Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your thirty hours?

With store management, there are four rules that I generally view as important. (as does many other experts who have written books, articles, etc. on store management.) Two of those, I plan to highlight and go in-depth. My independent component 1 will be centered around organization of product and logistics in the context of stores. Organization of product is extremely self-explanatory, but very important to dig deeper and explain exactly why it's so crucial in order to run a successful store. Now logistics is an entirely different subject, but can tie in with organization of product. To get the the main focus of the question, within the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, I plan to reorganize a variety of items to a point where it can be organized, easily accessible, and labeled by field of product. Example, if I'm running a Home Depot store, I want lumber related products and plywood next to each other, nails and screws in the same department, toilet components next to toilets. Very simple when you look at the surface, but not in practice. It takes quite a bit of manpower and planning to actually do simple things like that, especially if you haven't organized product in a long time and things have just accumulated overtime.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing thirty hours of evidence?
At the moment, my ReStore on a daily basis receives incoming goods and it takes a while to completely clear up the indoor loading dock area, where we receive our products and merchandise. Putting it simply, it's usually always packed with things that need to be priced and taken out on the floor. By using photographs, I'd say it's very easy to document over time my personal progress. As I take the photographs, the pictures will be documented by days, and I'll take two pictures, one before and one after, in order to track the daily progress I've made. The hours will be documented by my volunteer sheets. Example, I may finish my thirty hours by going in ten times for three hours each. I'd say that's the most logical way to document this.

3. And explain what you will be doing will help explore your topic more in depth.
As I've said before, product organization and logistics are very important in running a store. Right off of the bat, I plan to cover two topics and put them into practice. I could get the leadership topic done if I have other people within the store help me, but I'd prefer to start with the former. By organizing product and managing exactly what I get on the loading dock, it can help give insight on what happens behind the scenes in just stores in general. All stores have to receive, document, and organize their products. It's a never ending cycle.