Question:

We made it! Time for everyone’s favourite!

Think about ONE co-worker who really excels at this job, goes above and beyond our expectations, or brings a unique skill set or worldview to this position. Shine a light on those little things that might not always be noticed, but that definitely make The Commons a better place. Spread the love, & make sure to tag your coworker so they can see your kind words!

Answer:

Jacob Hennessey gets my warm fuzzies this semester! Desptie being new he’s worked so hard to catch up to everything and is very capable in every area that he’s working in! He’s taught me a lot about VR too and and I think that he deserves to be rewarded for his hard work, fun personality, and willingness to help anyone! Great employee!!

Week 9 was Peer Review. Please see Google Doc.

Question:

Think back on your SMART goal from Week 1. Were you successful in reaching your goal? If so, what resources did you use? How has this goal/skill benefited you while on the job? If you didn’t succeed, why not? What could you do in the remaining weeks of the semester to achieve your goal?

Answer:

Alas I was not successful with my SMART goals this semester, it seems that I was so busy with my new marketing position, AT tutoring and my regular shifts at the desk and DMC that initiating myself into the Makerspace completely slipped my mind. Although I’d rather do the jobs I already have well rather than add more jobs on and slip in other areas. In the remaining weeks, I would like to possibly speak to Jordan and get the basic run down of how 3D printing works and the softwares behind it, although I won’t beat myself up if I don’t get to it. It’s been a really hectic semester.

Question:

As we wrap up mid-semester feedback and hurtle toward final feedback meetings, have a read through these Tips for Handling Criticism. Do you find it difficult to take criticism? Before working at The Commons, had you ever experienced “performance reviews” at other workplaces? What strategies work for you when receiving criticism/feedback?

Answer:

I don’t find it difficult to take criticism, I think of it as a way to better myself and I think an employer really likes to see when their criticism is taken seriously. For example, if I am told that I don’t do enough rounds, I will use that and do more rounds next time so when my employer sees that, they know that I heard them and it actually makes it better. So what I’m trying to say is, that it’s impossible to not get criticism in the workplace or daily life, it’s how you react to the criticism that matters not only to you but to your employer who sees you working hard to better your mistakes. I had experienced performance reviews when I worked at a library in Toronto during high school. The strategies I use are are very in line with the article on Tips for Handling Criticism, I make sure to give the criticizer all of my attention so they know that I am hearing them, I then make a point to, if the criticism is valid, take their criticism to heart and do better onwards so they see that I take their opinion seriously. I also agree with the article in not taking criticism from people I don’t respect too seriously. I have gotten plenty of unwarranted criticism that just needs to be brushed off, and the ability to know when to take criticism to heart is essential to how I conduct myself.

Question:

Watch the video “Helping the Customer Be Right”. Relax – it’s only 4 minutes long.

Think about a time that you dealt with an argumentative client. When faced with this kind of client, do you find it difficult to help them “be right”? What’s your go-to technique for diffusing this kind of situation? Does your personality type from week 1 explain why you might react the way that you do?

Answer:

I thought I wouldn’t like this video but I really did. At first I was upset because the idea that the customer is always right, to me, incites people in the customer position to abuse their position of power over the person working. Working in retail, I’ve had a lot of customers come up to me and degrade me, something they would not have done, had I been a stranger in the streets, but because I am confined to work, I have to uphold more integrity because I am being paid to uphold the reputation of the company. A few years ago I would have found it difficult to help the customer be right, and I am being honest when I say I do still find it very difficult when the customer gets personal. For example, if a client comes to the desk frustrated that another commons worker didn’t help them or frustrated that they couldn’t connect to the WiFi, I don’t take that anger personally but when it comes to being attacked directly due to their frustrations, I have trouble not being curt. For example, if a customer refuses to get help from me because I am a girl or if I am helping someone format a word document and I get called dumb, I find it hard to deal with. But, I also do my best to maintain a professional composure. My go to technique for diffusing a situation is, rather than being friendly, which they aren’t in the mood for, I am bare bones, straight to the facts. Over the years of working with customers, I find the most positive outcome when dealing with an irate customer is to not start conversation but rather to just go, “This is how this works, here’s how to do it and here’s why”. I found that from trying to distract people from their frustration, they get more frustrated because they think I am just trying to placate them, so by me looking them in the eye and showing them what can and can’t be done, I think that customers appreciate the curt, to the point attitude, but I also subliminally let them know that they can’t bully me just because I am trying to help them.
My personality type from week 2 was a questioner, which is probably exactly why I react the way I do. Questioners meet inner expectations while resisting outer ones. While I don’t personally agree with the personality quiz because personality to me is VERY situational, I see that this personality type might fit best my reaction to irate clients.

Question:

Accessibility checkers are fantastic tools to make sure that documents and websites can be accessed by persons with disabilities. Will a screen reader be able to read all the text in your document? How about images – are their meanings conveyed to users who can’t actually see them? Is there sufficient colour contrast on your website so users with colour blindness can see it? Are your videos closed captioned for people with hearing loss? Lots of things to consider!

Take a document of your choosing (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF) or a website and run it through an online accessibility checker.

Answer:

I ran the anonymous feedback form website through the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool and it came back with four errors and one alert. The things that are flagged on the website that there was no clear heading or page title to indicate what it was for, there was an error where the list was disordered, there was no heading structure and the drop down menu was confusing. What surprised me most is the disordered list alert, which makes sense because a person that is hard of hearing or has difficulty processing words might not understand the relation between the points. You can accommodate these issues by being more clear with the lists and making sure that the points relate to one another.