Archived Unrealistic expectation?

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Psucnfmemd

DndkdZ
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Messages
6
Hi, the other day my LOD asked me to do a perfect zone from A30-A37ish, G1-G7, and all of B in 3 hours 45 minutes, is that something hat can be done? I tried and after spending about half an hour doing other things(carryouts and help guests and reshot) and skipping my 15 I ended up doing a good zone in A and G and a somewhat decent zone halfway through B

So the next time they ask me to do something like that I want to know if it’s actually reasonable so I feel more motivated, it is a buzzkill to clock in and have the LOD tell you to do something like that
 
What volume is your store and what are the departments? Not all stores are labeled the same so saying “all of b”, for example, means nothing though I’m guessing stat and small apps...

If you’re referring to pets, 7 aisles of market and stat/small apps... in a low volume store yes it is more than doable.

“Perfect zone” also likely doesn’t mean an ACTUAL perfect zone... just made to look like one.

There are too many variables, ultimately, to give you a spot on answer.
 
Last edited:
B is 47 aisles, idk what is considered low or high volum though, I got through the small appliances in B but the office supply stuff and spritz, thanks for the response
 
Pugmaul said:
Hi, the other day my LOD asked me to do a perfect zone from A30-A37ish, G1-G7, and all of B in 3 hours 45 minutes, is that something hat can be done? I tried and after spending about half an hour doing other things(carryouts and help guests and reshot) and skipping my 15 I ended up doing a good zone in A and G and a somewhat decent zone halfway through B

So the next time they ask me to do something like that I want to know if it’s actually reasonable so I feel more motivated, it is a buzzkill to clock in and have the LOD tell you to do something like that
Click to expand...
G for me is 42 aisles. I can push and fill market and zone those aisles to visit decent in 5hrs.
 
Pugmaul said:
Hi, the other day my LOD asked me to do a perfect zone from A30-A37ish, G1-G7, and all of B in 3 hours 45 minutes, is that something hat can be done? I tried and after spending about half an hour doing other things(carryouts and help guests and reshot) and skipping my 15 I ended up doing a good zone in A and G and a somewhat decent zone halfway through B

So the next time they ask me to do something like that I want to know if it’s actually reasonable so I feel more motivated, it is a buzzkill to clock in and have the LOD tell you to do something like that
Click to expand...

Never skip your break please.
 
I'm guessing your new to retail. Let me explain something to you, one of retail’s deepest and most well kept secrets......there’s never enough time or man power to get everything done. A good manager will always ask for you to do more than you can do, because it prevents you from talking to coworkers or finishing early and just sitting around.

As long as you give it a solid effort (or at least make it look like you did), you’ll be fine. A perfect zone means nothing on the floor and at first glance everything looks neat and organaized.
 
Last edited:
Depends on the state of the zone when you start. If I've zoned toys the previous night and it hasn't been hit too hard by guests, then give me an hour and I'll zone it to perfection. If I haven't done in a few days and a we've had a truck or two in that time, then if they want a perfect zone I'll need 3-4 hours most likely. Walking by my toys aisle today while working on other things, I'd guess it's a 1.5-2.5 hour task to zone it up properly. We have a truck tomorrow and it's likely to be a busy guest traffic day, so if I'm tasked with zoning when I work tomorrow night, I'm definitely going to need 3+ hours.

It just depends. Your LOD should be aware of the state of the zone before giving you your assignment. If there is a disconnect between what is expected and what you can reasonably be expected to do, let the LOD know. Tell them the zone is a mess and you need more time. Tell them flow has overstocked the shit out of again, and you need time to fix that. Or whatever the particular issue is.
 
Pugmaul said:
Hi, the other day my LOD asked me to do a perfect zone from A30-A37ish, G1-G7, and all of B in 3 hours 45 minutes, is that something hat can be done? I tried and after spending about half an hour doing other things(carryouts and help guests and reshot) and skipping my 15 I ended up doing a good zone in A and G and a somewhat decent zone halfway through B

So the next time they ask me to do something like that I want to know if it’s actually reasonable so I feel more motivated, it is a buzzkill to clock in and have the LOD tell you to do something like that
Click to expand...
Looks like you work in SoCal.
Would a be hba pharmacy?
 
I used to always ask; do you want a few aisles perfect or a lot of aisles “touched up” . After repeatedly hearing that it won’t matter cause it will be trashed so quickly anyway I realized that a long-term deep perfection zone is not possible. When the Presentation team re-sets it will be perfect. In between you only need a ‘for now’ zone. It will get touched up again by the CAF push, again with the auto fill push, again with the truck push, and again tomorrow night by another tm. Therefore, a lot of aisles ‘touched’ is better than a few aisles perfect and the rest left undone.

You were given 60 aisles and 225 min. =. I see that as 3-4 minutes per aisle (guest assistance included) -
must keep moving.

I would have tackled it this way:
First - all front end caps
Then quickly straighten each aisle by removing strays and bringing one item to the edge of the shelf for each facing.
Try to stay continuously moving, not in one place too long.

Take your break so that you are refreshed to give full effort after you rest/eat. Skipping your break slows you down cause you get tired, sick of straightening, and psychologically feel misused.

