Teamwork that makes the DREAM work

At Zhelter, recently we just bid farewell to our very first batch of interns. They were hired to handle sales, enrolment and induction for the academic session 2019-2020. We finished the project with a bang by achieving 100% occupancy at 125% of the desired average rental. This small project has made me realise the importance of competent talent and the struggles of handling a team. 

I would say that the hiring the first 5 interns was tougher than doing the first 5 sales for the company. It was a very humbling experience to hire and manage a team of these 10 enthusiastic and very opinionated young adults. 

Here are a few things that worked for us:

1. We celebrated every small success: Every small or big achievement was celebrated and appreciated (even though the celebration sometimes meant just ordering pizzas in our non air-conditioned under renovation rooms). This kept the spirits of the team high and motivated them to keep moving forward. 
2. We spent sometime getting to know each other and the company: We planned 2-3 activities and games (AIESEC-inspired) to get to know each other well. We want for market visits and to do research in pairs, prepared marketing material in groups and did mock sales pitches. This was very effective in understanding everyones style and pace of working. Also, we all just became great friends in the process. 
3. We hired people with a good heart: Once the interns started doing their sales pitches to potential students and their parents, I realised how involved they got involved with them. They were guiding them about which course/ college to pick. Along the way they gained so much trust of the parents that sales started happening automatically. They actually kept in touch with their respective leads and gave me feedback to ensure that their stay is as comfortable as they had promised. 

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