In Basket? What to do?
As a manager of a shoe store I was faced with many tasks in my in box, the question was, what do I do and what can I delegate? I have two shift supervisors/assistant managers and seven associates who work the selling floor. The shift supervisors/assistant managers only have authority when I am not in the store.
After being away for three days the following items were in my in basket:
• Two applications for jobs (no positions open right now).
• A note to call Mary (salesclerk) about vacation schedule.
• A notice that the mall will be changing hours for the upcoming holiday and requesting notice of store plans.
• A customer complaint regarding product quality.
• Four shipping receipts indicating that about 130 pairs of shoes have been delivered and need to be stocked.
• Bids from three companies responding to requests for bids on a cash register system (each store chooses its own).
• A notice from the fire department of an impending inspection.
• A note that the rest room is out of order.
• Notice from the company headquarters that a holiday sale will begin soon.
• Five advertisements and two catalogs from various vendors.
In order to be effective as the manager of the store, I needed to come up with a plan that would help me to complete all the tasks in my in basket along with my daily work. In looking at the list there are items that I need to complete, items that my assistant managers can complete and items that the store associates can complete.
The items in my “in basket” that I felt could be delegated to the associates to complete were taking care of the rest room and restocking the shoes that had been delivered. Not really knowing what the situation was in the restroom, I felt that an associate could assess the situation and let me know if the mall management needed to be contacted. When I posted this to our class discussion thread...