My First Shift!

We're officially open! YAY! So here's a little info about my very first shift! After 10 days of intensive training you would think I was on the ball ready to go, ready for anything and everything. Let's be honest - I was nervous! Fortunately for me, my first day was fairly slow; and by fairly I mean that I didn't serve one person except for myself because I wanted to practice my milkshaking skills (which still need a bit more practice).

Because I don't have much to tell I'm going to spill more about my second day because it was a little more exciting! The first order I got for a milkshake was interesting. I tried not to let the customer see that I had to think hard about the process, but I think it was pretty obvious since I was going so slow. So what did I do? I was honest!! After making the milkshake I made sure he told me how it tasted. After the first one, it was easy. This is all part of the learning experience. I'm definitely more of a hands on person so as the shift continued on I started to feel more comfortable with the things I was doing. I had to remind myself that I learned everything I need to know to feel comfortable here and to actually do everything. So yes, I gave myself a little pep talk :)

The closing process isn't so fun when you're doing it by yourself. However, at least I can say that now I know how to do each thing. This made me so excited to finally meet all the crew members so that for future closing shifts it might be a little more exciting!

I'll be posting with more fun and embarassing moments at the Zone so stay tuned!

Ashley :)

RZ Managers Invade New Student Convocation

As we know Convocation is the first and only time the entire first-year class will be together. Because of the volume of students attending this event, the Student Life staff has their work cut out for them in terms of preparation and ensuring the event runs smoothly, and can use all the help they can get. As a part of the Student Life Department, we assisted in setting up the field, ensuring each residence hall was present, directing student traffic and making sure the students stayed through the entire ceremont. Once the event was over, we quickly got to work assisting with the breakdown of the field. We worked very hard to pack up all the sound equipment and cables as well as putting away the flags and pop-up tents.

To be honest Convocation isn't the most exciting day and I was not looking forward to it, however once everything was said and done, I felt that it turned out to be a good team-building event for all of us. We had to break into two groups and work together to communicate and make sure the information was passed on to the right people to make the event run smoothly. In addition, we all had to work together to break down and pack up the audio equipment, which took a lot of effort. At the end of the day I was very tired, yet felt accomplished and proud to be part of the RutgersZone management team and a part of Rutgers University Student Life.

Keep Following Us!

--Joelle

Student Life Day: 8/26 (RZ Scrimmage!)

Student Life Day. It was the true test of our competence in our new roles. All of the student leadership teams (Facility managers, area managers, etc) and RUPA along with other Student Life Family members gathered for an epic team building activity at the RutgersZone. I felt like this was a preseason game. We were serving and catering to our fellow Student Life Employees, volunteers, and Staff; so perhaps it was more like a scrimmage.

Ali of course was perfect in remembering all the saftey procedures during our shift. Phylisha was singing and dancing to Joelle's "Dance Mix" Playlist. Adam was galavanting behind the bar scooping perfect ice cream cones and making friends with everyone. Matt was announcing on the microphone. Lisa was handing out millions of tokens. Ashley, new to student life, was assimilating wonderfully. And somewhere in between my aching feet and cheesy grin, I was mindful that we've still got a lot to learn...

Keep following us! and come stop by to say hello!

---Becky

Training Day Eight: 8/25 (Campfire Love!)

What a ride it has been! Today was our last official day of training in the zone. We started the morning off with First Aid Training which scurred me a little bit! Its finally settling in that yes, I am a manager and if/when emergencies happen it will be my responsibility to take control and handle everything. Am I prepared - I'm gonna go with HECK YES.

This day was full of all sorts of other important information as well. After the First Aid Training we also had a fire marshall come in and talk to us about fire safety. This is especially important because we are offering a fire pit as a special service for events. It is also important for accidental reason (say if someone pulls the fire alarm).

An RUPD officer came in as well to give us advice on certain situations should they happen. Although we were talking about scary events that could possibly occur she was calm and I think it made us all feel safe and that we had their support when needed.

My absolute favorite part of the day and of the training experience at large was the campfire we had that night! We learned how to build a fire and then sat around roasting marshmellows and making s'mores. We all had great conversation about what we thought about the training as a whole and what our fears and expectations were. We started this adventure as strangers and now I feel like we are not only a team, but are also a family. :)

I can honestly say that it is refreshing to be around a group of people who are equally excited about this job and experience. We all believe in each other and have faith that this is going to turn out to be something great!

Keep checking in to see how we do our first couple of weeks!

Until next time,

Ashley !

Training Day Seven: 8/24 (Insert Witty Name Here)

Ok so I think I’ve learned a bit about blog writing since my last post, so hopefully this will be more readable. Tuesday was a very important day for us because we had both CPR training and a food safety presentation. Because we are going to be serving food, understanding sanitary practices and being able to teach them to the crew is very important. I am also a public health major, so being the nerd that I am found this very interesting. But first we had CPR. I walked into the Zone and there were 5 torsos chilling on the ground, which was kind of creepy, but necessary for training. Our instructor was Mark, a member of the Rutgers Emergency Services corps. We watched the instructional video, and everyone thought it was kind of funny when the actors would yell “THE SCENE IS SAFE” and “YOU! CALL 911 AND GET AN AED!” when no one was standing there, and even we felt kinda silly when practicing. But when it was time to take the test, it hit me that one day I might have to do this for someone, and made sure I had all the steps down.

