Archived Unwritten Rules of the flow team

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rugrat said:
1. Shelf capacity is how much overstock can fit in an aisle before the gondola collapses.
2. I don't understand English after 8:00 am.
3. Slow down, they will send us home if we finish the truck.
4. We don't have time to rotate dates in grocery!
5. If its too heavy, it must be backstock.
6. Repack merchandise can go anywhere, that why the box does not have a pick label.
7. What is a pick label?
8. Make sure you mark auto backstock diagonally through the pick label upc so they know its backstock.
9. I didn't hear that pallet fall over, your playing your phone so loud it went through my headphones.
10. I'm calling out today, I'll stay twice as long tommorrow.
Click to expand...

Damn are you reading my complaint list?
 
Broken merchandise? Backstock.
Dented cans? Backstock.
Missing DPCI? Backstock.
Clearance? Backstock.
Not on file? Backstock.
Walmart item? Backstock.
Challenge? Backstock.
Opened a box that you weren't supposed to? Backstock.
Styrofoam, cardboard, paper towels that you mopped a spill with? Backstock!
 
Sign/outrigger/display in the way? Bend it, break it, rip it or put in the trash.

Ad signs fall off? Leave on floor for cleaning crew to sweep up or hide behind the merchandise.

Shelf talker falls off? Run over it multiple times with a pallet jack, flat, or tub - then hide it behind the merchandise.

Overheads - stack product as high as it can go so it hits the signs, causing them to fall down, dangle or separate. Leave without telling anyone. Bonus points if this is not in Lawn+Patio.

Small appliances - no display for the product? Put box stock on the display shelf!
 
StackerMistress said:
Broken merchandise? Backstock.
Dented cans? Backstock.
Missing DPCI? Backstock.
Clearance? Backstock.
Not on file? Backstock.
Walmart item? Backstock.
Challenge? Backstock.
Opened a box that you weren't supposed to? Backstock.
Styrofoam, cardboard, paper towels that you mopped a spill with? Backstock!
Click to expand...
This made my day. Thanks for the smile. Sadly, oh too true.
 
Detrash? image.jpg

(Yeah ok this was probably actually the Plano TM that set the Trend Run, but same idea)
 
sigma7 said:
It honestly comes back to leadership. Strong leadership from the STL down will mean a good store. Weak/complacent leaders throughout the TLs and ETLs/STL and you get stores like mine.
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This.
And while many of these are general gripes, if you have a good leader and you go to them (like with the signing issues on NOPs list, I've dealt with a bunch of those) they will handle it.
The flow team is just like any other team, good people and a few bad ones that make it hard for everyone.
The problem is that with bad leadership flow can effect the entire store to degree that most other teams can't.
 
I don't believe that. Our leadership is pretty good, but our scores suck and our flow team sucks. Well, our ETL-log sucks, but she rarely deals with flow. When she does, it's complete chaos. I mostly blame the time constraints they have. They have to work FDC in 3 hours with 4 people. This is when they say "fuck a FIFO".
 
Your ETL LOG is the leader of flow.
Or should be,

When I worked flow the ETL was right there, he'd make sure everyone was on their game and would jump in and show them what speed was if he thought they weren't moving fast enough.
He worked by setting examples and if I found something wrong I could go to him.
Yea, training wasn't all that hot but they took care of their people and by in large the flow team did a good job.
 
@konk I would reevaluate your leaders or just your idea of leadership in general then. When hours are cut the store is going to suffer. When you have poor performers, the store is going to suffer. Good leaders course correct performance issues quickly. I used to think my leaders were good. Then I realized that with the shape our store is in and how many team members are poor performers, and saw the coaching binder and realized that I, as a fairly new in role TL, had more documented coachings than some of ours that have been there for years...my leadership team is not all that great. Working with them for so long I think I began to take on their "We're doing the best we can!" attitude. When I stepped back and objectively looked at the state of my store, sales, staffing/scheduling, process efficiency, and team member and leadership basic knowledge about processes I finally snapped out of that mindset. Good leaders would not let store operations slump into the gigantic mess my store has become.
 
