Month Twooooooooooo~

Warning: This post will be FILLED with photos. Enjoy!(?)

So the second month of ITP has ended awhile back, and I'm updating now.

It's overall been fun(in a sense) and I have learnt plenty, despite just having a counter job. While my other classmates will learn plenty of technical things, what I get from my ITP is really a lot of different experiences. While my job is a "rinse-and-repeat" one, each and every customer who approach provides a new experience for me. That, is what I am trying to gain from my ITP.

And now, photos of my workplace! :)




























































One of my mini-project-cum-assignments: updating the KPI(Key Performance Index) for the Back Office(public call flow) and customer flow in the store.















Some notes that I took down.




















I made this little "card" for the MPU counter. Those customers can be really trigger happy on the bell!!




















It's rare to see full force at the Exchange & Returns counters. I suppose it's because it's a weekend. But I found this photo really... nice. It's heartening, to see everyone working together :)








































































Welcome to the Archiving Room (aka Store Room)! It's "sorta" creepy, or maybe it just looks like that because of the lighting. There have been some... "stories" about the place, but in my opinion, it was just a very stuffy room. I came here with a co-worker and our manager to archive some files and receipts.




















I got a chance to use one of these things(not too sure what they're called, like manual forklifts). It's a bit weird to use one of them at first, but then after that, it feels a lot like you're driving when using it.















This is my first project! Planning the July roster for Customer Relations! This is work in progress.















And this is the finished product!

ITP @ IKEA: A Month Later

Ok, so a month and a week has passed since the start of our ITP, and the company that I sought out was IKEA (Tampines branch)!

My job at the company is to basically serve customers at the Exchange & Returns counters. Along the way, I was also taught how to complete other tasks, such as taking care of the Merchandise Pick-Up (MPU) counter.

It has been a rather fun (so to say) month, and all my colleagues have been very welcoming and friendly towards a new staff like me.

They are also all very patient with me, always slowly teaching me the correct procedures and steps for getting the job done. Although some times I'm quite unsure as to what to do in certain situations, they always step in quickly to assist me, and for that I am very thankful to them.

I must say that being at the frontline is not easy. There are some customers who are exceedingly demanding, insisting that they should not have to queue for their turn while others are also waiting, or wanting to be given extra privileges.

I remember for the first 2 weeks, I was made in-charge of the promotion counter. The promotion that IKEA was having that month was that when a customer spent at least $128 in a single receipt, they were entitled to $20 dining vouchers. Multiple receipts were not allowed.

Some customers misunderstood the details and thought it was for every $128, they would get an additional $20 voucher and after being corrected, they would become frustrated and even angry at me for not giving them more vouchers. At first I was rather timid and would give in to their demands, but I slowly learnt to be more firm and to be able to handle the situation on a case-by-case basis. I have also had very friendly customers who are very understanding or who joke with me.

After the promotion ended, I was mainly back to the Exchange & Returns counters. I admit that in the beginning, I was easily agitated by some customer demands and felt very unwilling to go the extra mile. But after going for the Home Furnnishing Training and the HEARTS Training held by the company, I slowly started to understand more about customer service and the company's vision, goals and ideas. After these 2 training sessions, I was more willing to serve customers, and to go the extra mile to help them feel satisfied with the store. I always make sure to greet them with a smile no matter how tired I am and to thank them when they leave, and also to help them with any other requests they may have. Even demanding customers do not get me down anymore.

All in all, I feel that customer service is not just a one-way interaction; from staff to customer. The customer plays a very important role as well. For example, there are customers who come to us looking to buy spare parts or replacements. However, they do not give us the name of the product, or the product code and only give us vague descriptions of what they need (an example of this would be when a lady came to me looking for spare parts for her wardrobe and described her wardrobe to me as "tall and wide"). We are not mind readers, and therefore will need more information to be able to fully assit you. For cases such as these, we will ask the customer to enter the store, find the product and obtain the production information on the boxes or labels and to return to us again. It is as my supervisor said: "Help us to help you."

Out of Class Activity 2

Q5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5kn4OBRxro

Watch the video from the link titled “Elements of Greatness”

Describe in your own words (between 100 to 200 words) what is the video trying to emphasise on and what are the positive and negative, (if any), effects from this video.

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I personally feel that the video is inspiring, especially with the line “It is not enough to be the best when you have the ability to be great”.

It emphasizes on us finding the motivation or drive to excel, as it uses messages like “What drives you?” and “What inspires you into action?” Overall, it aims to tell us to push on forward, giving our most, instead of just giving more. The positive effect of the video is that it tells us to look deep down into ourselves and to find that spark. While I cannot speak for the general public, a person of low self-esteem would most likely feel even more depressed after viewing this video. To them, they might feel that they do not have any worth at all and the messages and questions in the video only serve to rub salt into the wound.

