Teaching an Overview of Interpersonal Skills to the Warehouse/Overnight Workers at Lowe’s Home Improvement Curtis Smith 2/18/20 Table of Contents Page 1. Cover/Title Page Page 2. Description of the Organization Page 3. Rational for the Workshop Pages 4-7 The Workshop Explained/Schedule Page 8. The Budget Page 9. Interpersonal Skills Matching Worksheet Page 10. Positive v Negative Reinforcement Exercise Page 11. Constructive vs Destructive Criticism Exercise A Description of the Organization Lowe’s Home Improvement was created in 1921 in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lowe’s is a retail company that sells home improvement items that range from pillows for outside lawn furniture, to insulation and plywood for building and repairing homes as well as a multitude of tools, cleaning supplies, and other items. Lowe’s serves a variety of different people such as contractors, carpenters, plumbers, and any other general labor professionals. They also assist those that are doing small home repairs and even students who are building something for their apartment or dorm room. Lowe’s goal is to provide customers with a convenient, easy, and professional shopping experience where their needs are met in a timely manner. Unknown to most, there are over 10 different departments in every Lowe’s. This includes a Receiving department where trucks filled with merchandise are unloaded. This is usually done by a team of unloaders. After the truck is unloaded, night stockers work the third shift and place the aforementioned merchandise on the shelf, so it is ready for the customer to purchase. Why This Workshop is Needed As mentioned before, there is a crew of unloaders and a team of night stockers that work from 6pm-10pm and 9pm-5am respectively. These are employees that rarely or never interact with customers during a normal shift, therefore, their interpersonal skills can be lacking. This is also hard work. It involves standing, walking, and lifting up to 100lbs on a shift-by-shift basis. This combined with the long hours can sometimes cause tempers to flair. These are the reasons why these workers would be the target population for this workshop. This workshop would teach these workers what interpersonal skills are and how they can use them to better their communication in the workplace. The outcome of this workshop will result in the unload and night stocking teams working together with improved communication which will, in turn, help both teams work more efficiently, boost morale, and lower or completely eliminate the number of verbal altercations. I believe, by explaining what interpersonal skills are, showing these employees examples, and allowing them to participate in activities, the employee’s interpersonal skills will improve, causing them to work more efficiently while fostering good relationships between co-workers and their managers. The Interpersonal Skills Workshop The workshop I am planning for those in the Receiving department at Lowe’s Home Improvement will take place in one of the breakrooms of the Lowe’s store itself. This will be the most convenient for the employees and will take place on a day they do not have to work. It will last about from about 10:00am to 1:30pm. The set up for this workshop will require tables and chairs- enough for about 12 people and room for the refreshments, fortunately, these are available at the store to use. Refreshments will include coffee and doughnuts when the workshop begins and pizza and sodas around lunch time. The schedule for this workshop will be as follows: · 10am-10:30am Introductions, coffee and doughnuts o Everyone participating in the workshop will introduce themselves simply stating their name and where they are from. · 10:30am-11am Interpersonal Skills Overview with quiz o I will go over a few interpersonal communication aspects and define the following terms: Verbal communication, nonverbal communication, listening skills, negotiation, problem-solving, decision-making, and assertiveness. The employees will then be given a matching quiz and a few minutes to complete it. I will then go over the answers to ensure they know the correct answer. Knowing these terms will allow the employees to utilize them in their everyday life in, and out, of work. · 11am-11:30am Explaining Instructions Activity (clear and concise) o I will ask the employees to explain how they would instruct someone to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The only twist is, the person they are instructing, has never made or eaten the sandwich before. I will call on a few employees to give me the instructions. I will critique their instructions focusing on attention to detail, clarity, and wording. · 11:30am-12pm Lunch- Pizza and sodas · 12pm-12:30pm Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement Activity o I will define the terms “positive reinforcement” and “negative reinforcement” and then give unlabeled examples of each on paper. I will instruct the employees to label them positive or negative. As a group, we will go over each example and discuss why it is positive or negative. This will allow them to see how their words and reactions make those around them feel in the