Jamilya Kenjali is the team leader of the Project Support Service (SPP) of the Kolesa Group. Works in the product "New Buildings" inside Krisha.kz . She and her team advise users on primary housing, as well as select residential complexes (LC) for them according to their requests.

In this article, Jamila told her story: how she came to IT, how she became a team leader, and also shared mistakes and challenges along the way.

I am 28 years old. I was born in Zhambyl region, in the village of Kordai. She moved to Almaty for higher education. She graduated from Narxoz University with a degree in social and cultural service. I am the same person who works in his specialty, and gets high from his business.

The socio-cultural service includes the tourism sector. During my practice and further work in tourism, I learned to find an approach to different people. Immediately after university, she got a job at the Visit Almaty information center. I worked at a point at the airport — I met tourists. She told me about the city: what to see, where to go, helped me adapt. The tasks were monotonous. I worked there for 8 months and decided to go into another field for development.

"I grew up from a receptionist to a sales manager"

The next place of work was the Almaty City Tour travel agency. First, I came to the position of a receptionist: I was engaged in internal documentation and primary information for tourists from different countries. Six months later, a sales manager vacancy opened there, so I decided to give it a try. It was logical: I had already advised clients who came to the office. All that remained was to immerse yourself in the field of sales, fit into all KPIs and plans. I quickly got into it and started working with tourists. She offered individual tours, made up routes and always achieved the desired results. It's been a productive two years.

In 2020, the pandemic began. The borders were closing, there were fewer and fewer tourists, and I decided to leave this area.

"I got the experience and wanted to pass it on to others"

I learned about the Kolesa Group at a job fair in Narkhoz. It was obvious that the company's culture suited me. I even interviewed for one of the departments, but the work schedule did not match the schedule of classes and this dream had to be postponed.

A second chance presented itself in July 2020. I was accepted into the SPP team. During my time as a specialist, I managed to try all directions of the product Krisha.kz — from "New Buildings" to "Roof Agents". Having gained a cool experience, I realized that I want to grow further, help my team and product. She passed an internal interview and became a team leader.

At that time, there were no courses like now. Now we are training specialists: everyone has an individual development plan (IAP). We also prepare future team leaders in advance. I looked at what I needed to read and what to prepare for. I approached the current team members of the service and asked them what difficulties they were facing. After talking to them, I realized what needed to be done.

There is nothing wrong with working in one position. But over time, having learned the full range of tasks, coping with everything, I want to bring something more to the processes. I have always had the desire to grow at all places of work.

"The main thing is to connect with the team"

I have a team Krisha.kz 9 people. There are those with whom I have worked side by side, and those whom I have already recruited myself. The guys are doing a great job. Every day they encounter different clients, find an approach to each and help them choose the apartment of their dreams. 

In "New Buildings" we are mainly engaged in primary consultations. These are warm calls: people find the LCD of interest on the site themselves, leave applications, and our task is to provide them with the necessary information and support.

In the Roof Agents product, the work is more like sales. Here we contact clients who have placed ads for the sale of apartments. We talk about our services, offer to take professional photos, organize screenings and so on. We keep the sales process under control and are ready to help if something goes wrong.

My main responsibility is to work with the team. I maintain a healthy atmosphere and help the guys. I hold one-on-one meetings with each of my team once a month, and meetings twice a month on an individual development plan (IPR). At first, out of inexperience, I devoted these meetings to analyzing the results of my work. Over time, I began to focus more on creating a connection with the guys. I am interested in the life of the team and outside of work. I share my interests and affairs too.

One of my tasks is to raise children, to bring their IPR to life. We have scheduled meetings where we discuss their progress on assignments and see what can be improved.

What I like most about my work is that you can influence the product. We are constantly in touch with customers, working out their feedback. From disparate facts, ideas grow that we offer to the product team to make it more convenient for users.

One example is that we help you decide which filters will be in the product Krisha.kz . New mortgage programs are appearing in the "New Buildings" section. The guys from my team immediately report a lot of demand. So that the user does not click on each LCD and does not look at whether there is one or another mortgage program, we have made a filter. Now our customers can immediately find the right LCD.

It's also nice to see how people from my team are developing in different directions within the company. They become service analysts or grow into team leaders. I am happy when I see the growth of my team and my contribution to it.

The main quality of a team leader is leadership. He should be the leader of his team, a person who can be reached, openly share suggestions and pains, and receive honest feedback. People feel it when they are heard. It's an art to guide, but not to push with authority.

Communication skills are also very important. I establish communication with the product team, with development, with related service departments: user care service, quality analytics, moderation.

The ability to take responsibility and make decisions was very useful. The team leader is responsible not only for his work, but also for the entire team. You need to be able to act competently in critical situations.

I learned a lesson from mistakes: achievements depend not only on you, but also on the team. You need to know what your colleagues live by, what they are passionate about. Hold regular meetings and informal conversations.

At first, I was too immersed in the tasks and tried to figure everything out on my own. So I realized that being a team leader is not only good at work, but also to be able to communicate, support and develop people.

The first time in the new role was difficult. It was difficult to learn how to delegate tasks. When you first become a team leader, you want to do everything yourself. Handing over tasks to others seems to be a manifestation of unprofessionalism. In fact, this is a mistake. Delegation frees up time to work with the team and allows colleagues to learn and develop by taking on additional tasks.

Senior colleagues helped in overcoming difficulties. When I first became a team leader, I was mentored by our service director, Nigara. Our current team leader Duman gave a lot of useful recommendations, and more experienced team leaders always answered questions and shared their experience.

For those who are just starting a career in IT, my main advice is not to be afraid to make mistakes. In the beginning, it is difficult to make independent decisions. It seems that you will do something wrong and everything will not go according to plan. But mistakes are part of the learning process.

For those who already work in the service and want to grow, it is important not to be afraid of responsibility. Becoming a team leader, you will begin to be responsible not only for yourself, but also for the team, and this can be frightening. But you need to be ready to try something new. I advise you to be open to learning and new challenges.

I want to continue building a career in the service sector. This area is attractive because all people are different, so the tasks never get boring. My goal is to grow to the level of a leader in my department, because I really like all internal products Krisha.kz . 

I often turn to my supervisor Nargiz for advice and recommendations. The grades for team leaders in the service are clearly defined. Now I'm at the middle level, and I have a six—month plan for reaching the next level - signora. Signor timlid is already almost completely fulfilling the functions of the head, so this will be the next logical step.