Article review:Ottawa way” thrives
The “Ottawa way” thrives is an article written by Capodagli and Vanderberg (2015) describing the ways that Ottawa took to improve customer service. The county of Ottawa, located in the southwestern part of the state, had some of the most mediocre customer services. There was a need to improve on this aspect. The primary argument given by the articles is whether taking up customer-centric cultures make a difference in a local government. Improving customer relations and services boosts its attraction to investors. The ideology of attracting investors would also lead to an improvement in the numbers of individuals in the employment sector. This led to the adoption of the ‘Disney way’ culture to improve the delivery of customer service in the county. The customer-centric culture of Disney- according to the authors, is one most successful company cultures. The success of the company itself can further amplify this.
The county officials in Ottawa used Disney way as a source of inspiration in their changes. “Ottawa County officials contacted the company created by the book’s authors to help the county develop a Disney-like customer service culture.” The customer-centric initiatives mandate the training of employers in customer response methods. This will, therefore, be of benefit to the public offices, which are meant to serve consumers. The article highlights how curating their cultures from those of Disney would be beneficial to it, being a public office. The local government officials used the book writer to create their own customer service cultures. The cultures were overseen by the committee that meets monthly to assess and also makes changes wherever necessary.
The initial workshop saw the Ottawa county official’s team deduce that the Disney way experience ought to the driven on all 33 areas. At this point, the customer-centric culture in the county came to be known by the name “Ottawa Way” (Vanderberg & Capodagli, 2015, p.16). The article gives an insight into the steps that were taken in the workshop. These included the development of the preliminary vision and dreams of the county, values identification, establishing codes of conduct, storyboarding potential hindrances to the change, and the development of the Change road map. The leadership workshop was the next step taken towards the implementation of the change. The success of the customer-centric culture requires top management, and the county trained its managers. They must have a belief of ownership in its development and the results.
Employees were then taken for a three-day workshop to empower them on the experience of the Ottawa way and the ideology of the ‘Hot Seat.’ This segment involved asking questions about the whole Ottawa way sought to increase knowledge of the impending change. Storyboarding went much more comfortable, according to the article, since more respondents were involved. These responders gave ideas on supposed improvements and the manner to do so. Through the storyboarding, leadership was challenged and also prompted methods of engaging with their employees. “One of the best ways to produce this type of environment is by establishing a brain trust, which is a group of people who assist, advise, and support one another but do not have authority to make decisions for each other’s teams or departments”(Vanderberg & Capodagli, 2015, p.17). The overall ideology was amalgamated as one making it more accessible.
Customer-centric cultures in the county create a focus on customer satisfaction through its development and realization of profits. The aim of taking up this ‘Disney way’ is to improve the county’s efficiency. Overall there was an improvement in the leadership traits and better collection of pubic opinions. The culture is also changing with the times.