We were so lucky the weather was absolutely terrible🤔!

This summer, my little family and I enjoyed America’s National Parks for 19 blissful days, and we noticed that these beautiful, unique places were busy! During the first 18 days of our tour, small crowds braved 102-degree days punctuated by a cold and rainy stretch. But we had no idea what a crowded National Park could look like until the 19th day when, post-storm, the humidity and temps dropped, the skies cleared, and the sun made the lakes, mountains, and even trees sparkle. Tourists came out in droves. We were astonished (and felt pretty lucky about our unlucky weather situation.)

With the avalanche of people, it was no wonder many park rangers and personnel looked so beleaguered. A few were amazingly chatty, sharing their favorite hikes and spots, but most were visibly tired of interacting with people. No wonder, with people, people, people everywhere, there’s no time for a break to recharge. And other-person-fatigue (I just made this name up; let me know if you know of an official term) can happen to anyone.

There are times in almost every organization when there are so many people to serve that providing everyone with a great experience is challenging.

Recently, I was telling someone about my high school/college summer job. I was a regional vacation relief bank teller, moving weekly between branches. By the end of a busy day on a full moon (the full moon seems to make some people a little extra grumpy, I don’t know why but ask most people who have worked in a public-facing job, and they’ll likely say, “oh yeah, that’s a thing!”), I could hardly muster up even an eighth of a smile.

You probably have felt other-person-fatigue, too, and you can probably point to places, events, and times in your organization when this can happen.

So what do we do about it?

This weekend, I went to a locally famous breakfast cafe. The staff had been doing brisk counter and phone business for hours that day before I arrived and for a whole long summer, but they greeted each customer with a smile and full attention. It wasn’t long before I noticed the four people behind the counter swapped the order-taking role about every 15 minutes. The cinnamon bun baker relieved the previous order taker, who moved to the back counter to make breakfast sandwiches while one of the sandwich makers moved over to bake cinnamon buns. Was the 15-minutes-on-45-minutes-off-approach the secret to their success? Maybe!

Does sustained “on-ness” weaken the experience? Try cycling staff or volunteers through high-touch roles so everyone can refresh and provide the best, most engaging experiences.