The Mess We Called Decision Making

The activity that took place on Monday was actually my first time engaging in a decision making process with a classroom of that many people. It was a whole new experience for me. My first thought was that we will never reach a agreement because everyone is pursuing their own interests and there were too many possibilities since the professor didn't specifically establish any restrictions. The goal differences among the group and the fact that we are doing this under time constraint definitely made the whole process difficult.

In my opinion I think the leader did a excellent job at facilitating the whole process because otherwise we probably wouldn't have reached a conclusion in a timely manner. As far as the leader and group interaction goes, she defined the problem and highlighted alternatives as suggested from the group while she had very low influence in considering the alternatives and in making the decision. Even though her opinions weren't involved in the process, she was able to come up with a system to help the group to reach a decision that everyone agreed on. For instance, she erased any suggestions that was rejected by at least one person in the group. So at the end, we were able to arrive with a conclusion that satisfies everyone.

In the beginning of the activity, I was using more of the avoidance approach in the decision making process. I had a feeling that there was almost no chance that we will all agree on something by the end of the class. Everyone was talking to the person sitting next to them while the clock was ticking. However, when someone stepped up to be the leader I changed my approach to accommodation. It was hard to make a decision since all the suggestions that was written on the board was tempting. I didn't raise my hand to eliminate any of the alternatives because I felt like some people needed this more than me and no matter which solution we ended up with, it will be better than getting nothing at all.

If we can do it over again, then I think a collaborating approach would have been more effective. When everyone form small groups, everyone's voice will be heard and the group can then compromise and come up with the best solution. Each individual group will then tell their decision to the group leader. As all the possibilities are laid out, the whole class can take a vote and pick the optimal solution.

Planning For Productivity

As an HR intern last summer, part of my job was to cover for the front desk and run the company's switchboard every Friday. It was probably one of the most challenging responsibilities due to the fact that the front desk clerk act as the gatekeeper or filter for the entire company. I'm not only accountable for outside visitors coming into the company as well the needs of the stakeholders within the company. Here's a list of duties the switchboard/front desk clerk are responsible for:

1) Greet and announce all visitors, answer the telephone and record the names of all who enter.
2) Receive and sign for all incoming packages and notify the department for pickup.
3) Greet delivery person and contact the person responsible for outgoing packages.
4) Log all incoming/outgoing delivery activities.
5) Switchboard duties include directing incoming calls to the correct department.
6) Take room reservations for staff meetings and post notifications on reserved rooms.

They are very simple tasks if you consider them individually but it can definitely become overwhelming if you imagine them happening simultaneously nonstop and there's only one of me. My first shift working at the front desk was frustrating. I tried my best to finish everything in a timely manner but the work just keeps piling up. Especially between 9am to 11am, when the phone won't stop ringing (usually I have five or six people on hold) including calls from staff to check room availability and to make reservations, at least five people standing waiting to be serviced (people here for interview, delivery person for pickup or drop off, people here to visit a friend that works at the company etc.). By then I was pretty much panicking. I don't know who I should service first so I decided to help the person who arrived first-First In First Out rule. It didn't really work out because the other people waiting on line started to get impatient and told me they have a very busy schedule and they can no longer wait. For instance, one of the UPS guy demanded I sign for his delivery first because he have other deliveries to make and he's already running late even though there are two people in front of him. In the midst of all of this, I completely forgot the people who were put on hold on the switchboard. Then sure and behold, people started calling my supervisor's extension telling her how that no one's picking up at the front desk. So my supervisor came out of her office to check on me and noticed that there's a mob of angry people around my desk. With her help I was able to clear the line and service the people on hold. After the crowd left, she told me that I need to figure out a system that will help me manage my time more efficiently and help me increase my productivity. I asked her to tell me what the system is but she told me it doesn't work that way because everyone have their own system that works especially for them. The only she advised me to do is to plan my system based on two goals: efficiency and effectiveness. Basically I should ask myself the question "how can I be more productive?”

When I come home that day, I came up with a plan. At that point I already know what my goal is but I still need to come up with objectives to reach my goals. So in order to become more effective and efficient at my work, my only alternative is to prioritize all the demands being placed on me. It's not realistically possible to service everyone all at once but it's possible to figure out the average service times for each task and which tasks are more important than others that need immediate attention. As a result, I came up with a diagram with four boxes. Each box represents a different category of tasks. The categories are most important & most time-consuming, less important & most time-consuming, most important & less time-consuming and less important & less time-consuming. I should always do the tasks grouped in the most important & less time-consuming category first because if it takes less time to finish them then I will have more time left to work with tasks that require more time but are just as important as well. For instance, the switchboard would be in included in the most important & less time consuming category because it takes less than two minutes to transfer a call. After I divided all the tasks into their appropriate category, I made a note to myself to work with them in the following order:

1) Most important & less time-consuming tasks
2) Most important & most time-consuming tasks
3) Less important & less time-consuming tasks
4) Less important & most time-consuming tasks

The second week working at the front desk, I tested out my system and it worked out great! I was able to save so much time and as a result get more things done. I can measure how my plan turned out just by checking how many people are in queue on the phone or on the line in the office. After I implemented my plan there are only one or two people waiting to be serviced during the usual rush hour (9-11am) and practically none the other times. I'm definitely being more productive!