
ANYTHING WE CAN LEARN FROM URUMQI
Posted on , in ANALOGIES & STORIES, by Dr Garry Richards OAM FAIMA Story From A Restaurant In Urumqi Can Give You A Management Tip!
Where Is Urumqi?
Easy not to know, but it is a city in North West China with roughly 3.5 million people.
Anyway, flying in I looked around: Not a single Caucasian face…all Asian.
Dinner arrived. I thought, “mmm…better remember my chopsticks etiquette.” But no! There were All spoons and forks!

Cutlery – Urumqi: Team Building, Management, Client, Client Focused on Management. Credit: congerdesign
Feeling Intrigued, I asked a crew member, “Why no chopsticks?”
The crew member answered:
“For the comfort and pleasure of our flyers. The arm position of using chopsticks causes elbow conflicts and forks are used at different angles, so everybody is happy.”
Wow! I thought, “Here’s management really thinking issues through”.
CLIENT FOCUSED MANAGEMENT
Despite their own cultural inclinations, they have looked at the actualities of efficient operations and the needs of customers and adjusted the procedures accordingly. This is a perfect example of Client Focused Management in an exquisite form! I’m impressed!
After dinner… ‘Would Sir like tea or coffee? “Yes please…black coffee… thanks.”
(Moments later) “Er…Thank you but this is milk coffee…”
“Sorry Sir, we only serve milk coffee, that’s how Chinese like it and it’s easier to serve!”
Ah well! There’s always room for improvement!

Client Focused – Urumqi: Team Building, Management, Client, Client Focused Management. Credit: geralt
CONCLUSION
If Management can get out of its own patterns of thinking and needs and can focus on what the client needs, it can be a real winner. Forgetting to do so can leave a client feeling unwanted and unvalued. Not the way to go!
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