People Over Policies: part 1
Churches love policies almost as much as they love covered dish suppers:
- No food or drinks in the auditorium
- No one is seated during a reflective moment
- Ushers must wear coats and ties
- Any salmonella in the potato salad must be pre-approved by the Deputy Chair of Infectious Bacterium, serving on behalf of the Covered Dish Committee
You can squint at our Guest Services teams and say that we have a ton of policies: First-Time Guests have reserved parking. We attempt to seat people from the front to the back so that latecomers aren’t left looking for seats on the front row. The auditorium doors don’t open until fifteen minutes before the service so we can get it cleaned and prepped.
We don’t make a big deal out of our policies to our guests. They’re there for us so that we’ll make sure we’re serving guests well. But that’s the point…they’re for us to follow, but they benefit the guest. As author Phil Cooke says, “your customers…don’t care about your policy about anything. Policies are to help you do your job – they don’t help the customer.”
There are times when “people over policies” is possible, but not reasonable. For example, if someone is showing up for the 49th time but still wants that mighty sweet first-time guest parking spot, that requires a kind, grace-filled conversation. (“Jesus loves you. We love you. But if you park here again we’re going to let the air out of your tires.”) No, you don’t let folks run rough-shod over the policies. If the policies are for the good of your team and to the benefit of your guests, then they’re policies for a reason. (And if there’s not a reason, maybe get rid of ’em, huh?)
But policies won’t – they can’t – get in the way of people. A policy is supposed to contribute to the experience, not detract from it. In their book The Come Back Culture, Jason Young and Jonathan Malm wrote “If you’re creating a hurdle for the guest because it’s convenient for you, you won’t like the results of what that says about you.”
Next post: how to honor people when the policy must stand.
