Retail inMotion just finished holding its first two objective setting workshops for our team members in Dublin. What exactly is an objective setting workshop, you ask? And why does the Retail inMotion team need to know how to set objectives that prepare them for success? We caught up with Nerina Hrvacic who attended one of the sessions to learn more.
Nerina, first things first, you’re a UX Designer at Retail inMotion. For the non-tech folks at home, what does that mean in a nutshell?
Being a UX Designer means that I’m basically a bridge between our customers and our technology. I look at what impact our design and technology makes on the end user and try to identify and eliminate any pain points through both quantitative and qualitative means. At the moment, our team is working on improvements to Vector, but we work on various aspects of our technology.
So – “Objective setting”. Sounds…thrilling! Why did you join the session?
I’ve been at Retail inMotion now for two months, so I was really keen to meet people, learn more about the company and learn about Retail inMotion’s strategic goals. Basically, I wanted to get a better flavor of how things are done at Hangar57. The session was designed with two main goals. The first was to learn about how to set effective goals in general, inside and outside of the office. By that, I mean: What is a good goal? How do you write a good goal? And what conversations do you need to have to make it effective?
The second part of the session focused on the company’s strategy and how to create goals that align with it so that there is a mutual benefit. Since I’m new, I wanted to figure out more about the company’s strategic direction and find out how I can fit better into that through my role in UX.
As a side note – welcome to the team! Since you’re a recent addition to Retail inMotion, I assume this was your first professional development session? What did you think about it over all?
It was great! Before I joined Retail inMotion, I read about some of the company’s development opportunities on the website. I was happy to finally try one out! In relation to this session in particular, I found it really rewarding to find out that we get the opportunity to shape our own goals at RiM and the support to create effective ones. Of course our objectives should fit into the company’s strategy, but in my previous positions, my objectives were handed to me from my manager. My hands were tied in regards to shaping them.
I like that I can set my own objectives here. And work together to create ones that are mutually beneficial to myself and my team at RiM. I’m huge into learning and self-development; I want to learn and be challenged by my job. By setting my own objectives, I can take the reins in my career. I also learned in the session that we can choose a few objectives that are “passion projects”. So, projects that are adjacent to our jobs, but wouldn’t necessarily be in our typical job profiles. It’s a perfect opportunity to broaden our professional horizons.
Having this much responsibility is refreshing!
What’s next for you in your objective setting journey?
Since the session, I’ve given quite a bit of thought to the professional objectives that I would like to set for myself. I’ll soon have a meeting with my manager to discuss those further for feedback and the assurance that they fit in with the company strategy. I’m also compiling some personal objectives as well!
