As Director of Project Management at Think|Stack, a Baltimore-based company that builds innovation infrastructures, which allow organizations to digitally transform the customer experience, Andrea DiGiacomo is always thinking about new ways to elevate service. To help her organization achieve its growth objectives, she attended the Achieving Breakthrough Service (ABS) (now titled Transforming Customer Experiences) program at Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education to gain insights from some of the world's leaders in her industry. In this interview, she discusses how her learning experience helped to define her company's vision, priorities, and path forward.
Our company's CEO told me about Achieving Breakthrough Service and recommended that I apply. After learning more about the program, I thought it would be a great opportunity to further my education in business and leadership and meet leaders from around the world. As our organization prepares for growth, we are focusing on customer service and user experiences. ABS seemed like a program that could help provide essential tools for succeeding in these areas.
The biggest challenges facing our organization relate to clarity. As a relatively young company, we have struggled at times to ensure that our message and priorities are clear, with both our own employees as well as our clients. Through the case studies and class discussions, I was able to focus on understanding just how important this is and how much of an impact it can have on our business and our success. There are numerous examples and activities I have taken back to my organization to help us add clarity and remove ambiguity in the services we provide.
First, I plan to bring many of the program's approaches and lessons to our leadership team and managers. In our weekly meetings, discussing and completing some of the exercises from ABS will certainly add value and promote growth. The exercises bring to life why clearly defining values, for the company as well as our clients, is so important. Once these are identified, I believe, we can then begin to apply the concepts in order to drive our business and customer service. We have already started applying some aspects of the program in discussions and approaches to internal interactions, among them defining what makes a good organizational leader and ensuring that employees have the right tools.
This was a first-class experience. HBS paid attention to all of the details—pre-arrival communications, the classroom environment, the dining hall and meal experience, and pre-class discussions with our teams. Everything was deliberately planned to give participants the best experience possible. The environment truly spurred growth and learning.
In many ways, participating in this course was one of my best learning experiences. Dive right in and take advantage of it. Don't be afraid to participate in the discussions and get to know your fellow participants and professors. Some of my greatest takeaways came through these interactions. I was nervous when I first arrived and intimidated when I observed that I was likely one of the youngest participants and was surrounded by successful business people. I was forced to jump right in after being invited to start a conversation to the very first question in the first class. Looking back, I am so glad this happened. From that point on, my nervousness was gone, I was involved in the classroom discussions, and I quickly became acquainted with my fellow classmates. I'd encourage everyone to forget their worries or self-consciousness and just enjoy the experience.
