Monday Morning Chaos

As my second week of work at Shoshanna came to an end I couldn’t help but think about how different it was from my first week. While I am still very new to the company and getting used to things, I felt more like employee and less like “the new girl”. Things such as the “Tech Specs” that I wrote about last week have become a second nature and I have gained the skills to complete each Spec in a matter of minutes (an ability I can tell is much appreciated by the woman assigning the Specs). Gaining the knowledge to do basic things such as this around the office is one of the many reasons I am starting to feel more at home, however the biggest indicator that my co-workers have gained more confidence in my abilities came first thing Monday morning.

Walking in on Monday morning I quickly learned that the Internet and phones had not been working since Friday of the previous week. I quickly learned my first week that the office was no stranger to technological issues however, the severity of the problems starting on Friday was unusual even for us. With the Internet being down there had also become problems with the site that approves whether items purchased on the online site could be returned or not. This was creating costumers to panic and a large increase of phone calls, all of which I was answering. Not knowing what to tell the unhappy and sometimes rude costumers but not being able to pass the phone off to a more knowledgeable employee because they were dealing with larger issues was perhaps the greatest challenge that I’ve had in my two weeks. Given the responsibility to deal with the public was such a change from my first week where I was told to not worry about answering the phones until I had been working at the company for longer. Thankfully we had a very crowded office for the better part of Monday while three different tech specialist worked to restore the Internet and phone lines. By the time I left on Monday things were running much smoother then they had been upon my arrival.

Being thrown in to chaotic situation first thing on Monday morning is not a way anyone wants to start his or her morning and not something I appreciated at the time. However looking back on the situation I can see the value in having such a challenge because it taught me a lot about the way the online site works as well as how to deal with the people I work with when tension is running high. It also made me feel more like I was apart of the team and like I was really starting to be a valued help around the office (Something that is always nice to know). Luckily the rest of the week was much more calm and quiet then the way it started, which was a much welcomed change of pace from the chaos for Monday morning.