by: Ricki Sexton
Here at Partners, we are fortunate enough to have a full week off during the holidays each year. I started working at Partners last December 1st, and while I was told that December was our “busy season”, I had no idea what our busy season really entailed. As a result, while trying to wrap my brain around my new job duties, 18 different clients, and 3 and a half new team members I had not previously worked with, I thought surely I had bitten off more than I could chew! I had many plans in place that would keep us organized and on task, but the best laid plans often go astray while you have run to the kitchen for just one more caffeine fix.
Here are a few tips and plans that I have in place to ensure that we have a less “bumpy” ride this December, in the midst of one of our busiest client’s renewal periods, topped with the office being closed for an entire week.
- Cross training. For several months now, our Member Services department team has been working hard on cross training. This ensures that while one of us may be working hard on depositing a stack of 150 checks, many of our other duties such as data entry or course approvals do not fall by the wayside. All of us working together and being able to pick up on anything someone needs help with makes a huge difference in keeping the workload flowing smoothly.
- Scheduling. Keeping the team on a schedule for doing deposits (checks or credit cards), uploading to our websites, working on specific clients at a set time, not just in December, but year round ensures that we stay on task with important duties. We are all in the habit of using Outlook Calendar to send us reminders of when things need to be done. Also, we invite at least one other team member to all of our reminder tasks to help make sure that things don’t get “snoozed” and fall through the cracks.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We are fortunate to work in an office that is a true team. When our office needs an extra ear on the phones, or some extra assistance doing data entry, everyone steps up and lends a hand.
Keeping our clients happy, and their members happy is what we all strive to do here at Partners. What tips and tricks does your office implement to keep things running smoothly?
