It is quite bizarre that although Straightforward Consultancy was going to focus on helping small-medium sized customers with their import and export challenges, that our first client was Manchester Grammar School http://www.mgs.org/. This school has an impressive history - it was formed in 1515, yes almost 500 years ago, and of course in 2015 they will celebrate 500 years as a private boys school.
Arriving there for the first time was a little daunting in some respects. I was (I believed) completely out of my depth, surrounded by highly educated academics and an organisation I was totally unfamiliar with.
Stuart introduced me to two very key managers at the school. Eric Cittanova and Jim Mangnall. Eric was the Educational Visits Coordinator (which is a highly responsible position). Eric was personally accountable for the school's actions in relation to Health & Safety for all the boys who took part in Educational Visits, whether this involved a short coach trip to the theatre, or a trip to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco (both of which were real trips). Jim Mangnall was their Surmaster and Head of Co-Curriculum.
They introduced me to my new colleagues in the administration department of which the Educational Visits team was a part. It was all very new and there was of course a lot of take in. But at the same time, it was completely different, interesting and I could see that even though this was very different to my former role at DHL, it was about two key things - people and processes. Because we were in effect a support mechanism to the teachers, who would be the ones leading a trip, they were our internal customers but it seemed as though we were quite a way apart and the Visits Department was seen as bit of an obstacle in some ways. The teachers just wanted to lead the trip with as little hassle as possible (quite understandable because they were taking ownership of these trips in addition to their core teaching roles) but my department had to ensure that the School fulfilled all of its legal and duty of care responsibilities so we were striking a balance here.
One thing I decided very early on was that even though my department was there to support the teachers in their execution of the educational visits, that they also needed to understand our limitations and that we needed sufficient time to process and approve their trip. I therefore decided to enter their hallowed territory, the common room. This was where teachers had their elevenses and lunch, and some non academics didnt feel comfortable entering this room. I decided that I would
go their every day at 1100 for morning tea and biscuits and set about developing relationships with the teachers, many of whom used my department for their UK or overseas trips applications and approvals.
This turned out to be a master stroke, mainly because it created a relationship, but more importantly I was able to explain what we needed from them to help us provide them with a better service. In effect I created a bridge between our non-academic department and the teachers/academics by meeting them on their home territory, and this had a great impact on our partnership. They now understood what our challenges were, and that we wanted to do our very best for them - but to do that, they had to meet us half way.
More tomorrow.
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