Podcast Notes T1 Notes PDF

[Collaborates:] Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives. **Situation**:\ In my previous role, our lab's account with BOC was blocked due to unpaid invoices, preventing us from purchasing critical consumables. This issue not only impacted the lab but a...

[Collaborates:] Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives. **Situation**:\ In my previous role, our lab's account with BOC was blocked due to unpaid invoices, preventing us from purchasing critical consumables. This issue not only impacted the lab but also affected the Vet and Research teams, as well as BOC. The root cause stemmed from the lab being under the same financial umbrella as the Mars Wrigley site, which had poor invoice management practices. **Task**:\ I took ownership of the issue and initiated a project to address it, despite this not being a direct mandate from my line manager. My goal was to separate the lab's financial entity from Mars Wrigley to prevent recurring issues and rebuild trust with BOC. **Action**:\ To resolve this, I employed structured project coordination and effective stakeholder communication: - **Stakeholder Engagement**: I organized initial meetings with key stakeholders (BOC, Mars, and Ariba teams) to outline the problem, gather pain points, and propose objectives, ensuring alignment. WHY? If I wasn't to do this it could have affect the relationship between both suppliers in the long run and affect project engagement. - **Building Trust**: Invited BOC representatives for a site visit to understand our work's purpose, which helped build rapport and trust. WHY? To build a strong working relationship, feel a personal connection - **Process Management**: Scheduled and led weekly meetings with BOC, Mars, and financial representatives to address outstanding invoices. During these meetings, I: - Captured minutes and set clear, actionable next steps. - Ensured mutual agreement on actions and timelines. - Escalated unresolved items when necessary to maintain momentum. - **Collaboration and Flexibility**: Adjusted meeting times (from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) to accommodate stakeholders' availability, ensuring consistent engagement. **Result**:\ By implementing a structured and collaborative approach, we successfully achieved the project objectives. The lab was separated as a distinct financial entity under \"Petcare,\" streamlining communication by reducing contacts from six to three. Additionally, the lab accounts were unblocked, restoring purchasing capabilities and improving efficiency. The outstanding ledger invoices have been cleared by 50% since implementing the new WOW. WHY? BOC is one of our biggest suppliers that I use for our gas supplies and without them the labs work would come to a halt and affect the research we do on site. **Learnings**:\ Through this experience, I learned the importance of regular review and accountability in project actions to prevent delays. Adapting communication methods to team needs is also crucial to maintaining engagement. These insights have since informed my approach to managing other projects. [Communicated Effectively:] Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences. **Situation**:\ In my current role, I was tasked with facilitating an engineering project that involved servicing all lab fume hoods while simultaneously coordinating with multiple stakeholders, including engineers, lab users, and external vendors. There were overlapping projects on-site, tight deadlines, and a risk of miscommunication that could disrupt lab activities. **Task**:\ My responsibility was to ensure that all stakeholders were informed, aligned, and able to collaborate effectively while maintaining safety, minimizing disruption, and delivering the project within the timeline. **Action**: - Organized a kickoff meeting to bring together all stakeholders (lab users, facilities) to discuss objectives, schedules, and dependencies. - Sent out follow-up emails summarizing key outcomes and setting clear responsibilities for each party. - Created a visual communication tool---a detailed schedule and site map---outlining restricted areas, equipment locations, and movement paths to ensure clarity. - Sent advanced notices to lab users and site-wide communications to inform associates about temporary restrictions and changes in workflow. - Regularly checked in with stakeholders during the project, resolving any issues promptly, and used effective delegation to handle minor concerns (e.g., assigning lab owners to guide engineers during pipette clinics). - Managed an unexpected scheduling issue (miscommunication about roof access and fire sensor isolation) by escalating to the appropriate teams, quickly revising plans, and communicating changes clearly and efficiently. **Result**:\ The fume hood project was completed successfully, servicing all equipment within the set timeframe without disrupting critical lab activities. Feedback from stakeholders highlighted the clear and effective communication, which helped maintain alignment and avoided