Week 8
This week at Blizzard Beach I did my training in ticket selling. Before I could do my OJT I needed to take a class at Disney University called "Ticket Talk." This was an 8 hour class, which I was paid for, and it went over the basics of how to operate the ticketing program. It was only meant to give us a bird's eye view of tickets knowing that most of our learning would be done during OJT. This class to get us familiar with everything.
When I started my OJT I was again given the "Earning My Ears" ribbon to attach to my name tag. This was solely done to "protect" me from guests so they wouldn't yell or scream at me. I was given 3 days of OJT with ticket which wasn't nearly enough. While I felt the two days of OJT training was enough for working a turnstile there are just so many different tickets and different situations that arise when working a ticket booth for 3 days to be enough. Some things I learned how to perform: selling a ticket with cash or credit card, redeeming a voucher, reissuing a ticket, upgrading a ticket, cast tickets, annual passes, looking up lost ticket, and explaining all the different Disney tickets to our guests. Each one of these involves at least 5 steps and you have to know where to go and what to click in each situation. It was very confusing but at the end of the 3rd day I felt like I wouldn't be totally lost working on my own but knowing full well I didn't know everything that could come up.
I also got to experience something that rarely happens at the turnstiles, guests yelling at you. It is understandable when you consider just how much money a family will spend on tickets that they will be angry when they don't have an option they thought they did. Also, trying to explain the complexity of Disney tickets to the public is quite a challenge, and that increases 10 fold when the guest doesn't speak English. It was important to remember that the guest may be yelling at you but they aren't really yelling AT you, they are just needing someone to vent to and unfortunately that is Guest Relations.
I feel that the training and time spent inside the ticket booth will serve me well in the future. Not only do now have ticket selling experience at one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, but I also learned more valuable guest service techniques. We are instructed to let a guest vent a bit and then respond with, "I am going to help you." This shows the guest that you were listening and that you care about their situation and are going to do your best to help them out.
I also learned about Disney Magic. It is a database that Disney has created for guests that receive any sort of comp from the company. Every guest who has had a comp issued for anything, tickets, room, dinning, or anything else is in the database. We can pull up the individual and see all of the comps the guest has received their entire lives and why they were given what they were. This is used to keep track of any guests that may be trying to take advantage of the Disney guest service and are just out to get free things from the company. The more comps a guest has received the less likely they are to receive one in the future.
My second Disney Leadership class was this week as well. We learned about how a successful business starts with making sure that the employees are happy. We then turned our attention to the Disney Leader Basics: I demonstrate a commitment to cast members, I know and manage my operation and teach it to cast members, I lead and monitor cast performance and operational improvements.
What we saw in this class was the very first thing that a new leader will learn when they are being trained by Disney. I was instantly able to see these basics in action when thinking of my manager Heather at Blizzard Beach. Heather is always visible and she knows the tickets and turnstiles inside out. She told me early on that if I ever had any questions on how she handled a guest situation the way she did to just ask. She has always been very open when it comes to dealing with difficult guests and why she did what she did.
I like the fact that my manager is always visible. I have worked many jobs where if a manager was seen coming it was a sure fire sign that something was wrong. At Disney though the managers are always present and sometimes they are just there to talk with cast members. They are always close by if you ever need them for something and I feel totally comfortable around my manager to the point where I don't even notice that she is there any more, that's how often she is around the turnstiles. This is something that I would like to do when I am in a manager position. I want to always be visible to my workers and not have it be a sign of bad things if they see me around.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
More Journal Entries
Back to get more "work" done for that Eastern thing. Totally going out of order at this point, so enjoy a recent update haha.
Week 9
This week in my Disney Leadership class we talked about approaching conflict and recognition. We learned about the five ways to approach a conflict: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating. Everyone uses these five approaches at some point when they encounter a conflict. They may not use them all for a single conflict but at some time in their lives everyone will use each of these. Disney wants its leaders to use all five of these approaches when dealing with their teams and cast members. We learned about what happens when you overuse and under use each of these approaches. Some lead to a hostile work environment or stunted internal growth while others can lead to anarchy. If a leader dos not balance each of these approaches the end result is that the team is not accomplishing the goals that the company has set out to deliver great guest satisfaction.
Disney has each of its leaders take a test that reveals the leader's "go to" approach when dealing with conflict. It ranks the five approaches and Disney then trains the leader on how to use some of the approaches that the individual is less inclined to use. Disney does this because, as I said earlier, Disney believes that a leader must have a balance of all five approaches in order to run their team of cast members smoothly.
