Chris Fisher (39311) PSD Blog

And so, the final post! It been several months, and some 3000 words, but if I said that I hadn’t improved my trans-skills, I’d be lying. Hopefully that is reflected in my posts here (particularly the last couple), and hopefully I will continue to improve as I progress ever closer to a carer, and beyond that. An apt question would be where do I feel I have most improved? In truth I think that’s a hard question to even begin to answer. For me, personal skills have very little use on their own. Without using a combination of one or more skills at a time they are ineffective at achieving anything. Being punctual and managing time must co-exist, otherwise one will fall short. The same can be said of interpretation and editing. Whilst it is possible to be good at one over the other, unless they are used in tandem, the spoils of their effective use will elude you. So I would have to say that the area I have most improved in is personal skills – bit of a dodge I realise, but that is genuinely how I feel about the topic; that soft skills are elements of a larger picture.

So there we have it. I’ve learnt a few things, and hope you have too. Best wishes to all, Mr Fisher.

And another quarter has passed. No staff meeting on the agenda, instead my performance review. No pay for review this time, so more of a formality then anything else, however it did provide an excellent opportunity for me to see how others view my personal skills. So excellent an opportunity in fact, that they where even kind enough to rate me in 5 specific areas

First a note on scale; 5 is ‘outstanding’ and represents the peak of performance – we are really not supposed to get 5s. 4 is excellent, and is more akin to performing above and beyond. 3 is good/as expected, and anything less than that is bad news.

First off, approach to work and personal standards, turns out my timekeeping is looking better, certainly from my employer’s standpoint anyway. 3.

Secondly, training and development; also looking good. My observation and interaction with trainees is showing promising signs. 3.

Next up, customer focus; work is very encouraged by my customer interaction, they think I interact well, and with respect. 4.

Standards and initiative; I work well without direction, and I’m apparently a’ pleasure to have on shift’. 4.

Lastly, teamwork and communication; I work well with others and communicate excellently. 4.

So all in all, a very good review. It is always helpful to have others views expressed to you, and when it’s done in such a structured way, it does really help me to improve. Applying this to my personal skills, we can see that timekeeping is a ‘problem’ area, although the standard is still great. I think my employee interaction is maybe a little unfair - a point I made – but I realise that this PR must be done on evidence, and it’s impossible for the management to see everything I do. Editing skills must be doing well, and I certainly do approach customers differently to how I would the staff. Rapport seems to be one of my stronger points, and I felt a certain sense of pride when I discovered that I am a ‘pleasure to have on shift’ (yes I used the same quote twice, but I don’t always get the opportunity to sell myself with evidence). In the end though, achieving a high ‘grade’ in teamwork and communication is the icing on the cake for me. Without a constantly high standard of a combination of trans-skills, teamwork and communication are difficult. Their appraisal would seem to indicate I have achieved this, something which I can take some degree of pleasure in.

Not necessarily the best, but probably close enough.

And so to another entry... Today’s topic? Co-ordinating tasks; yet another trans-skill that seems in big demand recently.

I work a lot of night shifts, almost exclusively in fact, and in my line of work, it’s not simply working unsociable hours; night shifts involve a huge amount of cleaning, and it takes a lot of us to get it done. In my ever changing capacity as crew trainer, I find that I have less and less time to actually clean; and we all know what my time management is like! Rather than let this become a problem, I have decided to try another tact (which seems to be working out well for me this year), and focus on delegating and co-ordinating the nightly jobs. Turns out my hard work, training people up over the past few months has paid off, and most are actually quite competent at the job (and by competent I mean reach my high standards).

Now don’t let my words betray you- it’s far from plain sailing. When you go from doing most things yourself, to letting someone else do it, there is an amazing sense of foreboding. It’s strangely like having no control- although I realise this is because I have less direct control – and that is a stark contrast to previous proceedings. But fear of the unknown is no reason not to go there, and I found a fantastic quote to use as my work mantra;

“Letting the reins go, unto the unfolding; is faith, is faith.”
System of a Down, “Science”

Thanks for listening.

