I helped my brother at his pastry store for the last two days. I have learned to spread jam and cream on the cake, although they are the inner parts that customers cannot see. Beautiful creaming requires skill and experience. I realized that that was how beginner pastry chefs learn gradually.
That experience made me consider how a temporary helper becomes influential in a small shop. Let’s talk about it.
How to be influential in a short period
Sometimes, we want to use our unique talents and help those in need. Demonstrating our uniqueness satisfies our logical sense, while helping someone in need fulfills our empathy. They please us to our hearts.
However, we sometimes don’t know how to realize them, especially if we are beginners or outsiders without any special skills or results. That makes us lose our confidence and prevents us from taking new actions.
Fortunately, I recently experienced it. Helping my brother’s pastry shop taught me how to be influential even as a beginner. This example may show you how to use your talents starting from a beginner’s state.
My experience at a pastry shop
In my recent experience, a helper who can understand the entire process tends to gain trust sooner or later, even as a beginner. This tendency would be more typical for smaller groups of ten or fewer people that are facing a labor shortage.
In other words, we can earn trust by helping someone from a beginner’s state.
To make it easier to understand, let’s look at my example.
I started helping my brother at his pastry shop on weekends weeks ago. I like baking so much that I used to bake bread myself. Since I was also curious about baking pastries, I want to know about them. It seems like it would be fun to do business related to baking.
That naturally made me focus on how the staff are doing in the store.
The essence of the production business is the same: (1) prepare the materials, (2) create products, and (3) sell them. It applies to every process. For example, in the production of making cookie dough, (1) prepare the ingredients and tools, (2) measure and mix them, and (3) pass it to the oven staff and put away the tools.
Although (2) creation tends to require skills, (1) preparation and (3) passing processed goods to the next staff are relatively easier.
How a helper becomes influential
That concept makes it easier and more predictable for us to help voluntarily. In a small bakery, different processes occur simultaneously at various tables. When someone finishes something or starts something, we can easily help them.
In my case, since I was curious about the meaning of the tools, processes, and recipes, I remembered their location in the short term. There are various tasks, so I never lacked places where I could help. Even if there was nothing to do in baking, I could still help with the sales staff, like by folding flyers. On the first day, when I didn’t have any tasks, I voluntarily cleaned the washroom for the staff. Cleaning was also fun for me. Helping those in need is rewarding.
From the perspective of the manager and staff, it is a waste to leave someone who is beneficial, understands the whole process, and causes no trouble alone. Having them prepare ingredients is more efficient than letting them only clean the washroom.
If the helper understands the process and prepares well, the staff naturally thinks that it would be easier to teach how to mix them at the same time. Although mixing ingredients is more complex than preparing them, it is more efficient to provide more valuable tasks to people who learn quickly.
Then, the helper finishes it, cleans up, and asks for preparation for the next process. Although spreading cream requires more skills, the staff suppose it is more effective to teach the helper how to do it. Such a process repeats many times.
That is how the helper quickly gains influence at the shop in a short period.
A labor-short environment doesn’t waste people who are logical and empathic. If someone is logical without empathy, they tend to forget to help and disrupt the harmony due to intense curiosity. On the other hand, someone with empathy but with less logical sense has difficulty understanding the whole process in the short term. Such a person cannot predict the next process. That is why logical and empathic people can gain trust in such an environment soon, even if they are beginners.
Conclusion
That is how to be influential even as a beginner.
A helper who can understand the entire process tends to gain trust sooner or later.
This tendency would be more typical for smaller groups of ten or fewer people that are facing a labor shortage.
This example may show you how to use your talents starting from a beginner’s state.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