This part of class was very useful to me as it made me think about what approach I tend to use when leading a team. I find that I use collaborating the most. I want to work with everyone on my team, have everyone share their ideas, and then pick the best route. I also remember times when I have avoided conflict simply because if I were to respond at that instance of the conflict I would have said something I would later regret. Sometimes it is best to leave something alone for a while and then reapproach it once emotions have died down.
It also made me think of which approach I need to use more often and I realized that I need to use competing a little bit more. When using the competing approach it is "my way or the high way." There is no room for discussion and it is my decision and mine only and you don't care how your cast responds to it. There are just some instances when a leader has to make a decision and follow through on it regardless of how the cast may feel. Safety is one of these instances. Disney values safety before everything else and has a very specific way that all cast members are to operate in their jobs for safety. There is no room for discussion in this instance.
Below is a chart that ranks the five approaches in terms of assertiveness and comparativeness.
******DRAW IN CHART WHEN BACK IN MICHIGAN******
We also learned about recognizing your employees and why Disney recognizes its cast members. Disney wants its leaders to appreciate, recognize, and encourage their cast members. This leads to the cast doing their best, wanting to grow both personally and professionally, which leads to growth in the organization.
Disney recognizes the individual because it influences the cast member's work experience, affects the cast member's performance, and influences their behavior. Disney recognizes the team because it promotes teamwork, collaboration, camaraderie, improves moral, and makes team goals more attainable.
Disney recognizes through Global Programs, Divisional Programs, and Cast Activities. Global Programs are things such as family holiday celebration (coupons and discounts), guest service fanatic cars (for exceptional guest service), and the partners in excellence award which is the highest award a cast member can earn.
Divisional Programs are done at the team level and are done by the local managers. Examples are: retirement parties, local partners in excellence, followers for a birthday or death in the family, and potluck-lunches.
Disney also has Cast Activities throughout the year such as clubs, sports, special events, and instructional programs.
This made me think of what I could do in my future jobs to recognize the people I work with and work for me. It doesn't need to be something elaborate or expensive. However, it should be personalized to the person and the work location.
This was also my last week at Blizzard Beach. I will start working turnstiles at Epcot next week. I will have four days of training at my new work location and I will have to retake the test that I already passed at Blizzard Beach.
Week 9
This week in my Disney Leadership class we talked about approaching conflict and recognition. We learned about the five ways to approach a conflict: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating. Everyone uses these five approaches at some point when they encounter a conflict. They may not use them all for a single conflict but at some time in their lives everyone will use each of these. Disney wants its leaders to use all five of these approaches when dealing with their teams and cast members. We learned about what happens when you overuse and under use each of these approaches. Some lead to a hostile work environment or stunted internal growth while others can lead to anarchy. If a leader dos not balance each of these approaches the end result is that the team is not accomplishing the goals that the company has set out to deliver great guest satisfaction.
Disney has each of its leaders take a test that reveals the leader's "go to" approach when dealing with conflict. It ranks the five approaches and Disney then trains the leader on how to use some of the approaches that the individual is less inclined to use. Disney does this because, as I said earlier, Disney believes that a leader must have a balance of all five approaches in order to run their team of cast members smoothly.
This part of class was very useful to me as it made me think about what approach I tend to use when leading a team. I find that I use collaborating the most. I want to work with everyone on my team, have everyone share their ideas, and then pick the best route. I also remember times when I have avoided conflict simply because if I were to respond at that instance of the conflict I would have said something I would later regret. Sometimes it is best to leave something alone for a while and then reapproach it once emotions have died down.
It also made me think of which approach I need to use more often and I realized that I need to use competing a little bit more. When using the competing approach it is "my way or the high way." There is no room for discussion and it is my decision and mine only and you don't care how your cast responds to it. There are just some instances when a leader has to make a decision and follow through on it regardless of how the cast may feel. Safety is one of these instances. Disney values safety before everything else and has a very specific way that all cast members are to operate in their jobs for safety. There is no room for discussion in this instance.
Below is a chart that ranks the five approaches in terms of assertiveness and comparativeness.
******DRAW IN CHART WHEN BACK IN MICHIGAN******
We also learned about recognizing your employees and why Disney recognizes its cast members. Disney wants its leaders to appreciate, recognize, and encourage their cast members. This leads to the cast doing their best, wanting to grow both personally and professionally, which leads to growth in the organization.
Disney recognizes the individual because it influences the cast member's work experience, affects the cast member's performance, and influences their behavior. Disney recognizes the team because it promotes teamwork, collaboration, camaraderie, improves moral, and makes team goals more attainable.
Disney recognizes through Global Programs, Divisional Programs, and Cast Activities. Global Programs are things such as family holiday celebration (coupons and discounts), guest service fanatic cars (for exceptional guest service), and the partners in excellence award which is the highest award a cast member can earn.
