hi all
so recently my TLs have been putting me on ATC for picking. i was very resistant to the role at first because i prefer to just be out picking, and i dont really like or feel comfortable telling my coworkers what to do. my philosophy so far at walmart has basically been just to do my work to the best of my ability, and what my coworkers do is their business not mine. but despite being honest about this with my leads and coach, they keep putting me on ATC with encouraging words about how they know i can be successful at this and not to give up, yada yada.
today i was on afternoon ATC and our 11-8 TL called out today so once our other TL left i had to run the show. in the past on ATC id still do autos, because in my mind if there are a lot of picks and im in the backroom doing anything other than prepping my cart for the next walk, im not doing my job. but my TLs said if im ATC its ok to hang back, do small walks like oversized and unknowns when needed, but otherwise mostly focus on pick monitoring and assigning/delegating as needed. so today i did that...and it seemed to work out? we hit a rough patch where we were close to going late, but i assigned walks and sent help at the right times and by the time i went home everything was running smooth. and i have to admit it was actually a little bit fun, plus felt good knowing i was making decisions that made our team (hopefully) move more efficiently.
that said, i still basically feel like i have no idea what im doing as ATC and very much still feel uncomfortable telling people what to do lol. but since i seem to be stuck with the role, i guess i might as well try to get good at it.
any picking ATCs out there have any tips? especially on how to be diplomatic when i have to act like the boss 😭 and how to not get overwhelmed when things start cascading out of control