Looking back on the year
Hello.
It has been a while.
For a long time, I couldn't write a sentence...
Days passed by as I collected ideas, thinking, "I should write about that" or "This would be good too."
Normally, I would have been extremely angry, but you just waited, and I am so grateful and sorry.
Today marks the 16th time I've written a blog.
After such a long absence, it is now April and a new term has begun, so I would like to write on the theme of "Looking back on the past year."
April 2020
At that time, I was still in the old store.
Normally, new managers are transferred in April and a new term begins, but due to a large amount of handover work, this was the first time that the new and old store managers had the opportunity to work together for a month.
The new store manager was being transferred from a store in a shopping mall to a street-level store, so there were many big differences from before, and it looked like it would be very difficult.
To cut to the chase, it seems that it wasn't until March of the following year that the new store manager finally felt like he was having fun. When I heard the other day that he truly felt from the bottom of his heart, "Ah, this is fun! Now!", I was happy too. It's not easy to adapt to change, but the sense of accomplishment you get when you overcome it and complete the project. Creating an environment where everyone can work happily and smile is not easy, but when it's completed, it leads to a sense of fulfillment.
Going back to the main topic, April was mainly a transition period. I only communicated with the current store by phone and email, and only dropped in briefly on my days off.
May 2020
I started working at my current store around the 10th, after Golden Week in May. I also moved in May. Yes, May was a hectic month with my transfer and move.
Since I was transferred across prefectures, I had to deal with customers and was constantly going back and forth.
May was a month in which I was busy out and about, delivering properties to customers who have always been kind to me.
In my case, when I go out a lot, I tend to get a sense of accomplishment, which leads to a recharge of motivation. One of the reasons for this recharge of motivation is that the interior design that I only had in my mind is completed and a wonderful space is created right before my eyes.
I think that anyone who works in interior design would agree that this is a sparkling moment. Another reason, and I think that many people would agree, is that they get to hear the customers' exclamations of admiration and joy, "Wow!"
This applies not only to work but also to everyday life, but it's always nice to see others happy, no matter how big or small the occasion.
We are filled with gratitude to our customers when they make a purchase, but when they make something so wonderful and say thank you to us, it really motivates us.
I feel motivated to work hard so that I can hear more of those voices! May was the month when I was increasingly motivated.
June 2020
To be honest, I don't remember anything about June.
One thing I remember is the extremely crowded summer sale.
Is it an incident?
Although there was already an issue with the limited parking space, this incident made me realize that an interior design boom is upon us!
It was around this time that people all over the world started to turn their attention to their homes, as they were spending more time at home and couldn't travel, and they started thinking, "Let's make our homes more comfortable!"
The number of customers exceeded our expectations, so we did not have security guards on duty (we always have security guards on duty on days when we expect the store to be busy), and all of our staff worked together to guide customers and provide customer service.
This was a memorable experience for me, both because it made me very happy and because it was so difficult. When difficult days continue, it can easily affect the mental health of the staff, and I have vague memories of it being mentally difficult as well.
I suddenly realized that I have grown in the way I can say "vaguely." The reason is that I was not very good at dealing with changes in the staff's hearts or negativity.
I was the type of person who could easily become a burden to my mind. Looking at it objectively, I often wondered how I could become a store manager, and there were many times when I thought about quitting because it wasn't for me.
Up until now, I would have thought it was one of the worst three things that had happened to me, and would have been so upsetting that I wouldn't have been able to say "vaguely." But now that I've learned to be okay with it, and to be able to say, "It's okay, it'll get better!", I've been able to express it as "vaguely."
Praising yourself like this and motivating yourself is one of the things I've learned since becoming a store manager.
Even though I said I had no memory of June, I managed to write a lot. In fact, I wrote too much.
This is getting long, so I'll wrap it up for today by looking back on the quarter.
Please join me as I look back over the next nine months.
It might be fun to "look back on the past year" together! ^^
(text: Shimazaki)
SHIMAZAKI AYAKO
I loved redecorating and constantly rearranging my room as a child, and before I knew it, 12 years have passed since I started working in interior design. I am the manager of two different interior design shops, and I've recently started working in the e-commerce business. I'm a bundle of curiosity, and although I have a high level of concentration, my persistence is quite low, so I'm secretly worried about writing a blog.