workplace. It will also allow them to improve the way they communicate with each other. · 12:30pm-1pm Constructive vs Destructive Criticism activity o Like the activity before, I will define the terms “constructive criticism” and “destructive criticism.” I will then give each employee examples of both, unlabeled, on paper. I will ask them to label each and then as a group we will discuss their answers. Again, this allows them to see how their communication makes others feel and gives them an idea of how to correct it. · 1pm-1:30pm Final Questions and Farewell o I will ask the group if anyone has any questions about me or the material and then thank them for allowing me to speak. The Interpersonal Skills Workshop continued I will not charge the employees to attend this workshop because I think it is up to the employer to ensure its employees are learning material outside of their designated job tasks. Therefore, the bill for my services will be sent to the Lowe’s corporate office. The employees will be allowed to wear casual clothing and do not have to register for this workshop, there will be a sign-in sheet at the door as proof of attendance. I want this workshop to be dress-casual because I want the employees to feel comfortable and relaxed. I feel they will absorb and possibly implement the material better this way. The Budget · Coffee is provided by Lowe’s in the breakroom · Doughnuts- $16.00 (about $8 per dozen) · Papa John’s Pizza- $36 (about $12 per pizza) · Assorted Soda- $8 (about $4 per 12-pack) · Pack of notebook paper about $5 · Pack of number 2 pencils about $4 · Total Spent- $69 Interpersonal Skills Matching Worksheet Match the term to the correct definition.
1. Interpersonal Skills 2. Verbal Communication 3. Non-verbal Communication 4. Listening Skills 5. Negotiation 6. Problem-Solving 7. Decision-Making 8. Assertiveness · How and what words are used to communicate with individuals · Tools people use to interact and communicate with individuals in an organized environment · The ability to hear attentively and process information correctly · Consists of facial expressions, body language, and hand gestures. · Having the ability to discuss and reach an agreement in a professional manner · The action or process of making decisions, especially important ones · Confident and forceful behavior · The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues.
Positive vs Negative Reinforcement Exercise
Label the following scenarios as “positive” or “negative.” Remember- rewarding good behaviors is positive reinforcement and reprimanding or disapproving of poor behaviors is negative reinforcement. IF the reinforcement does not produce the desired behavioral outcome, tell what the manager could have done differently to produce a better outcome.
1. Colton is a shy person and he is often quiet and reserved. He keeps his distance from other workers when he can and tries to work on his own. The managers notice when Colton talks and interacts with the other employees and praise him for coming out of his shell. This makes Colton want to communicate with his co-workers more. Answer:_________
2. Hunter is a good worker when he wants to be, sometimes he loses focus and is more concerned with fooling around with his co-workers rather than work. The manager notices this and yells at Hunter in front of his co-workers. This makes Hunter feel embarrassed and ultimately does NOT change his behavior. Answer:_________
3. Lauren is new on the job and wants to be successful. She grabs a box of merchandise from the truck and places it on what she thinks is the correct pallet. The manager walks by, sees that a mistake has been made and throws the box off the pallet without saying anything. This makes Lauren feel nervous and she continues to make mistakes. Answer:_________
Constructive vs Destructive Criticism Activity
Label each scenario with “Constructive” or “Destructive.” Remember- Constructive criticism helps the receiver improve in the future. Destructive criticism is more like an insult- it discourages the receiver and offers no help for future completion of the task.
1. Andrew is using the forklift to unload a pallet of merchandise. After securing the pallet on the forks he begins to exit the trailer. On the way out of the trailer, the pallet falls backwards, and boxes cover the floor. The manager sees this happen and says, “You almost had it, buddy! Slow down a little next time and lift up the pallet more before you exit.” Answer:_________
2. Ethan is carrying multiple boxes of merchandise from the truck. He places them on their respective pallets. As he does so, a manager walks by and realizes that Ethan has made a mistake. She yells, “Ethan, aren’t you in college? Shouldn’t you know how to read by now?” Answer:_________
3. Noah is a new employee on the unload team. A pallet has just been unloaded off the truck and the boxes of merchandise need to be placed on the right pallets. Noah starts sorting the boxes. The manager sees Noah place a box on the wrong pallet and says, “Noah, this box actually goes on that pallet over there, try looking at the aisle number on the label instead of wording.”
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