Nov 25 – 28
I’m back to organising the gifting pile that had to be sent out since the pop-up. Because of our amount of gifting, it was challenging to keep track of everything and stay organised. I discussed this situation with the marketing manager who oversees the gifting-related aspect, and she told me that I should always update her with the tracking in detail: for example, is it stuck in the custom? Does the receiver have to collect the parcel themselves?
There’s a Japanese term “報連相” which is an abbreviation for Report, Contact, and Discuss – this is a term that is highly regarded for an employee working in a corporate/oragnisation to maintain a smooth workflow. I have heard of this term before and knew how significant companies perceived this concept, however, I had never been in a situation where this was required from ME. It may sound a little naive of me, but honestly, I felt a bit taken aback. I also felt like I had to be more mature / act like a grown-up? and I faced the realisation of “working” – which may be a little late.
I am glad we had this conversation, as this small talk with her taught me the importance of “報連相” and keeping each other in the loop. Also, I had always been concerned about the thought of gifting not being delivered successfully, so I’m glad she pointed it out. An improvement I should make in this gifting aspect is updating & communicating the status more frequently –> I could make a list for clear understanding and send it to her every time she’s working. Overall, I’m getting used to everything (the workflow, system, team, etc) and can work more comfortably, which I’m happy about.
I’m grateful that I still have the opportunity to participate in the graphic aspect alongside the marketing and management area of the brand. I have been asked to design a multiple embroidery work which I’m super excited about for SS25. This speaks to me that the design I previously did showcase my potential or my strength, which I also recognised myself.
One day, there was a discussion of the current workflow in the office. The creative director Jazz and the graphic designer Meen are not full-time, however, everything that is creative needs to go through Jazz to be signed off to be published. Meen pointed out that she has to wait for Jazz when she is not working, creating a pause in the workflow. Jazz’s point was that even though she is the creative director, she doesn’t have to always check in on every progress for everyone’s tasks. If a task is specific to an area (eg; paid ads on Pinterest –> marketing) each person from that role should be briefing and checking the progress and signing things off. This made me reflect on how I could improve my role as an intern at Fruity Booty – how can I work effectively and efficiently to support everyone’s role so that they could maintain a smooth workflow? Because our team is small, each person’s responsibility and workload is a lot. (For example, even though we discuss the topic as a team, at the end of the day there is only one operational manager who oversees that aspect by herself.) I started realising that my role should be to support them to unload their workload and pressure even slightly. Also, something I was impressed with is that this discussion could have turned into an argument if delivered differently –> it showed that they truly respect and care for each other, hear out, and trust them which I believe emerged from the environment Fruity Booty has successfully built within the organisation. I thought this healthy relationship within the workplace environment is not very often seen, however I believe it should be happening more. Again, I felt very grateful that I was able to work in this team that respects each other’s values. –> Link to DPS session where we looked at out “Workforce for Future”
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