Empty seat?
One tactic that has been widespread in the high-end corporate world is to hold meetings ostensibly with an empty seat. The customer's!
All those who deal with matters that have to do with the customer should use this idea. From product and service providers to meetings on internally handled customer issues.
The explanation is simple, obvious, but very powerful. The customer, in its fullness, must be the center of everything.
Consulting for clients in the energy sector, I discovered, in practice, that it is not so easy to put the client at the heart of the efforts. There are so many deviations in the real world:
1. A personal wear and tear (tiredness) given the enormous effort that has been made in the face of the delicate conditions in which we live,
2. Generally, the most "thorny" topics leave the employees' comfort zone,
3. Energy is something associated with intense and varied changes, making it difficult for those who don't feel at ease in this super challenging environment,
4. Having an exploratory spirit, curiosity and a taste for discovering interesting and convenient solutions require allocating time, which is not easy to have and,
5. Dealing with a topic that is not the client's core business BUT that is usually a Top 10 (often Top 5) cost is often not considered "sexy".
But those who are in favor of the customer, in a dedicated posture, have, on the other hand, the possibility of creating valuable solutions in addition to treading a path of personal development.