Yeah I agree. The flow TL is a really hard worker and yells a lot and knows how to herd his team, but he doesn't respond well to criticism. Any issue pointed out is always another area's fault. He takes it personally when I call out his team for not doing their job correctly.
 
Bosch said:
Make sure to skip all second locations and flex(overstock) what you do stock.
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I was going to say "never look on endcaps" but in defense of flow, our guest scanners never show second locations =P
 
XploitedFlow said:
I used to be flow now I am mainly BR, but come out to push every so often due to out flow team being literally 12 people since October.

-Ignore the 2 TMs who take 25 bathroom breaks from 4-8, don't think about it or you will insane and just let it be.
-Ignore the last guy on the line who will not touch a box that is not in his 3 blocks, don't think about and don't tell anyone because its pointless as hes so useless you can't move him anywhere else in the morning even when there is only one other person on the line covering the other 12 blocks.. (not exaggerated)
-One repack on the grocery backstock is more than enough, just stack the loose items on top its fine...BR can handle it...
Click to expand...
LOL

Do you work in my store, or are those present in all locations?
 
XploitedFlow said:
-Ignore the last guy on the line who will not touch a box that is not in his 3 blocks, don't think about and don't tell anyone because its pointless as hes so useless you can't move him anywhere else in the morning even when there is only one other person on the line covering the other 12 blocks.. (not exaggerated)
Click to expand...

I don't know what the last bay looks like at most stores but I have five blocks (1 sporting goods/auto hardware, 3 market, 1 bev). In my store it seems to be:

- Ignore any box that isn't yours. The guy at the end will take care of it.
- If you are next to an empty bay, don't worry about it. Someone will push the boxes off the line and on to the floor or the guy at the end will take care of it
- Only two people to work the line? You take the first bay and ignore the next two empty bays. I'll go ahead and take my usual bay (the last one), jump between the other two, and attempt to keep back of the line from getting out of control.

- Pallet pullers/people walking by: Make sure to ignore any boxes you see on the floor in receiving. Go ahead and pull your pallets, kick all of the boxes to the side, and make sure to bitch when you get it jammed in between the steel and a mountain of missed boxes.
 
When working the line, any box without a location or with a T in front of the location is automatically backstock. That whole scanning every case and drawing a line is just something Target does for no reason. Gang up on the brtm on the back of the line if he tells you the product is active.
 
When the Lod is there to open the door at 3:55 am make sure you dont show up until 4:10 am

Get together with all the other flow team members and come up with a plan to trickle in one by one at 4:10, 4:15, 4:20(make the Lod keep coming from the backroom)

Have a attitude when the lod takes a few minutes to come all the way from the truck to let you in because your cold and LATE.

Dont show up to work when there is inclement weather. It cant be too hot or too cold, the weather has to be jusssst right.

when the store opens, never ever ever make eye contact with a guest. You dont want to make a mistake and vibe with a guest.

In the event when you do have to help a guest do not think about what the guest asked for,( flow could be working in the deodorant aisle and a guest will ask them where the toothpaste is and they will not even listen to a simple question) immediately find a SF team member and ask them to help the guest.
If you cant find a SF team member close by, hit a call box so someone has to come over there(happens in my store all the time).

Call out twice a week, do not stay when they ask you to stay.... Make sure you complain about how you do not have hours or money on payday.

When its time to grab a pallet or flat off the line grab the smallest one possible and take 10 minutes to bowl it out.
 
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konk said:
When working the line, any box without a location or with a T in front of the location is automatically backstock. That whole scanning every case and drawing a line is just something Target does for no reason. Gang up on the brtm on the back of the line if he tells you the product is active.
Click to expand...

this^
I'm the blackline chick during unload. so I get to be the bad guy and tell my team that they set an aisle the day before so all these cases are push.
 
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