confusion. **Learning**:\ Clear and consistent communication is crucial for aligning stakeholders and minimizing disruptions. Visual aids and proactive updates play a vital role in ensuring clarity, especially for complex, multi-stakeholder projects. [Interpersonal Savvy:] Relating openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people. **Situation:**\ I planned a yearly FA team-building event for 15 members across all levels, including operations, research, labs, and facilities. To ensure inclusivity, the event took place on-site, accommodating everyone's schedules and maintaining safety for associates on-site. **Task:**\ The goal was to strengthen the team's ability to collaborate, understand each other's strengths and weaknesses, and foster personal and professional relationships within a diverse group. **Action:** - Initiated and led the planning process, providing guidance and influencing team decisions to ensure inclusivity and engagement. - Organized resources, including securing an allowance from leadership, catering to diverse dietary needs, and encouraging SM to involve the team in choosing cuisine through tools. - Suggested a mix of personal and professional activities, such as a Belbin assessment to identify strengths/weaknesses and a storytelling game for personal connection. - Observed team members during the event to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, and interpersonal dynamics (e.g., Will's motivational skills and Sophie's collaborative nature). - Used these observations to reallocate team members into subgroups that aligned with their strengths and supported their growth. **Result:** - Strengthened team dynamics, with better alignment of individuals' strengths to roles, leading to improved performance. For example, Will created a plan for the year's response tests and introduced motivational rewards to maintain engagement. - Increased cohesion and collaboration by catering to diverse needs and encouraging open communication, ensuring everyone felt valued. - Learned the importance of balancing physical and interactive activities for better engagement in future events. [Ensures Accountability:] Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments. Situation: I have been part of the First Aid (FA) team at WPSI for five years and, starting in January 2024, I took on the responsibility of leading the team, which consists of 15 members. My role is to build a confident and effective team by ensuring they are well-prepared for any FA situation, meet health and safety standards, and achieve the KPIs set for the team. Task: My key responsibility is to establish a strong team culture, starting from recruitment. I ensure members understand their responsibilities and are committed to maintaining safety across the site. It is also my job to engage, motivate, and hold team members accountable to ensure consistent performance. Action: - During recruitment, I clearly outline FA team responsibilities and expectations to ensure candidates are prepared for the role. - I assign members to sub-teams based on their strengths, weaknesses, and objectives, enabling the team to perform at its best. - I lead monthly and quarterly meetings where we review FA findings, discuss improvements, and assign actionable tasks with deadlines to maintain progress. - I analyze KPI data ahead of quarterly meetings to measure progress and tick off FA objectives. - Addressing underperformance: one member was not meeting the standard of answering FA phones at least twice a month. I took immediate action by scheduling one-on-one meetings to understand the issue, highlight the importance of their role, and create tailored improvement plans. Result: By maintaining strong communications with the team and holding them accountable to their actions, the member that was under performing improved and is not over achieving with phone pick up. As a result, all 15 FA team members now meet or exceed expectations, with each member answering FA phones more than twice a month, ensuring site safety and KPI success. Learnings: I learned that accountability and timely intervention are critical to maintaining high team standards. Flexibility in communication and tailored support can drive engagement and performance, but firm decisions are sometimes necessary to uphold team objectives. [Manages Complexity:] Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems. **Situation** In my current role, I am responsible for organizing and facilitating engineer visits to the labs, such as the fume hood PM, robot installs, and pipette clinics. Each visit comes with unique challenges and tight deadlines. **Task** My objective is to ensure that all equipment is serviced and fit for purpose, maintaining both lab user safety and data quality during sample analysis. **Action** 1. **Planning & Scheduling**: - Developed detailed schedules for engineers and labs, ensuring cleanliness protocols were adhered to prevent contamination. - Prioritized equipment servicing based on trial schedules and implemented a 24-hour stabilization period for balances after fume hood movement. 