During my internship in Schindler, one of the particular tasks that my team had to work on is copying the error log data for all the six elevators that we were responsible for. According to the data, we had to make reports and submit them back to the head office. We had to do that task weekly. In the log data, the errors are mentioned by using specific codes, not in sentences. We had to read those codes by using the manual and made the report with important information. Depending on the errors, decisions on how to fix the errors and how to make improvements are made. Therefore, it is very important for the performance of our elevators and failing to make fixes and improvements can even lead to the loss of trust in our products by our customers.
At a time, one of my teammates took responsibility for doing that task. He felt confident in his skill on reading those codes, and therefore, he did not look at the manual and checked it. Actually, he was overconfident at that time and he made a few mistakes in the report. As a consequence, the error was not fixed after replacing the board he mentioned in my report. My team faced problems in tracing back the error and it wasted a lot of time. At first, I thought that the part we replaced was also faulty and we replaced it with another one. I believed his report and it made me worried as I knew that it was going to take long. I even doubted that whether it was a breakdown of the whole system. If it was a whole system failure, we would have to test each part of the system to find out the parts needed to be replaced and it would take many days to do so. After many attempts that took the whole morning and afternoon, I doubt about the report and suggested my team to check the report again with the codes and manuals. Although it could make him think that I did not believe his skill, I was very sure that it would be the best to do at that time. One of my teammates took the responsibility to check back and finally, we found out the mistake and we could fix the error well. Although it is annoying to trace back everything, we did forgive his overconfidence as we may have done the same in his place. However, after that incident, I warned myself and others not to be overconfident working with a load of information as a mistake can cause a great impact on our work.
This incident is a good example of failure in professional use and management of information. Before this incident, I personally believed that this competency standard only applies in conditions where vital information of the company is leaked accidentally or illegally. But, now, I realised that it can be this fundamental in managing data and information. From the perceptive of my teammate, he had done a few reports without looking at the manual and there was no mistake, and therefore, it is obvious that he was well confident on his skill and would not doubt. On the other hand, the incident made other teammates thought that he was slowing down the work. This delay would not have occurred if we double checked the report with the error codes first, and therefore, no extra work would not have been needed.
This experience widens my knowledge respective to the competency standard mentioned above. After that incident, I started to have a habit of double checking what someone mentions in the report that is written by using the workplace information. Being confident can lead to overconfidence in certain circumstances, and referencing is a necessary task in managing information and it is better than relying on our natural memory. I used to have that kind of confidence that my teammate had. In the future, I will always be more careful in managing information by referencing and reproofing. I will not also overconfident with working with a load of data and information. Moreover, I will always double check my work after I have done the task to reduce the unwanted extra work for correction.