Day 4 Training: How to be Nice to Tourists and National Portrait Gallery
Wow! It feels like I haven’t blogged in forever, when in
reality it’s only been about a week since my last training. Maybe I feel this
way because the past workweek seemed to last a lifetime. (SO MANY REVISIONS!
AHHHH QUARTERLY STATUS REPORTS!!!) Needless to say, I was glad for the weekend
and training to begin.
This time we were back in the Castle to learn some basics
about how to deliver good customer service to all the Smithsonian visitors.
When I first heard that this was going to be the topic for the training, I was
skeptical. It could have easily been a bunch of really dumb, common sense,
time-wasting information that everyone already knows (choosing to do it is
another matter entirely). I mean, I assume we all know how to be nice people.
We are VOLUNTEERS after all! You’d get a whole different demographic if you
paid people to do this. Am I Right? However to my surprise, there was A LOT of
information that I didn’t even think of.
For instance, if someone comes up to the info desk and is
very upset about something, we are supposed to give them a comment card to fill
out. (I didn’t even know Smithsonian comment cards existed.) Apparently this is
a way for visitors to vent without yelling at desk volunteers. Also, a good trick
to deal with angry customers is to repeat everything they say back to them
before taking action. This (supposedly) shows empathy.
“It sounds as if you’re upset that the Washington Post
said that the exhibit would be open for another week when really it closed
yesterday. We are so sorry about that mistake. Is there something else that
you’re interested in? I can look it up on the computer if there are other
things in the museum that you would like to see.”
“Let me see if I understand what happened. The women’s
toilet exploded. I can hear how upset you are about that. We are so sorry. I
will call the appropriate people to tend to it.”
“I can understand how important this is to you and I can
hear how upset you are about it. If you would like, you can fill out this
comment form stating in detail how you feel about the store shop not selling
the actual museum artifacts. My supervisor will read it.”
I have no idea if this empathy stuff actually works on angry
people. When I become a real volunteer, I’ll let you all know.
Another thing I didn’t expect was how we spent literally
half the training session talking about how to interact with visitors that have
disabilities. Initially I thought we would spend little time on the topic and
more time on how to deal with visitors who don’t speak English. In the grand
scheme of things, there will be more foreign visitors compared to disabled
ones. It’s only natural to assume that we have to learn about all the different
languages our pamphlets come in and how many translators we have...etc. Turns
out it was the other way around. We barely spent 15 mins talking about foreign
visitors. Visitors with disabilities however come VERY OFTEN and rigorous
training for them is required due to the fact that government law states we
have to do everything in our power to make sure they have an equal Smithy
experience to a person without a disability. (Equal, not enhanced. That’s
important because special treatment is not allowed.)
So we went through all the enhanced hearing equipment
available, Braille maps, how to get a wheelchair from security if you need one,
how to not say offensive things to them, how to deal with guide animals. (Did
you know that in addition to dogs, miniature horses act as service animals? OMG
If I see one I will tell you.) One very interesting thing that volunteers can
do is be a sighted guide. That is, if a blind person comes to the museum, you
act as their eyes and walk with them and describe everything you see.
Honestly…they let us do that. So cool! If I have that opportunity, I think I’d
be so nervous. What if they trip and fall and it’s my fault because I forgot to
say that there was a step there? What if they think the adjectives I use are
just awful and stupid? What if I walk too fast or if children run into us? GAH!
All the pressure…
Sigh
After training, some of the other volunteers and I went to
the National Portrait Gallery for a tour to complete our homework. I
unfortunately don’t have any pictures to post because I posted all my Portrait
Gallery pictures last week. Still I have some opinions about our tour.
Our docent’s name was Mary Ann and she was very good and
spoke very clearly in an organized manner. She was a bit older but was wearing
a stylish ensemble featuring a purple cord jacket and blue-framed eyeglasses.
Pro tip: Docents with style are the best because you can
tell they know about color and art.
Mary Ann told us interesting facts about specific pieces and
artists while also mentioning facts about whole galleries and exhibits. In this
way she gave us a sense of learning and the illusion of seeing the whole area
while only highlighting key points to take up less time. She did everything a
docent should.
The thing that was a bit weird about the tour was not the
actual tour itself, but the other volunteers that were with me. There’s nothing
wrong with them per-se. It’s more... you know that feeling you get when you
can’t tell if people like you or if they think you’re weird and want to get
away from you? I am personally really bad at knowing how I come across to
others. So although, I like all the other volunteers in my training group, I
can’t tell if they like me and I’m a bit worried. For instance, after we got
all our signatures for our homework assignment, everyone just scattered and
left in a hurry. Nobody wanted to hang around and talk or wait for everyone
else to finish getting their things signed and say goodbye properly. It was a
little odd especially since I was the last person to get a siggy. When I did I
looked up and everyone was gone. We all talked fine during lunch. I actively tried
really hard not to talk about myself too much because I know people don’t like
that. But they kept asking about me and I found so many things they were saying
relating to my life so I had to mentioned stuff about me to get into the
conversation. Urgh. Life and making friends is hard for a social awkward geek. Sigh Props for trying I guess. Chances are, I’m
over-reacting (as usual). But is it so wrong for me to want to make new
friends? We shall see if they want to still are interested in talking to me
next week. :/
P.S. Gift Shop Find! Look what I found in the Castle gift
shop.
I want it. (God, I’m such a nerd. 8P)
P.S.S. Next week is the volunteer final exam. AHHHHHHH! Wish
me luck. :$
1 comments:
The empathy thing (aka empathetic listening to us psychology nerds) is a technique used in counseling and it does seem to work (according to research). Good luck on your exam!
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