Content Marketing Lead at Aircall, an integrated, easy-to-use, cloud-based phone solution.