Divisional Programs are done at the team level and are done by the local managers. Examples are: retirement parties, local partners in excellence, followers for a birthday or death in the family, and potluck-lunches.
Disney also has Cast Activities throughout the year such as clubs, sports, special events, and instructional programs.
This made me think of what I could do in my future jobs to recognize the people I work with and work for me. It doesn't need to be something elaborate or expensive. However, it should be personalized to the person and the work location.
This was also my last week at Blizzard Beach. I will start working turnstiles at Epcot next week. I will have four days of training at my new work location and I will have to retake the test that I already passed at Blizzard Beach.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Guess Mike was right
So before I left Mike told me that I would update this blog for a few weeks and then totally forget about it once I got down here. He was right. Not that I have totally forgotten about it. It's just that there is always something more exciting to do than to work on my weekly journal entry for Eastern.
I went to Sea World and Islands of Adventure the past weekend, Harry Potter was amazing even though I have never read a book nor seen a movie. I am moving to Epcot on November 3rd. The days of my country club like hours are over. My first day I have to be there at 7am and the second day I work till 10pm. It is going to be a shock to my body to get up at 5:30!
I am also now trained as a Walt Disney World ticket seller. Holy cow that's a complicated job with all the different types of tickets, the upgrades, the reissuing of tickets, and of course, the ticked off people who scream at you because they bought the wrong ticket before and it is now all your fault.
So now I should really move on to BSing my way through a few weeks of journal entries that I am going to be turning in when I get back. Let's see, that last journal entry I did was week one...good...so week 2 I guess?
Week 2
After my Traditions class I had a few down days to settle in and get familiar with the Disney World property. Before I was allowed to start working as a park greeter at Blizzard Beach water park I had to do the park orientation which all properties have. Blizzard's is called Forecast Blizzard. There we learn about the park and its history, sort of a smaller Traditions class. We also were taken on a walking tour of the park so that we were familiar with where things are located inside. History is a big part of the Disney Company. They like to share it and have all their employees know about the company. This helps in creating a since of ownership for every cast member with their work location which leads to more productive workers.
While out in the park we were broken up into groups of four and we were given the task of acting as a guest and interacting with working cast members. We were looking to see how they displayed the four Disney Basics: I project a positive energy, I am courteous to every guest including children, I stay in character and play the part, and I go above and beyond. Afterwards we shared to the group and reviewed these Basics.
Lastly we had to go through a safety course called Safety in Motion. Here we learned about how to move through our work place safely and how to perform certain tasks, such as lifting, in a way that would not put stress on our bodies. This protects Disney in that they can say that they provided training to all of their workers in how to prevent injuries.
Forecast Blizzard lasted about six hours. After which I had to complete some online training. These courses were in power point format and at the end of each course was a mini assessment in which I had to answer a set number of questions correctly in order to pass.
Week 3
I started my training this week as a Park Greeter. Whenever a cast member starts a new job they receive on job training, or OJT. I was provided with a trainer who I was with for two days. Each job has a set training length. I met my trainer at the cast servicing building and he walked me through an entire day. I was shown how to clock in and where to go after. It wasn't long after I was given a brief overview of how to operate a Walt Disney World turnstile that I was put on one. My trainer was there the whole time watching me and helping me out whenever a situation arose. The training process is broken down into very specific requirements, with time guides. Example: 30 minutes observing turnstiles, 1 hour working turnstile, 30 minutes observing wheelchair gate, 1 hour working wheelchair gate.
While I was training I was given a red ribbon to hang off my name tag that read "Earing My Ears." This was so that both cast members and guests knew that I was new and acted as a bit of a safety blanket. I liked the idea of a training ribbon and thought of all my previous jobs and how useful something like this would have been. Instead of having to introduce myself to coworkers and explaining that I am new. Here, if you see the ribbon you instantly know and you instinctively go out of your way to help them out.
I opened my first day of training and I closed my second. OJT is suppose to expose the trainee to all the possible situations that will arise on the job. I was back on the turnstiles and learned about the closing procedures. Now, is two days enough time for you to master all the aspects of the job? Absolutely not. However, I found that my cast members were very helpful since they knew that I was new and were aware that two days is not enough for a person to master the job.
At the end of the second day i had to take a 50 question written test with a certain score that I had to meet in order to pass my training. The questions were designed to again test me in every aspect of the job and to review the tasks that I had been completing the two days of OJT. Once I passed I was able to remove my ribbon and the next day I was on my own. After the test I had to electronically sign a form saying that I received my training and that I feel able to perform all aspects of my job.