We then ate lunch and had some individual work time, but then it was time for food safety (excellent). This summer I had an internship with the Middlesex County Health Department, and had been mentioning tidbits to the others during training. Now it was time to prove that I was not crazy, and that things such as washing your hands for 20 seconds, changing your gloves frequently when touching ready to eat foods, and preventing the presence of drain flies are actually important for providing sanitary service to our customers. John Nason, Rutgers University Sanitarian (cool title, eh?), came and discussed with us some concerns that would specifically apply to the Zone, but also would apply to any other establishment. For instance, hand washing is super important, and should be done before beginning work, after sneezing or coughing, and after basically doing anything that would contaminate your hands. Also, gloves are not a substitute for proper hand washing!! You should always wash your hands before preparing food, and wash them for at least 20 seconds under hot water with soap. This will ensure that more bacteria is removed from your hands, and make for a more sanitary experience.

Following that, we met with Neela and Kathryn and went over policies and responsibilities at the Livingston Student Center. This was important to acquaint everyone with rooms and other student roles in the facility so we can all work together.
Overall, we learned a lot today about how to make your experience in the RutgersZone a safe one.

Ali

Training Day Six: 8/23 (Training Day but no Denzel....)

Today was not as eventful as the other days we have had, but it was still very informative. Today we were trained in Buzztime Trivia. It is a channel on TV, just like Fox or Nickelodeon, which has interactive trivia games for people to play while sitting at the bar. The training wasn’t hard because using the playmakers, which are the controllers you play the game with, was simple. Our instructor, who came from California to teach us about the game, went over everything that we would need to know. The format was easy to follow which helps us when trying to help a customer use it, or when teaching our crew what to do. I think Buzztime is a cool way to compete against friends when drinking at the bar, plus people will like that it’s free.


After that our next training was how to manage and operate the cash register. We learned about all the procedures we would have to do when opening or closing the Zone. Now unlike the earlier training with Buzztime, this training was less simple and forced me to ask a lot of questions. I mean you want to be sure of what you’re doing when dealing with someone’s money, right. We practiced very different scenarios of what type of customers we would encounter and how to charge them appropriately. This is probably the area that I am most nervous about because it’s not something you instantly get. You have to practice at using the machine and getting used to the buttons. Then it adds stress that we are the managers that handle everything from refunds to exchanges with the machine. Even though this is my main worry when being on shift I know that I’ll get used to using it sooner than I think.

Cash management defiantly let me know that in the position I have been given, I hold a lot of responsibility. I need to pay attention at all times and be careful when doing a transaction. This is important because if something is off with the money count and I’m manager on duty than the mistake falls on me. It also means that I am responsible for helping my crew because they will always turn to me when they need, just like us managers turn to Matt for all the answers. I literally remember when we were talking about voiding items I said to myself “Oh my gosh, I feel like a manager.”

The last thing we did that night was discuss “The 1 Minute Manager”. This book was a short fictional tale, of a young man in search of the “perfect” manager. In his search he finds a boss known as the “One Minute Manager.” This manager is unique to all others because, he isn’t TOO stern or TOO lenient. He gives his workers 1 minute goals, 1 minute praisings, and 1 minute reprimands. All of it put together equals a healthy, thriving work atmosphere. The book was intended to teach us how as new mangers we should handle our crew. I think the main point I grabbed was that people react more to positivity than to negativity. Yelling at someone to do their job is less effective than asking politely but with authority. It also helps to illustrate how we should treat each other as leaders of this new venture.

That’s it for now,
Phylisha =)

Training Day Five: 8/22 (Team Building)

After a fun filled day at the Jersey Shore, we started out our Sunday with team building exercises (Team Building Exercise '99 anyone??). These exercises were led by Mike Abdallah from Student Life Marketing. The first exercise we did was one you may have experienced- each person is given a mat and has to cross over water or lava without touching anything but the mat, aka if your feet touch the floor you have to go back to the beginning. So all 7 of us strategized and thought we had a decent plan- each person would pass the mats up the line and everyone would step up the line, continuing until we reached the other side. This went well until we lost one mat, and then another and 3 of our team got sent back to shore.


Because we did not want to lose the challenge, we had to think of a new way to get everyone, not just the people who still had mats, across the water. Through scooting alone, and alternating, everyone got across except Joelle. We had 2 mats left. The first one hit the water, so it did not count. We then had to think again, and ended up rolling the mat and tossing it like a football. Joelle caught it and we all cheered, then she dropped it to the ground and we lost the challenge because the mat was not being touched! It was funny, but also taught us that we need to think about all team members and how we can help them succeed, and how each person can contribute unique ideas that create a viable solution.

We did some other team-builders, including a timed number sequencing drill, where we learned how important it is to ask questions about the problem before attempting to solve it, and listen carefully to directions when given. We also did an exercise where half the team could not speak, and we had to rearrange the order we were standing in. This frustrated me because I couldn't talk and couldn't figure out a way to communicate my thoughts, but also reminded me of the importance of listening to others. We eventually found the solution, but it took a lot of do-overs and group communication.



We did some other exercises that day, but more importantly were able to connect the skills we practiced during team building to the management style discussion we had later. We talked about things we were worried about, how we would treat each other and crew, and the importance of recognizing people for doing things right. Overall, it was a helpful day, and I learned a lot. There is so much to learn in such a short period of time, and much more to learn on the job! It is overwhelming at times, but I am confident that we will pick it up. As they say, practice makes perfect.

Ali