What a development programme did for me.

by Verne Wooden, Call Centre Manager
(Reynolds)

What is a development programme I asked myself, when I was told by my company they wanted me to take part in one. Who was this person who was going to tell me how to do my job the one I had been doing fine for nearly ten years.

Six weeks into the programme I now understand totally what a development programme is, and how this has developed me

In this short space of time I have become a person who has gone from muddling their way through the day to managing their way through. I am more confident because I make sure I have all the relevant facts before making a decision. A confident person who gives off an air of authority that commands respect. Even if I don’t have all the answers starightaway, I will not stand back and assess a situation. Different to before, when I would just come up with an answer, not always the right one, but I was the manager and I was meant to know everything! I now realise that there is nothing wrong in saying I will find out an answer and come back to you, just give me some time”

I put myself in the other person’s situation now, whether it be a customer or nother member of the team. I now try to see things from both sides. Differently from before, I was always right, I was a manager.

It all seems so obvious, but I needed an outside person looking in to point out the things that were staring me in the face, and were so simple to change and achieve.