This may get ugly. Those with weak constitutions should avert their eyes.

I had a perfect storm of mishaps last week, culminating with my debit card being severely overcharged with a pre-authorization hold from Southwest Airlines… but that’s not what really upset me. Southwest needed a fax number to resolve the issue, which wasn’t on their website anywhere. The number listed on the back of the card was to their card provider, who could only handle lost or stolen card problems. I understand that. I really, really do. What I find incredulous was when I called my CU’s customer service number the next morning at 8 AM and was routed to an overseas call center. Why is it that my CU’s customer service is outsourced to an overseas call center and then only open from 8-5?

We live in the outsourcing world. The majority of our clients outsource their core services, card processing, security monitoring… the list goes on. It’s a fact of life in our environments that outsourcing is a part of the business model for many banks. Very few outsource overseas, but the point is still valid. For every solution outsourcing provides, other hurdles are created and need to be addressed. First and foremost: Communication.

Wether it is communication with your provider to ensure that you have accurate information to support critical decisions or to provide a conduit for your customers to reach the right people to assist them with their issues in a timely manner, you have to communicate (a fax number on a “contact us” page after authentication isn’t that difficult).

Don’t forget compliance either. Outsourcing process or business function does not absolve an organization of compliance to regulatory responsibilities. We see a lot of institutions fall into this trap when it comes to business continuity planning. You can outsource a lot of the “how’s” concerning recovery processes, but a thorough plan should still be documented that addresses how your institution continue it’s operations. The same can be applied to incident response plans: sure your outsourced core provider and e-banking solution has security in place, but how will you handle an internal data breech or virus outbreak?

There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing. it’s vital to the modern environment. just make sure that issues are thought through and addressed before someone blogs about not being able to contact your customer service or not having a fax number available.

Last Thursday afternoon Brad sent out this Basecamp Message to the team:

For those wanting to make the trek to the office tomorrow (4/3/09) we will be doing lunch together and for those that make it in, it’s on me!

Wouldn’t you know it, a large chunk of our remote-scattered-across-the-dallas-metroplex team made it in, even if it was for just a few hours and a trip to the local pizza place.

Maybe I’m a little naive

Now, I’m young and, yes maybe a little naive. I know bosses have been this kind of “trick” for years to keep people working late or on Saturdays or as a small motivator for their whip-cracking schemes. However, I tend to think things are a little different here. The fact is (and I think Brad knows this) that most of us actually get LESS “check things off the list” work done when we do come into the office. So why feed us to get less done?

Maintaining a Collaborative Environment

I mentioned earlier that many of us are scattered throughout the metroplex, but beyond that we have parts of our team in New Mexico, Minnesota, and one gearing up to move to Seattle. We use all kinds of tools to collaborate and work together. To be a functioning member of The Garland Group, you quickly must become well versed in Basecamp, Campfire, Highrise, IM, Skype, our HD video e-Review system, and more. (Maybe we should even consider building our own. Hmmm…stay tuned.)

Collaboration, and the tools we use to collaborate, are at the heart of what makes The Garland Group not only a rockin’ place to work, but an efficient and industry leading organization. Maintaining that collaborative environment is all about knowing what tool to use at any given time. Face to Face collaboration (even if that face to face is via video) is an important tool in the collaboration tool belt. On top of that, the opportunity to do a lot of face to face communication at once is a very powerful and can be extremely effective when used appropriately.

Pizza is good. Work is better.

So let’s take another look at Free Lunch Friday. Did anyone really come for free lunch? Probably not. We came because we recognized the opportunity of spending a few hours with each other.

If Brad did free lunch every Friday, would the turn out be the same? Probably not. Face to face is just one of the many collaboration methods and it may not need to happen weekly on that scale.

What if you offered free lunch to your team? If you see each other everyday, maybe it’s not such a big deal. But what if you setup Thursday night dinner? Or Saturday breakfast? Is your collaborative environment good enough to sustain these kind of “off hours” interactions? Is your face to face collaboration being used appropriately so that these would actually be beneficial?

I like me some Pizza*, but great Collaboration is something worth the drive across the metroplex.

* Brad, if you’re reading this, you don’t necessarily have to take away the free lunch. It is a nice perk.

Coming from a corporate work environment with 9-5 hours, you become programmed to work these hours. Time off for appointments & kid functions seemed impossible from your micro-managing boss. It was like living in a real life “Office Space” environment. I was successful at my job, but I felt that my family suffered because of it.

Since working for The Garland Group with their R.O.W.E (Results Oriented Work Environment), I’m able to work my 40-60 hours a week at anytime of the week. If I need to stay at home with a sick kid(s), you can do it guilt free. The most important thing to my wife & I is raising our 4 & 5 year old kids. However, this takes up the majority of our time. This is nothing new to most parents out there. But when I am at work and the kids have an emergency or if Preschool is closed, my wife doesn’t always have to take a day off to handle these issues when I couldn’t get off of work do to Mr. Bill Lunbergh.

This past month my son turned 5. I was able to celebrate his birthday with his mom, sister and classmates at his Preschool in the middle of the day. I could see in his eyes that he was very excited to have us there recognizing this special day. If I was at my old job, I would have had to miss this great moment. I don’t know if I could have ever gotten over the guilt/anger of missing it or my wife and or mom telling me, “I should have been there.”

Thanks to The Garland Group and to R.O.W.E.!