Avoid Double Binds

No one can serve two masters. Luke 16:13

The customer service team was frustrated. Their once legendary performance was suffering because they were getting double messages from senior management.

The executive team had decided that CS reps should report monthly on critical issues they had handled. The concept was great, but it resulted in disaster.

From the beginning, each monthly report was met with such a fierce level of defensiveness that the reps drew straws to determine who would be sacrificed in the boardroom.

Jesus understood that loyalties cannot be divided evenly. In this case, the customer service reps were being asked to serve two masters:

1. Do whatever it takes to serve the customer, and
2. Protect the company from unreasonable customer service requests.

The confusion caused the reps to despise the organization they had once been proud of. This downward spiral ended with every one of the reps leaving in less than a year.

Does your organization send double messages that confuse and frustrate people?