Improving customer relationships using Insights Discovery
Posted on 14th February 2019 at 11:20
Lincolnshire County Council commissioned a new team in 2015 to manage the procurement and contract management activities for Strategic Projects, Infrastructure, Adult Care and Public Health services. As part of continuous improvements to the departments ways of working, there has been a considerable focus on achieving consistent process and structure in their delivery to drive the quality of service.
The Brief
Due to the growth of the department, the senior leaders recognised the value in bringing people together to build a unified and engaged team culture. A key focus for the programme was to enable people to network and collaborate with colleagues beyond their immediate function.
Leaders wanted to give every individual the opportunity to develop the effectiveness of their workplace interactions and continually improve their quality of service to their colleagues and customers.
Between September 2018 and February 2019, 96 colleagues in the Commercial Division of Lincolnshire County Council participated in a learning programme called Inspire, Learn and Connect.
The Solution
Delegates attended a workshop introducing the Insights Discovery™ model. Insights is a world leading psychometric tool built on the research of Carl Jung into human personality. It is designed to help people understand themselves, the way they interact with others and to help them build positive productive relationships with their colleagues and customers. At the core of the model there are four Colour Energies that represent a range of personality traits. We each have a unique mix in the ways we use these energies and by understanding how we and others prefer to use them we can improve how we interact, make decisions and process information in our working relationships.
Delegates also received a personal profile based on their responses to an online evaluator. The unique profile explores how you prefer to use the colour energies and includes insights to strengths, weaknesses, effective communication and suggestions for development. The workshops provided plenty of opportunity to share and discuss the profiles and ideas for improving personal performance and customer interactions.
The Impact
Since the workshops, participants have used the experience to improve their performance and the ways they work with others. This has been helped by sharing profiles within teams and using ‘Team Wheels’ and ‘Soft Blocks’ that provide visual references of how everyone in the team prefers to use the Colour Energies.
85% of participants who responded to the Workshop evaluation agreed or strongly agreed that the knowledge and learning they gained will have a positive impact on their performance at work. Responses indicated that most people would use the learning to improve working relationships with their internal and external customers.
"I am a changed person as a result of the day; driving home I reviewed a particularly stressful email interchange and understood the person was in no way intending to hurt my feelings but was getting on with their job. I have already smoothed the waters and am getting on with my work with renewed positivity – Thank you!"
Inspire, Learn and Connect Delegate, Manager - Lincolnshire County Council
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