Lets be honest, it was never gonna last all the way. So...for today’s entry I'd like to talk about assertion; an aspect of PSD that I find myself having to exercise with disturbing frequency. My job involves making sure that other employees are following procedures correctly, and a large part of this is administering a combination of observation and questioning in a test format. Just yesterday I completed one such checklist on a colleague, which they failed to meet the required grade for. It is important to note that these tests are recorded formally, and that the results form a part of performance and pay reviews. He was a little upset that he’d failed, and refused to sign the test off. This, for me, was unprecedented – I really wasn’t sure what action to take. I took 5mins to take a manger aside, and find out what course of action would be most appropriate. The managers’ answer was fairly straight forward; if they have an issue then they can be subject to the test again, under more strict conditions, with a senior member of the management team. I felt that this course of action would not be best for all involved, and so decided to approach the matter more directly. Returning to the crew member, I attempted to appeal to their better nature; first off I gave him a chance to review the areas that had let him down, and then explained why I felt he had failed to meet the standard. Despite this approach, he still refused to sign – having decided that signing something he’d failed was “a waste of time”. With very little option left, the time for assertion had probably already passed, and was defiantly in need of implementation. I had to remind him that it was my responsibility to ensure safe practices in the restaurant, and if he fails to meet the standard, then I’m not doing this correctly. I then moved on to explain that the test - a fire safety appraisal – required 100% to pass, a mark he was far from. I asked him if he felt that he was deserving of 100%; which he agreed he was not. Finally getting somewhere, I attempted to bring the 2 points together; “Do you think I’d be doing my job correctly if I gave you 100% and submitted the test??”, I then gently remained him that I had the full support of the management team, and if he did indeed agree to the above points then he should bring an end to proceedings and sign the test. With some reluctance he agreed, and with the cat in the bag I decided to push for a more positive ending. I gave him a copy of the test, and told him we would do it again in a week, and if he seriously wanted to pass then it would need some effort on his behalf. Phew...

In truth this conversation required more than simple assertion. An element of research was required before a second attempt, and in my attempts to complete said research I was required to elicit the help of a manager. Once I had the relevant information, I was able to apply my assertion through negotiation, understanding, and helping others to see my point. All in all a fairly outstanding example of trans-skills, despite the taxing times that bought about their use.

Another quarter(ish), another staff meeting adjourned. It is surprising how refreshed you can feel after voicing your opinion, and when this is done as a staff the change can be dramatic. Now don’t misunderstand me, if I have a problem I’ll stand up and say something; this is not true for everyone though and it’s still good to know that your problems are being addressed. Even better than that, it gives me chance to discuss my trans-skills in a group forum situation

Ok, so maybe that’s a secondary bonus, but a chance not to be missed anyway! One thing that I always find most perplexing is that people who tell you an issue one day, will sit back and let their chance slip past when they have the opportunity to express these concerns to the person who really needs to hear them; the BIG boss. We don’t work with her on a daily basis, hence why we have these meetings – so she can find out what it’s really like for us to work for her. I’m just always so surprised how much of the discussion I have to facilitate. When the boss in question has to take me aside afterwards and ask me if I’m ok where I am, simply because I put so many points across, I start to wonder what would happen if I wasn’t there! Here is what I said to her (more or less anyway); “I’m not stood there saying everyone’s piece for them, but I know where people are having issues, and I’m just trying to get them to express that” Genius.

At her request I am making a point of not attending the next one. I will instead take my points to my store manager, which will hopefully add a new perspective to the business and leave her free to facilitate the meetings without me. I still have the option of approaching her; but she feels it’s time the rest of the crew took their own imitative a bit more. Go me

Today I’d like to talk about non-verbal communication, and how it can affect my deployment of trans-skills. During a recent shift I had to take a member of staff aside and essentially correct what they’d been doing. Not an unusual circumstance by any stretch, but the something in their reaction told me to press for information. So I did...Turns out that the person in question had been having a difficult time recently because of rumours circulating about them. Personally I had no idea that this was going on, I certainly hadn’t heard the rumours myself. It took some 10mins and a clever combination of counseling, listening and editing but I eventually discovered the culprits and was able to begin a resolution.

The matter is not fully resolved, but these things take time and I am glad that I was at least able to start things moving. The problem in this instance was not that of malicious rumours, or spiteful action, but of the lack of editing displayed; I made a point of telling the staff member that sharing their personal life with everyone is not necessarily a good idea, and that they should consider being more selective with their confidant.