Don’t worry about ‘done’. As long as you keep trying, don’t loaf , you’re fine.
 
Unless LOD meant a PERFECT zone in the 14 A& G aisles ( 10 minutes each) = 1 hour + 40 minutes
and the ‘touch-up’ zone in all of B. (2-3 min. Each) = 2 hrs.

One hour in A, One hour in G and the balance quickly touching up B
 
I agree that "perfect" zones don't seem to be a priority anymore since closing LODs stopped walking the zones at night. As a morning TM I'm happy to come into no product/displays left on the ground and less than a 3-tier's worth of abandons found on the shelves of my area. So I'd say just fix the endcaps and make the aisles look good enough when looking from the raceways and your ETL probably won't inspect it closer.
 
Whatever you can see from the main aisle you need to pick up and zone. Your not super zoning so literally moving one box forward shouldn't take any time. Then always zone end caps.
 
Zone front endcaps. Then face the first 8 feet of each aisle and pick up anything atrocious in the rest of that aisle, and any valley that faces a main aisle (like E1). Don't worry about stuff being in the right spot yet. Just fix stuff like hotwheels down the barbie aisle. Face the back wall. Face non clearance back ends. Then face the backs of the aisles. Then go through and zone in that order.

(Note always zone and face front ends. That is what your etl will notice. The idea is to never give anyone reason to check your aisles.)

If you do it in order you are never bogged down more than you have time to be. You won't get to the detail work until the big picture stuff is done anyways.
 
Lol sadly this is correct. I tell my team that if time is an issue, the goal is for it to look done when we take a fast lap around the store, so that we don’t dig deeper.

At my store, this won’t be the case for long, as we’re being made to more deeply inspect the zones. The thinking is split among leadership as to whether the team should strive for 100% and not finish parts, and that having some of it perfect is better and the undone parts will be taken care of the next day, or my thinking you want to make sure to not miss any aspects of the closing routines, and adjust the quality as needed depending on time.

Either way, we are finding the best way to improve zone quality is with morning routines and accuracy. Pushing properly and regular auditing make the task much easier at night.
 
LOL and I thought we had a crazy etl that’s freekin crazy at my store if they expected that even on a slow day you can’t do that in 45 min. If only magic existed to get it done that quick is what I always think in my head!
 
My old STL used to somehow find full unorganized tubs of strays, ask me (and other sales floor people) if I can make sure to get the tubs done by putting every stray back, zone every 4 foot section, dust baseboards, and make sure every item on peg-hooks are moved forward.....all in 45minutes. She'd walkie every 10 minutes for an update. Then when time's up she'd get pissy and say that the store is red all the time and it is very infuriating. Everyone learned to ignore her.
 
Very reasonable expectation imo. It seems that you were satisfied with your work, that's what's important. That you tried your absolute best.
 
I'm to get all caf done, get truck pushed and zoned and scanned, and get food truck done including the 2 day back long due to weather related delays while getting the open market process completed. And clean the ambient room and cooler purges while getting 12 step done in grocery.

With 20 hours of payroll for the day.

Um.... wut? My observations are met with "figure it out" and no further help. Literally every question or observation is key with that answer. I just DID figure it out. I can give you timeframes, but they are impossible to complete due to not enough people. One glorious day I will reply with. "No. You figure it out. Your market will burn if I'm not running it. Nobody else wants it, and it's going to take a new hire months to figure it out. See ya."

I hate this fucking company. I do what we can, and prioritize. Made over 5% yearly comp in consumables since I took over in late 2017, and that's because I ignore the idiotic parts of modernization and get shit done. Can't do 40 hours of tasks in 20.
 
Last edited:
ASANTS....Different layouts and different volumes.

Depending on your store volume and traffic during the task, and if you are just doing a recovery zone with no other tasks, then its possible to zone almost any set of aisles in that time.

Start shift
Grab re-shop
Stock your reshop as you Zone
  • Start with your areas that have the large/bulky items. That will be your fastest areas.
  • Detail your smaller items.

If you are tasked to assist with backups, carryouts, other dept coverage and other stuff, then you need to communicate that to your LOD.
 
yeah, my motto is "fake it don't make it". If you're using your device all the time to put stuff back to a planogram/actual perfect/super/deep zone when closing...you're taking too much time. You want it to look almost "perfect", but not necessarily actually be that way. Nothing on the floor (or basedecks when applicable). All front end caps (back ones never really get done...and nobodys ever really said anything) ...I''ll even pull from the back to fill some up if I have the time...filling an endcap can really make an area look nicer...

This being said, I do have a bit of ocd, so I'll use my device to planogram zone more often than I should.....can't help myself.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
remodel what to expect?
Replies
14
Views
1K
redeye58
redeye58
seasonaldude
The January 2022 Thread -- Welcome to the Disaster Zone
2 3 4
Replies
82
Views
10K
redeye58
redeye58
S
Unrealistic Expectations
4 5 6
Replies
137
Views
15K
Hardlinesmaster
Hardlinesmaster
AnAverageTM
  • Locked
Archived Zoning standards which seem impossible
Replies
4
Views
978
can't touch this
can't touch this
TheaGrace
What can be expected from Grocery Pickup?
2
Replies
39
Views
3K
Tessa120
Tessa120
Back
Top