Thursday, October 30, 2008

Inaugural post

Welcome to this new blog about all things "service" as experienced by an ordinary Kenyan trying to go about the business of going about his business. 

Many times I have complained about various aspects of what I consider to be poor service. I have heard friends, relatives and acquaintances do the same. Often I give feedback (when I feel I receive poor service) but very rarely do I feel like the feedback is received, taken seriously or acted upon. Infact, complaints resolution often seems to be based on the principle of "get this person out of here as fast as possible".  The process of giving feedback/making complaints about poor service often ends up being even more frustrating than the bad service itself. 

So... as someone who feels rather strongly about the need for good service, I had two choices...pick up my shot gun and become some sort of good service vigilante or find some forum to air my grievances. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be), I was born in Nairobi not South Carolina (therefore I neither own nor know how to operate a shotgun) so the first option was pretty much out of the question. Therefore I present Huduma Bora. 

As Kenyans will know that is the first half of our Government's service delivery mantra, 'Huduma Bora ni Haki Yako', which translates to Good Service is Your Right. Better minds than me can go over the merits of having that as a mantra (is that the correct term anyway?), but good service really, genuinely is every citizens right..because put simply;...bad service takes money out of your pocket. Whether in form of lost time, opportunity costs or simply having to pay to 'grease the wheels' (bribe) so as not to incur bigger losses due to enduring poor service. 

I think that good, efficient service is absolutely vital if this country is ever going to move forward. Good, efficient service is like the oil that lubricates the productivity engine. Without it, everything grinds to a halt...literally. 

I will basically be posting any thoughts I have on any aspects of service...from public sector to private sector, seemingly important to seemingly insignificant. I will try to be concise, objective and offer up suggestions for solutions. I will try to ask questions and I hope that others will see this blog, take an interest, comment on posts and post their own experiences. Who knows..maybe this grows into something that positively affects the service that we Kenyans recieve. I hope that a few people who deal with service delivery will see this blog and will be able to offer us insight into why things may be the way they are from within. Whether all that happens or not..this is my small step.

If you read anything that you relate to or that you agree or disagree with, please leave comments. 

Yours 

Mystery Shopper