Reflection (Capstone 2017)

There were many times when I had to use critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration during the Capstone project. When it came to helping Jospeh design the floor sets I had to use critical thinking because I had to think things through carefully in order to make sure that clothes could be noticed by the customers. I had to make sure that all the floor would also be in accordance to the regulations they had to be set as. This very important because clothing conversion is effected even through the setup of where clothes are placed. It is up to the store manager to complete these tasks. I had to reassure that customers would be satisfied by granting them the best items. Also, most importantly the setup has to make promotions noticeable because it is those same promotions that carry customers to buy clothes. Again, it was a job left for me to do under the advisory of my mentor.  For the first rooms I had to bring out new clothes that came from the transfers. This is complicated because many transfers come in, but only some sets can be brought out and therefore should be chosen carefully. Like I mentioned before our goal is to always sell out of these clothes. This is where creativity comes into play because the floor sets must be designed to expose all the products in the appropriate matter that catch the eyes of the customer. Creativity can also be used when it comes to setting up the tables and closets. Racks can be used to put dresses or jackets, or whatever is best thought to be sold faster. Closets most of all can be used to hang things or turn the closets in shelves to fold down clothes and be put in there. What I mean by creativity being used in these matters is that it is our goal to make the store look clean and attractive so it can boom up business. Communication was used when I had to to advice associates on their role for the day and what they had to do. I first had to communicate with Joseph in order to discuss the things that were helping the store, as well as the things that needed to be changed. He left some of these responsibilities for me to communicate back with the associates. Of course he always present and had to always make sure things were good and kept an eye on the floor set. Not only did I have to communicate with associates about these issues, but I had to make resolutions in order to help out those cases. I collaborated with both my mentor and the associates to always follow up with the conversion of store sales. My mentor taught about how to keep the order of the store under control and also the managing of associates. The instructions came from him and I had to be very attentive so that things would come out as planned. I just to deliver these instructions to the associates and get them to do their tasks  just like a manager would do. I would make rounds to make sure things were going as planned. Joseph would check in also to make sure that I was doing okay when doing these mini management tasks. 

What I gained from the Capstone project experience personally, socially, and intellectually is more openness. Specifically, what I gained personally was that I should never settle down for the least position at a job. One must thrive to hold a good position. It was good to know and understand what my mentor's job is to deal with when coming into work. It may seem an easy job, but it is really because they have to make sure things get done. They are the ones to have things under control. I liked having the experience of dealing a bit of managing myself under his supervision because in a way I could myself what it feels to have such responsibilities. Socially, I feel like I was able to open up more to people. I should never be scared to speak up my mind if it's for the cause of greater good. There has to be a lot of communication between manager and associate, and there has to be a lot to be talked about in order to  achieve sale goals. I feel like I was able to understand more about the atmosphere of the store. Intellectually, I also understood the numbers that the company gave them. These numbers are complicated to remember, but they play an important role for both the store and company. I got to understand why managers are so important. 

 

The challenges I encountered during this experience was getting the associates to get their work done because at points they would wonder why I would tell them what to do. They were questioning of why I would hold such position. They didn't mind, and were very collaborating. What I had done about this though is explain to them that I was trying to get insight of the managing world. I told them that I had to do complete hours ignorer to place myself in an atmosphere that would help understand this concept a lot better. Another challenge I encountered during this project is having to be open and not be scared about speaking my ideas or mind my mind in general. Of course, my mentor had me participate in many things. I was just scared that my ideas wouldn't be good enough and that I wouldn't.t quite get the concept of driving sales up. I had told Joseph this in order to feel more comfortable. He told me that it never hurts to try. And slowly, I began to speak about my ideas. and he himself had said that I was improving. Some of my ideas seemed to be good and he was glad that I came up with them and told him about them. That's pretty much the only challenges I had.

 

Store management is something I plan on doing while being in school. Note it is not necessarily what I want to do as a lifetime career. I just wanted to explore more about the job I'll be interacting with beforehand actually obtaining the career that I'm pursuing. I thought this to be the best chance because I knew that I would actually be given the opportunity to work in this field without any hesitation because it is a project. I'm definitely glad I did this because now I have more insight of what I might be dealing with in the future.