Disneyland (Photo: ShutterStock)
When I told people I was going to Disneyland Paris for a weekend, with my sister and a couple of friends, they said "What? Without the kids?"
So yes, precisely from a mature point of view, and without chasing them and stopping every second for photos, you can learn from the happiest place in the world, beyond the ability developed in planning roller coasters (which are excellent of course).
These are six things that caught my attention.
1.
All employees in the parks and hotels are called "Cast Members"
.
Walt Disney himself assimilated this mindset.
The goal?
To put the user experience at the center - everyone who enters the park, no matter what their age or level of cynicism, finds themselves in the magic and atmosphere, and the staff never goes out of character.
The employees must answer all your questions.
If they don't know, they will find out the answer or make something up.
But they must not say "I don't know".
2.
There are different salary levels, but the terms of employment are the same
.
From the ushers in the parades, the cleaners in the park, the operation and maintenance personnel, through the various sellers, the operators of the facilities, to the actors dressed as characters - everyone receives assistance with studies, pension plans, vacation and sick days, medical insurance and more.
Because they are all part of the well-oiled machine that is Disney.
3.
There is attention to maintenance down to the smallest details
.
The parks and hotels look like they opened yesterday.
Maintenance is carried out regularly, without affecting the guests' experience.
Whether it is a very high maintenance of cleanliness, or immediate repair of hazards, or whether it is a reflection of the waiting times in each facility, or offering alternatives in the event of a malfunction.
If a facility is shut down for an extended period of time for maintenance, they wrap it and hang a sign on it - "We are working on more magic for you".
There is no sense of TMA 38.
4.
All team members have a defined role, and defined areas
.
The team members of the fantasy land area do not move to the adventure area and such.
We won't find Buzz Lightyear hanging out with princesses, and we won't find Spider-Man sitting down to coffee with Aladdin.
This is to put the guests in the right atmosphere without bursting the bubble.
5.
Disney continues to advance technologically without a break
.
Both in facilities that have high-quality holograms and well-maintained and advanced robots, and in shows during the day and night.
The shows have houses on wheels with special features, a castle on which videos are projected and a drone band that dances in the sky - something I have not seen anywhere else (that's right, not even at the Independence Day ceremony in Jerusalem).
6.
Branding with "Hidden Mickey"
.
The part that captured my heart more than anything.
Everywhere in the park, in all the little details, hiding under the nose of the outline of Mickey Mouse.
It can be in decorations on the fence, in cacti on a stand, in a statue that is part of the setting, in a certain angle of details that suddenly form two ears and a head, part of the game is to find them around the park - and this is one of the addictive things.
So what did I learn from all this?
Disneyland Paris (and surely also the major parks in the USA, from which it was born) is run like an agile and leading technology company that I would aspire to work for. Each of the employees is clear exactly what he is doing and where, what his job definition is and the requirements from him, and what he gets from the workplace - and the fact that the employment conditions are equal adds to the feeling of belonging to the organization.
When something goes wrong, it is reflected immediately, to customers and employees.
When everything is in order, they maintain high quality and constant maintenance without compromise.
The technological advance is a supreme value for improving the experience and the product, and the customer's experience and the customer's level of satisfaction lead the way.
and most importantly?
Everything is done in a good atmosphere.
Even the ushers who direct visitors during the parades, do it while dancing and singing Disney songs in the background.
I have no doubt at all that if we manage to absorb even a part of this magic in our workplaces, we too can be one of the happiest places in the world.
Ofir Oren-Namder is a Java chapter leader in the technology division at Bank Hapoalim
from CodeReview - the magazine of the technology division of Bank Hapoalim
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