I work as a supervisor in the retail sector. Digitalization plays a significant role in my daily work – almost all our systems are already digitalized, and I use various online platforms every day to support my own tasks and lead my team effectively. Our internal operations are based on the PowerBi and our intranet, where we can access important announcements and guidelines. For example, our recruitment, onboarding, and training processes are almost fully digital, which has made our work more efficient by saving lots of time. PowerBi is for the sales figures, planning and reporting.
Digital tools have also made my job easier in many ways. We use electronic inventory system (RFID) and smart devices that allow us to check stock availability, place orders, and monitor inventory in real time. It also helps us to keep the right product in the right place at the right time. This makes customer service more efficient and saves time searching for products. Promotions, pricing, and new arrivals update automatically in our systems, so we no longer need to do everything manually. The logistic chain is automated. When we sell the product, the system detects it and sends the same product back to the store from the central warehouse within a few days. We don’t need to place any orders by ourselves; the system makes it for us.
For daily communication, we mainly use Microsoft Teams, which we rely on for weekly team meetings. Email still plays an important role for daily communication, and I use the Outlook calendar for scheduling my own work and planning meetings with team members.
In practice, WhatsApp is the most used communication tool in our team. We use it to share timely updates, news, urgent reminders, and sometimes more informal content, such as birthday wishes. It’s easy to use and it’s fast. I believe WhatsApp plays an important role in supporting team spirit and maintaining smooth communication. We have agreed on clear “rules” for its use. We don’t want to disturb anyone unnecessarily.
Microsoft Office tools like PowerPoint and Excel are essential in my daily tasks, especially for planning, reporting, and documentation. All my administrative tasks are done by using a computer and various digital tools. As a supervisor, it’s important to stay up to date with digital solutions to support my team in the best possible way and continuously improve our operations.
NEW SOCIAL TOOLS FOR ME
I use social media quite rarely, but I’ve noticed that nowadays it’s almost impossible not to use it at all. I think almost everyone uses some social media channel. Those channels offer great opportunities for communication, for new contacts, searching and sharing information etc. Here are some new tools or channels for me.
LinkedIn is a great app for finding a job and looking for employees. There you can describe your own skills and training. It is a platform that I’ve thought of joining for some time now. There you can read interesting publications and news and get information about new trainings. I think it would help me to stay tuned about new working possibilities and keep me better informed about the phenomena happening in my field of work.
Evernote brings your notes, to-dos, and schedule together to help you remember everything and accomplish anything. It can also be integrated with for example Teams and Outlook. My workday is usually hectic. Many different messages and tasks come from many different channels, so I see Evernote being useful for me in my daily use.
On X (former Twitter) users send and receive posts (former tweets). It can be called social networking. X offers the opportunity to keep up with the world situation. There you can follow people in your own field. If you share your thoughts under your own name, it is important that the employer has agreed on which things can be posted.
Mural offers a place to collaborate. It is a digital whiteboard that can be used to work together in real time. Mural allows you to quickly move ideas into visual representations that make it very easy to share with other people. I think I could use the mural in teamwork and planning.
Todoist is a project management application for personal and professional use. Todoist looks very simply and can be added to your calendar. With Todoist, you can create to-do lists, prioritize your tasks and add a due date. I think this application would help to keep in mind all my tasks at work and at home.
These five tools are new to me but not in the future maybe. I got excited about their possibilities and planned to start using some of them. Especially, Evernote and Todoist look interesting. Those might help me to keep things and tasks in order. That’s why they are worth trying for sure.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a complex phenomenon with both constructive and harmful effects. It can enhance community, information accessibility, and opportunities for influence, but it can also weaken well-being, spread misinformation, and challenge personal privacy. There are lots of positive sides to social media but there are also some negative things you must beware of. Here are my thoughts about plus and minuses.
Positive aspects of social media use
- Communication and networking
Enables staying in touch with family and friends, even across long distances. It makes it easier to find new friends and communities.
- Access to information
Provide updated news and information quickly.
- Self-expression and creativity
Allows users to express themselves creatively through images, videos and text. It is especially important for young people to connect to other people.
- Support and community
Many find support in difficult life situations, such as illness or personal crises. Online communities can provide a sense of belonging and support for mental health challenges.
Negative aspects of social media use
- Impact on mental health
Comparing oneself to others and following “perfect lives” can lead to feelings of depression. Social media addiction can affect sleep quality, concentration, and self-esteem.
- Fake news and misinformation
Social media enables the rapid spread of false information. Users may find it difficult to recognize reliable and unreliable sources.
- Loss of privacy and data security risks
Personal information may end up in the wrong hands or be used for commercial purposes. Many users don’t even know how much they share about themselves.
- Time consumption and productivity
Constant use of social media can take time away from other important activities like studying, work, or other relationships.
PERFECT APPLICATION
The good application should be easy to use (clear), user-friendly, and fast to learn and there is a possibility to modify or develop it. The designing is everything. Well-designed outfit and menu create a bottom to the other functions. It is nice to use it when designing is hitting the mark and all the functions are working properly without forgetting security issues.
SELF EVALUATION
During this course it was interesting to read and test different social media platforms. Some of these applications were familiar to me before this course and some applications/tools were completely new to me. This task made me think about the platforms and applications I use in my work. I realized that I use many platforms daily. So digital tools are a big part of my work these days. Most of these programs/platforms enable me to do my job better and more efficiently. I learned that social media has many good features, but it also has a negative side. I still believe that if we use it correctly, there are more positives than negatives in social media.