Horseshoe Resort is a ski and vacation property destination one hour north of Toronto. The management noticed a trend in its customer complaints: guests were unhappy with the staff’s knowledge of its facilities. When guests inquired about events or attractions, in general staff members could only comment on the one they worked at.
It became clear that most staff were unaware of what the total resort had to offer. Management closed the resort for a day to hold a meeting for all staff. This was the first time this had been done and many team members met for the first time.
People were put into teams with people from other sites than their own. They reviewed samples of the complaints and reported back what they felt would be the impact on the business if things didn’t improve – loss referrals, repeat business, and jobs. The teams also came up with recommendations, including the cross-training of colleagues on all areas of the resort.
A puzzle-building activity was organized where these teams went to each of the sites on the resort to learn the top three things people wanted to know about them. Each site gave out a puzzle piece with their location on the site map and their top three points of interest. The team that could correctly recite the points of interest of every site won a prize. Each employee was given a wallet card that listed each site’s highlights. After the session management noticed an immediate drop in complaints.
How do I avoid my team members being pulled off of the project?
The US and Canada divisions of Cadbury Adams embarked on an information systems harmonization project. The US business would transition first and a core team was put together that would be transferred from the US to Canada after the first implementation was completed.
During the project there was pressure to reassign some team members. The project manager, however, effectively made a case for the knowledge transfer that would be gained by the second company. The experience gained from the first project greatly improved the execution of the second.