2. **Communication & Delegation**: - Communicated clear expectations to the team (e.g., pre-decontamination tasks, fume hood preparation) to ensure smooth facilitation. - Delegated pipette clinic responsibilities to lab owners and engineers, allowing me to focus on higher-impact tasks. 3. **Problem-Solving**: - Resolved scheduling miscommunication regarding roof access and fire sensor isolation by coordinating with facilities and security. - Issued work permits, arranged fire sensor isolation, and scheduled fire marshalling rotations to keep the project on track. 4. **Handling Competing Priorities**: - Addressed unrelated requests by guiding associates to follow proper protocols, buying time to focus on critical tasks. - Asked probing questions (e.g., impact and deadlines of delays) to determine urgency before escalating. **Result** - Successfully facilitated the servicing of 26 fume hoods across 9 labs within the 5-day timeline without extensions, despite initial scheduling issues. - Completed the first week of the pipette clinic on schedule. - Maintained efficiency and avoided disruptions by prioritizing high-impact tasks and leveraging effective communication. **Key Learnings** - Strong planning and communication are critical to managing multiple stakeholders and tight deadlines. - Delegation and adaptability allow you to tackle challenges without losing focus on priorities. [Plans & Aligns:] Planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals. **Situation** I was tasked with organizing the delivery of a 350kg freezer during busy working hours, requiring collaboration with the lab team, facilities, and suppliers. The freezer had to be transported through the heart of the center during peak hours (lunch), requiring careful pre-planning to ensure safety and compliance with health and safety regulations. **Task** Deliver the freezer safely while minimizing disruptions, avoiding incidents, and adhering to site protocols. **Action** - **Planning**: Organized a meeting to create a detailed delivery plan, gaining insights from stakeholders to ensure a smooth process. - **Communication**: - Shared site-wide emails a week in advance, including site maps to detail barriered-off areas and delivery routes. - Issued participant-specific emails outlining individual responsibilities and locations for traffic control, barrier setup, and freezer placement. - **Problem-Solving**: - Resolved a challenge with the lorry driver lacking proper banksman training. Contacted facilities to arrange last-minute support and ensure the vehicle exited safely. - Maintained professionalism while enforcing safety protocols, emphasizing the importance of proper documentation. - **Execution**: Coordinated participants during delivery, ensured all barriers were removed after the task, and restored the work area. **Result** - The freezer was delivered safely, with zero incidents or near misses. - Feedback highlighted my confidence in enforcing safety and proactive planning. **Learning** - Always prepare for contingencies, like having a banksman on standby, to avoid delays or impacting others\' workloads. - Safety must never be compromised---it\'s better to delay a task than to complete it unsafely. [Ambiguity:] Operating effectively, even when things are not certain, or the way forward is not clear. **Situation:**\ I stepped out of my comfort zone by moving departments from operations to labs, which required learning new technical and functional skills in a completely different working environment. **Task:**\ My goal was to understand the B2 to B3 progression, adapt to the lab\'s way of working, and align with its specific challenges to perform successfully and add value. **Action:** - Proactively arranged shadowing sessions with the current lab resource coordinator to learn daily tasks, challenges, and priorities. - Networked with lab team members to understand their roles and workflows, building rapport and gaining deeper insights into department dynamics. - Deep-dived into SOPs to bridge my knowledge gaps and compared operational and lab processes, focusing on time management and workload differences. - Sought regular feedback from my manager to ensure I was meeting expectations and to identify areas for improvement. **Result:** - Successfully transitioned into the lab role, leveraging my operational background to improve efficiency. - Reduced chemical disposal visits from 3 hours to 1 hour by preplanning, requesting data in advance, and encouraging lab teams to align chemicals with the external stakeholders' running order. - Enhanced collaboration between operations and labs, leading to smoother workflows and a better understanding of cross-departmental efficiencies. **Interview Qs** - My personal objectives is development -- and this will help me get to that next level. are there any development ops or training I can be put through once settled in the role - What challenges do you think I might face in the first six months, and how can I prepare to address them? - Is there anything else you would like me to elaborate on from what we have already discussed