Hudson's October Week 3 Reflection
Describe your main tasks this week. How did you approach the task? What did you accomplish? What did you learn?
My main tasks this week were cold calling storage unit companies and creating a presentation for the Business Team Updates. I was scared to start cold calling for the first time, so I read a provided cold call script outloud to myself to see how I can articulate it in an engaging and professional way. In the end, I was able to call most of the storage units I listed in the spreadsheet myself and list their email addresses, feeling like I’ve accomplished a new experience of stepping out of my comfort zone! As for the Business Team Updates presentation, I started coordinating the other U+ business development assistant to work on our slideshow. I structured what content we should include to get everyone on the same page, which is something I learned that I need to emphasize when kickstarting these presentations.
What strategies do you have for staying on track during work and avoiding distractions when working in a virtual environment? What advice do you have for future co-ops?
As soon as I sign in I ask my parents to hide my phone during shift (when online) so that even if I’m tempted to check my notifications, it’s completely out of sight and I can’t do anything about it. I also like using noise-canceling headphones and playing Lofi music in the background. Having the headphones censor distracting outside noises while playing music that relaxes my mind often helps me focus more! For future co-op students, I’d tell them to not only follow these practices, but to avoid listening to any genre of music besides classical and Lofi, as I’d explain that other genres tend to have inconsistent sounds. I’d also tell them to not try to multitask, as my past experiences of multitasking often scrambles my mind.
How do you measure success in the workplace? What are some standards you have set and feedback you’ve gotten from teachers, supervisors, and coworkers that help guide you?
I measure my success by considering how productive I am in terms of the tasks I’ve completed on shift, while comparing the amount of tasks I completed on my shift versus previous shifts. For instance, my most recent task of creating a presentation with the Business Team to update co-op students on what we’ve been working on. Most shifts I’d get the majority of the design and content done, but there was a shift where I did get a good portion of the work done, though I didn’t progress as much. Some feedback I’ve gotten from co-workers is Jessica where she guided me on how I should distribute the workload of designing the slides, which I found helpful to try to get others to contribute.
What soft/hard skills do you feel most confident in, and where do you still need improvement?
I’m confident in my ability to balance time between co-op and academic tasks, leverage critical thinking when figuring out ways to approach an assignment, and my aptitude for computer software (whether it’s already knowing a software program or being able to learn it quickly). I feel like all of these skills were demonstrated from my learnings of cross-referencing for storage unit contacts and the fact I’m able to complete the majority of my assigned tasks without going out of my shift. Skills that I believe I need to improve on is that I’m too detail-oriented to the point I can’t paint a bigger picture. Jessica Zou gave me this feedback when I was trying to lead the Business Team in creating a slideshow where I focused too much on what we should put on the slide rather than distributing tasks to other group members.