False Alarm

The meeting with the customer went well early yesterday morning. There were moments where we had a few misunderstanding with the boss man but I was able to recover in time. The boss man was even trying to help and all his staff were in awe of him. But he handled the meeting very well and he guided us to a good conclusion. Still a lot of work to be done by his staff but he did it in a gentle way. After they finish their requirements, the ball goes over to my court and I have to prepare the team who will work on this project. The head of the team is a bit difficult to work with and her key staff will be leaving soon. So it will be another challenge for them to keep it on track. Some initial dates where set and hope to meet them. Look likes the game is now afoot.

I will be sending out an email on the individual meetings we would have to the boss man’s managers. It is a formal announcement that we will be actively striving to improve our communication. There seems to be a breakdown and I seem to hold the key to its solution simply by talking to them. If ever I get into a conflict with the managers then I bring the case up for arbitration with the boss man. So things seem to be turning our way again despite the nasty meetings in the past month. I have to carry the ball more often instead of letting Philippe do the work. I think I now have a clear idea of my role in the scheme of things. I should let him be the functional expert while I am the manager or coordinator.

The boss man mentioned in the meeting that we all learn from our mistakes and it was a good sign for us to make mistakes especially for my case where the first phase did not turn out well so it was stopped. I think I am getting to understand more the way to work with him. It just means following his whims, which admittedly are more sensible than most managers do. It is just the conflict with some of his staff and the politics of certain people that have confused me in the past. So now the game has been raised to a different level and I hope to be prepared.

I have a speech contest tonight and it’s actually my last project before I earn a certificate on communication. We will also have a meeting with our management on the end of this month. It will be about the retrenchment going on and I think this will be the first time we will get an indication of the fate of our department. I do not think we will be affected based on the feedback I get from people. The supposed job offer that I thought the boss man was making was actually a false alarm. It is the creation of a new position that needs to be approved by the gods at headquarters first before anything can be done. We will find out soon enough.