Until next time....

Today I want to talk about time management and punctuality, two closely related soft skills that are not my strongest. Throughout my life punctuality has been an issue. It started at some point in secondary school (I’m not sure when), and is still something I seem to struggle with.

I think a large element of it is thinking that I have more time than I really do and this would certainly tie in with my time management issues. Unlike my flat out poor attempts at being on time for most anything, my time management is somewhat better. I would much prefer to spread my projects out evenly across the time allocated, as I always seem to feel ‘rushed’ towards the end and endeavouring to do a better job next time, but this endeavour never seems to reaches fruition

These problems are something I am working on. This week in fact saw my colleges jaws drop in dumb found amazement (which I took immense enjoyment from), as I waltzed in a clean 20mins EARLY, possibly for the first time ever. As for my time management: Well I’m hardly gant charting my life out, but I am starting to place more emphasis on actually managing it.

Much love

Vista User? I am. Not the “OMG! What did you do to XP?” type either. Yes I was annoyed when I first got it; some of my “classic” games don’t stand a chance of working with it. To begin with Vista was a trawl. But over time it has improved immensely. So some of my old games don’t work, I’ve finally moved on as a result. So where does this fit in with my trans-skills? Well it doesn’t. Not mine anyway….

Assuming you have Vista, you may have recently tried to install SP1, and if my reading on the subject is correct, will have had similar issues to me. It just would not work! I consider myself computer literate. I’m able to use the windows management tools to great effect, but in this instance I really floundered. Turns out I stood little chance of rectifying the situation for the solution involved manually installing two missing files. TWO MISSING FILES! Had MS bothered to do their research properly, they would have realised that this problem affected thousands of people and could then have taken steps to avoid this.

So the result? MS have once again convinced everyone that Vista is crap. As I said earlier, I don’t think this is true after several months experience with it, but once again it has been significantly marred. With a little more foresight, a more detailed install event could have been organised, everyone would have updated with no problem, and Vista would be considered a better system. The Moral? Don’t underestimate your research!

All the best

So another week gone (I’m thinking in terms of college here) and yet another insight into my trans-skills;

I play World of Warcraft. I’m not ashamed of it, but it’s hardly anything to be proud of. I have always LOVED RPGs and now I have one I can play with friends. If you take any time to read around the subject you will find a lot of people boasting about how quick they can do it, or how many 70’s they have, some measure of achievement. I am different (prob not THAT different, but you know… different…). When I play these games I always end up restarting, several times. Usually I’m not happy with my initial choices (which often you’re stuck with for a long time). I had always seen this as the driving force in my decision, but maybe that’s not the case; you see from the restarts I gain a deeper understanding of game mechanics, in essence, this is research. Sticking to one direct method is really not my bag, and I dare say it’s made an impact in my trans-skills, over many years of never actually playing a game “correctly”.

Laters

This week has seen, quite possibly, the best example of a manager trying to throw their weight around. Now don’t misunderstand me, I am usually quite receptive of managers’ wishes and allow them to run the show – this is after all what they’re paid for (and more importantly, I am not), but on this occasion my hand was forced.

Without going into too much detail, the manager in question (who we will call Sarah) decided that her customer was more important than my own, DESPITE the fact that the poor lady at my till had been waiting an unacceptable amount of time. I communicated my disappointment in her actions, both to her and a higher ranking manager. The reaction I received from Sarah was both childish and petty, and she then proceeded to berate me, on till, in front of a busy store! It was instantly clear that the best course of action was to detach myself from this behaviour and I drew an immediate close to the issue by gently informing her that “I will not argue with you whilst trying to serve, just forget the matter and we can discus it later”.

It is quite disheartening to know that (at least one of,) the people I work with considered capable of management, can be so unprofessional and even spiteful. Honestly the mind boggles at what the rest of the management team see in her.

The upside to this story is my shining example of trans-skills. Without some careful tact this small incident could have escalated in to a rather embarrassing affair. Never before have I needed to use this skill in a work situation, and I’m hoping that the opportunity to use it will not arise again.

TTFN