Also, “success” and “greatness” are very subjective, not to mention vague. What I find “successful” might be a “failure” in someone else’s eyes. Also, I feel that the video should not just be for motivating employees. It should apply to every living person. “Success” and “Greatness” do not only come in the forms of career and material riches.

All in all, I feel that it is a good video to watch if you need a pick-me-up, but there are better ways of motivating people, instead of just asking them questions about what motivates them.

Tutorial 5 Risk Analysis & Assessment

Tutorial 4 Activity on Node & Gantt Chart

Tutorial 3 Project Cost Estimation

Tutorial 2 Work Breakdown Structure

Click to enlarge the image

Tutorial 1

Product Details

Name: DNA^M

Shape and Size: Almost identical to a card and 4mm in thickness.

Components: In-planted micro-chip with DNA reader.

Design: Changeable.

List down the project objectives

To ease the everyday lives of people by having essential functions, all accessible through Wi-Fi, with the DNA^M. Thus with the DNA^M people do not need to carry more than one item for different uses, as most of the needed functions is already in one card. Also by any chance that the owner lost his or her card the product has a function that does not allow personal information and related items to be leaked or stolen. Not only is the DNA^M handy, it will also be made available almost anywhere so one can purchase the card if he lose his own.

Scoping of the project

Estimated duration:

The whole project will take at least 5 years to complete the trials and official start up. But making the product commercialized, countries all over the world will have to take part and use this product thus that process is estimated to take around 8 to 10 years. As for planning, brainstorming and researching of the product, it will be conducted for at least 1 to 2 months.

Estimated cost:

Production

Cost of machine: $2000 ~ $3000

Cost of card: $30 ~ $40

Selling

Cost of Machine (Includes Wi-Fi to connect to database of profiles and records): $5000

Cost of card (including chips and design): $72.90

Cost of temporary card: $40.90

Salaries for workers: $30000(annually)

The cost of production and selling price will reduce as more countries adopt the product as the production will be done in masses.

Responsibility matrix: Project leader – to organize the group in bringing information and integrating them together for the completion of the project. The Leader has to make sure that the group works together to bring the best possible outcome for the project. The project leader also has to strengthen the relationship of the group.

Designer – the designer will have to research and come out with a suitable design that incorporates the project details. The designer also has to create a design that will benefit the product in sales. The designer not only has the job of designing but he also has to feedback and give suggestions for the project as not everything stated in the project can be incorporated in the design.

Accountant – the accountant has the responsibility to keep the project’s financial side in checked. To see if the project is over-spending the budget or still has much to spare. The accountant also has to keep records of what the project requires as in money and resources. The accountant has the job of informing the project leader of any potential ways of spending lesser or to be more economical.

Scheduler – the scheduler is the one who keep track of the progress of the project. He also records the time taken for the completion of certain important parts of the project and lets the project leader know if more time will be beneficial or too much time is spent on those parts. The scheduler also does future planning for the time frame of the project and keeps the project group in check that if we are following the schedule.

Current issues:

Deoxyribonucleic acid D.N.A - The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints, like a recipe or a code.

Credit Cards - Buy goods and based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods. A credit card gives the owner the ability to borrow money for payment or as cash in advance.

EZ-link –

· All public buses , MRT and LRT

· Food & Beverage

· Leisure & Entertainment

· Government Services

· Community Clubs

· Self Services Machines, photo copying Machines and Photo Printing Services

Passport –

· Help to prevent forgery and minimize the abuse of Singapore passports.

· Biometric passport contains 64 pages unlike the machine readable passports which contains 96 pages.

· Costs S$80 for a passport.

Man power requirements: For planning and starting face of this project only the four in this project team is required. But as the project progress into the production stage manpower will be required for manufacturing and further research and development.

Resources requirements:

(i) Sponsors (e.g. Government agencies, medical organizations, scientific research groups)

(ii) Software to design the card and the card reader (e.g. AutoCAD)

(iii)Machine to manufacture/build the card

(iv) Materials for the card (Polyvinyl chloride acetate [PVCA] for main body of the card, DNA chip used for scanning and WI-FI)

(v) Technology for DNA scanning (Microarray Scanner with SureScan Technology)

Security measures: to prevent other users from stealing the owner’s information and belongings, after scanning the DNA, the user must draw a pattern that matches what he or she had previously programmed. Upon reporting, the owner’s site can be closed and traces can be made if anyone tried to access the owner’s site, through WI-FI. Even though given strong security, the owner can choose to set locks of various links at any sensitive locations. As we are working with various companies, the companies will have or had devised a method of protection for the information that belongs to them.

Audience needed of notice: The government, banking companies, credit card companies and the customs from different countries.