This is an I-Heart podcast.

Good morning.

This is Laura.

Welcome to the new corner office, the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the new world of work, where location and hours are more flexible than in the past.

Today's tip is to be your own receptionist or do other frontline work from time to time.

If you're in a leadership role at your organization, you probably take a broad view of your organization's work.

You focus on the mission. You ask about the bottom line. Is your market share growing? What are employee retention rates? What new competitors have entered your space?

Questions like these are essential.

But sometimes, it can also be helpful to get down into the weeds

so you can understand the everyday experiences of your clients and customers.

One great way to do this is to fill in as the receptionist every now and then.

Pick up the phone for the main line at your organization and pay attention to what callers have to say.

You could do the digital equivalent by fielding the queries that come into your organization's main inbox.

Do you get questions from customers about whether your current hours and services

are the same as usual, or whether there have been COVID-related adjustments? If so, maybe you

can make this information easier to find on your website or social media. Are concerned clients

calling or emailing because they haven't yet received a mailing they usually get in early December?

Maybe that means you need to communicate more clearly that you've gone all digital this year.

Are you getting compliments about a recent webinar and inquiries about whether the recording is available for people who couldn't attend.

That is a great occasion to share the positive feedback with the person who put together the

webinar and talk with the communications team about promoting the recording to new audiences.

It's easy to assume that as a senior leader, your time is best spent far away from

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