"We’re not just colleagues, we’re more like friends with common goals."
#CHINA #IT #RESULT-ORIENTATION
In more than 12 years of working with LEONI, I have seen one beautiful thing repeat itself a few times: to see colleagues become friends through working and tackling challenges together.
One example I remember is our Automated Warehouse Project in Jining.
The idea for the warehouse was brought to the table by our plant during one of our digital workshops - these are held frequently to share knowledge and experience and develop new ideas. The idea of building one for ourselves immediately excited all of us, but we also had concerns about whether we could actually do it.
To get a sense of how well we were up to the task, we collected and shared technical documents and photos of the automated warehouse of another company, which quickly turned our initial skepticism into optimism. Seeing not only its charm and coolness but also the potential it would unlock for our organization, we suddenly had a sense of "we can do this" and immediately launched into discussions to outline the possibilities of the concept.
Once we started the project, the days and hours just flew away; we were so excited as a team that we didn’t even notice long working hours and months felt like days.
As with all challenges involving many people, there were of course small arguments here and there. However, what united us in such moments was the constructive attitude of always taking each other's perspective.
We all carry different knowledge and have had experiences that make us unique from each other. But by bringing these differences together, we have found a way to put the concept on the right track. I think in the end we were only able to build the automated warehouse because we all embraced the idea of seeing solutions rather than the difficulties ahead and worked together to find that solution.
When the automated warehouse went live, I remember us all being very proud of what we had accomplished as a team. Overcoming our challenges had not only brought us together as colleagues but as people as well – and many of us have developed personal trusting relationships.
As a manager, experiencing this level of trust and personal care for each other is something that makes me very proud of our culture.
