When I reported to my assigned mentor, his very first words were, ”So, are you ready to put on your Consultant hat?”, and proceeded to explain some of the problems facing the E-commerce Operations and what was expected of me at end of the internship. Needless to say, I felt like I had been thrown in the deep end of the pool. But what followed was a tremendous learning experience. I was not treated as an intern, but as a Consultant hired to solve a problem. Here are some of the things I learnt:-
The first step of solving problems is understanding the problem itself. This may seem obvious, but most of us have a tendency of jumping to conclusions and solutions when presented with a problem.If necessary, spend a day as a team member of the process. It will give you direct insights which will be very valuable in understanding and subsequently, solving the problem. A logical extension of this step would be to interview the team members. Each team member would have a different insight into what is wrong and what are the issues faced. Never assume anything at all. Get talking with people from all levels of hierarchy.
Keeping an open mind. It is unwise to jump to conclusions and solutions by mistaking the symptoms for problems. In my project, I kept on building the analysis by continuously analysing the information gathered, and reviewed it with the people I’d spoken with. This helped me to narrow down on the root cause of the problem. I had good guidance from my mentor in this regard, who pointed out the right way for things to be done.
Lots of time will have to be spent on information gathering. Since interviews are by no means enough to be proof of problem in the process, I had to analyse multiple records, reports in the systems to come up with figures which pointed to the flaws in the process. Numbers are your best friends here, people will listen to you only if you have the numbers to back up your statements. Thus the goal identification, finding the appropriate solution, came about through a continuous evolutionary process.
Apart from the project assigned I got to experience the many perks of working with Shoppers Stop. Be it meeting author Amish Tripathi, who’d been invited at Crosswords (A subsidiary of Shoppers Stop) or Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, the real life engineer on whom Aamir Khan’s character in 3 Idiots is based upon, there was never a dull moment. Along with work, we got to enjoy the life at Shoppers Stop, through the various events, brand launches organised by the company. And as a group of interns, we had our moments of fun too. Though it lasted for a couple of months, it was an enriching experience for all of us, and when it ended, it marked the beginning of something new.
Top: Photograph with Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, the real life Phunsukh Wangdu of 3 Idiots fame (Centre) with fellow interns. I am at the 2nd place from left.
Bottom: Photograph with Mr. Amish Tripathi, the author of the Shiva trilogy - Immortals of Meluha (Centre) with fellow interns. I am at the extreme right.
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