Previously, I have described a service like this:
A service is the seeking and receipt of a specific outcome of a customer across a range of interactions and touchpoints over time.
It’s a bit dry and analytical, but it has always worked when I’ve applied/used it in public service or community service settings.
During the research into applying a service lens to primary school principals the very notion of schools ‘delivering services’ backgrounded the work. However, this description really did not work for some:
- Some educators didn’t like non-education language used to describe aspects of what they do. Especially not what they perceived as ‘corporate’ language. One even found the term ‘service’ offensive.
- Working with schools with a religious affiliation ‘service’ has a whole other meaning – ie. “We are called to serve others…” This is echoed in the work I’ve done with community service organisations; the notion of a transaction-type service can be an anathema to the perceived intent of the organisation, or people who work there.
- Schools located within remote indigenous communities have a different interpersonal dynamic to the metro-based, colonised/industrialised ways. In NZ/Aotearoa, as I am learning, in most public organisations, service/to serve is a fundamental dimension of tikanaga Māori (incorporating practices and values from Māori matauranga (people knowledge) and pasfika ways, where the exchange is not necessarily physically tangible or legal in nature. NB: This space is super un-refined understanding for me, but I’m committed to improving on that. Pointers welcome.
Understanding that schools were involved in some sort of service delivery mattered because the research was making the case that Principals have a complex job, and that the service part was under-defined. The service part was where effort and resource was required for services to be created, delivered, maintained and changed because they:
- Have a documented description of what is involved – procedural, process descriptions, compliance and evaluation measures
- Include documented policies or compliance descriptors / policies, systems and standards for data, delivery and record keeping
- Have a physical (or digital) location and materials for use
- Require capability and capacity of people to deliver the service (training, qualifications)
- Connect back to a macro system – sometimes government, sometimes societal.
‘Community service’ is work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community, usually without any form of compensation. Often this is the work connected to public sector services. Think of the response to a national disaster. In this specific example, Cyclone Gabrielle, the response of schools and Principals was called out in a recent conversation I had about the role of Principal as a ‘community leader’, beyond the gates of the school grounds. The Principal’s of the East Coast provided access to spaces, assured their communities with communication updates – not about teaching or education – but to serve a community need.
I think it’s that dimension – that they are ‘of service’ – provided the clarification I was looking for.
Now I use a new definition for ‘service’:
What is a service?
- An act or an interaction offered from one to another – where one offers and the other is seeking an outcome.
- It is action that happens over time.
- It occurs through a range of interactions and touchpoints – human, digital, tangible – with a number outside of the control of the offerer.
- The value of the service is as much about the quality of the experience for all the people involved (person, customer, service provider) as it is about the resolution.
- In public service, where someone or an organisation may also ‘serve’ or be ‘of service’ it is an act or an interaction offered from one to/for another – where one offers/provides and the other is seeking an outcome (that they may or may not realise they need fulfilled).
Yeah, it’s a clunker with the ‘serve’ / ‘of service’ part – and I’d only use that in conversation with people who bristle against ‘service’ / ‘service delivery’ – but it’s been really useful in giving form to a concept, that people in the concept, don’t or can’t articulate for themselves.
Oh, and of course, service design is the method by which you understand and design all the bits for the best/optimal service experience.