Question: Imagine a new employee starts working at The Commons, and you are chatting with them about some of the challenges of this job. What client behaviour or attitude do you find most challenging to deal with? What’s one tip or trick you would share with them about dealing with difficult/challenging clients?

Answer: I agree with Ryan in that the most challenging clients I’ve dealt with refuse to work with you to solve the problem and want an immediate fix which is not always possible. I’ve also had very aggressive clients who become frustrated very quickly if a situation is not resolved immediately. Although, this can be understandable if the problem needs a solution in a very time sensitive manner, I just try my best to help them as quickly as possible with minimal collateral damage.

Question: We are always preaching the importance of “owning the problem”, and during training I always say that this job is less about knowing the answers, and more about effectively finding the answers. Describe a time when you really took ownership of something for a client. How did your thoroughness help prevent further work for them?

Answer: A client recently came up to me asking to import an audio file from her voice recorder to her computer. I’ve never encountered working with voice recorders before and we both worked together to save it to her computer. Afterwards she needed to erase the recording from the voice recorder and we both couldn’t figure out how to do so. So, I looked up the model of the recorder and so I used google to help me figure out how to delete the audio file from the voice recorder.

Question: Log into Brightspace and enter the course called Commons & DMC Training (you should all have access. If you don’t, message me ASAP!). Complete the quiz called “Work Diaries Fall 2017 W6 – Policies & Procedures”. Comment below when you have completed the quiz. You should be able to see your grade immediately.

Answer: Status- Completed

Question: In three words, how would your coworkers describe you? How does this differ from how clients would describe you? How your friends would describe you?

Answer: Coworkers: New, Outgoing, Curious
Clients: Happy, Patient, Dependable
Friends: Loyal, Funny, Conscientious

Question: This ol’ chestnut.Time to share your knowledge! What’s a technical trick you’ve used this semester to get a client out of a bind?

Answer:  A client was having trouble printing a PDF from his BrightSpace account. There were 10 pages in total and only 4 printed with words cropped out of the margins, so I got him to download the PDF onto the desktop and print it from there. It worked like a charm and I refunded him for the 4 pages in the first attempt!

QUESTION: What is a personality type that you are most likely to conflict with at work? (This may refer to a co-worker or a supervisor). What difficulties do you encounter when working with this personality type? How do you keep yourself motivated when you encounter this personality type and ensure that everything runs smoothly in the workplace?

ANSWER: I find it difficult to work with people who look down on others for not knowing as much as them. It is difficult to learn when others are making you feel unqualified for the job by not immediately knowing everything there is to know.
I keep myself motivated by not focusing on their negativity and learning things to the best of my abilities. It’s best to ignore their need to make you feel inferior in place of learning how to work with the programs to the best of my abilities.