I really liked the training that I received at Disney and found it to be better than any job I have had before. I would have liked for the training to be a little longer, but I understand that part of training is also doing the job on your own and learning from your mistakes, and learning from your cast members. This training was very structured and organized with a check list that my trainer had to check off as I experienced the situation on the job.
Alright that's enough for now. Perhaps latter tonight I will write some more, if not that tomorrow for sure. I am trying to figure out how many weeks I have been down here so I have a journal for each week.
I went to Sea World and Islands of Adventure the past weekend, Harry Potter was amazing even though I have never read a book nor seen a movie. I am moving to Epcot on November 3rd. The days of my country club like hours are over. My first day I have to be there at 7am and the second day I work till 10pm. It is going to be a shock to my body to get up at 5:30!
I am also now trained as a Walt Disney World ticket seller. Holy cow that's a complicated job with all the different types of tickets, the upgrades, the reissuing of tickets, and of course, the ticked off people who scream at you because they bought the wrong ticket before and it is now all your fault.
So now I should really move on to BSing my way through a few weeks of journal entries that I am going to be turning in when I get back. Let's see, that last journal entry I did was week one...good...so week 2 I guess?
Week 2
After my Traditions class I had a few down days to settle in and get familiar with the Disney World property. Before I was allowed to start working as a park greeter at Blizzard Beach water park I had to do the park orientation which all properties have. Blizzard's is called Forecast Blizzard. There we learn about the park and its history, sort of a smaller Traditions class. We also were taken on a walking tour of the park so that we were familiar with where things are located inside. History is a big part of the Disney Company. They like to share it and have all their employees know about the company. This helps in creating a since of ownership for every cast member with their work location which leads to more productive workers.
While out in the park we were broken up into groups of four and we were given the task of acting as a guest and interacting with working cast members. We were looking to see how they displayed the four Disney Basics: I project a positive energy, I am courteous to every guest including children, I stay in character and play the part, and I go above and beyond. Afterwards we shared to the group and reviewed these Basics.
Lastly we had to go through a safety course called Safety in Motion. Here we learned about how to move through our work place safely and how to perform certain tasks, such as lifting, in a way that would not put stress on our bodies. This protects Disney in that they can say that they provided training to all of their workers in how to prevent injuries.
Forecast Blizzard lasted about six hours. After which I had to complete some online training. These courses were in power point format and at the end of each course was a mini assessment in which I had to answer a set number of questions correctly in order to pass.
Week 3
I started my training this week as a Park Greeter. Whenever a cast member starts a new job they receive on job training, or OJT. I was provided with a trainer who I was with for two days. Each job has a set training length. I met my trainer at the cast servicing building and he walked me through an entire day. I was shown how to clock in and where to go after. It wasn't long after I was given a brief overview of how to operate a Walt Disney World turnstile that I was put on one. My trainer was there the whole time watching me and helping me out whenever a situation arose. The training process is broken down into very specific requirements, with time guides. Example: 30 minutes observing turnstiles, 1 hour working turnstile, 30 minutes observing wheelchair gate, 1 hour working wheelchair gate.
While I was training I was given a red ribbon to hang off my name tag that read "Earing My Ears." This was so that both cast members and guests knew that I was new and acted as a bit of a safety blanket. I liked the idea of a training ribbon and thought of all my previous jobs and how useful something like this would have been. Instead of having to introduce myself to coworkers and explaining that I am new. Here, if you see the ribbon you instantly know and you instinctively go out of your way to help them out.
I opened my first day of training and I closed my second. OJT is suppose to expose the trainee to all the possible situations that will arise on the job. I was back on the turnstiles and learned about the closing procedures. Now, is two days enough time for you to master all the aspects of the job? Absolutely not. However, I found that my cast members were very helpful since they knew that I was new and were aware that two days is not enough for a person to master the job.
At the end of the second day i had to take a 50 question written test with a certain score that I had to meet in order to pass my training. The questions were designed to again test me in every aspect of the job and to review the tasks that I had been completing the two days of OJT. Once I passed I was able to remove my ribbon and the next day I was on my own. After the test I had to electronically sign a form saying that I received my training and that I feel able to perform all aspects of my job.
I really liked the training that I received at Disney and found it to be better than any job I have had before. I would have liked for the training to be a little longer, but I understand that part of training is also doing the job on your own and learning from your mistakes, and learning from your cast members. This training was very structured and organized with a check list that my trainer had to check off as I experienced the situation on the job.
Alright that's enough for now. Perhaps latter tonight I will write some more, if not that tomorrow for sure. I am trying to figure out how many weeks I have been down here so I have a journal for each week.
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