Life at Work

Debating the wisdom of open plan offices

2009-05-05T12:29:00.000+02:00

Time to be honest about open-plan offices
By Michael Skapinker
Published: May 4 2009 19:19 Last updated: May 4 2009 19:19

When I began my first management job, an entrepreneur friend gave me some useful advice: “Give your people space to moan about you.” Talking about the boss was an inevitable part of working life, she said, and a way for teams to establish camaraderie.
I remembered her words when the Financial Times reported that Terry Morgan, chief executive of Tube Lines, had no office, sitting instead at a desk on an open-plan floor where he gazed over his employees. Mr Morgan, whose company runs three London Underground lines, said: “The only privilege I have is the best view.”
Lynda Gratton, a London Business School professor, said of Mr Morgan’s arrangement: “We’ll see more of it. Organisations are moving to being more of networks. So sitting with your colleagues signals that you see it in a less hierarchical way.”
Underlying the question of whether the boss should sit in an open-plan office is whether anyone should. That is not an issue much discussed these days, so well-entrenched is the assumption that open-plan offices encourage the free-flowing communication essential to business success. Put people together, let them talk and innovation will flow.
Will it? Certainly, people need to talk to get things done. But do they need to spend their days in the same office to talk, especially when they have e-mail and Skype? Thirty years of studies have revealed that open-plan design “only minimally facilitates communications and does so at the expense of privacy”, Suining Ding, a US academic, noted in an article in Facilities journal.
The privacy point is important. Who would opt for a shared space if they could have their own? Backpackers stay in youth hostel dormitories, but that is because they cannot afford to pay for privacy. Hotels do not ask business travellers whether they would like to have their own rooms or shared ones, because they know the answer. Airlines can charge considerably more for seats that give you some distance from your neighbours.
Whatever small gains open-plan offices do offer in enhanced communication are, in any event, wiped out by the loss of productivity. We do not need academic studies to tell us people get less done when they have to listen to their neighbours’ conversations and telephone calls. Once again, a commonsense reference to life outside the office suffices: libraries have a rule of silence because it allows people to work.
It is not just the distractions of open-plan offices that lower productivity. A recent article in the Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management said that employees in open-plan offices were more prone to eye, nose and throat irritations, and more likely to come down with flu.
Open-plan offices may offer companionship, but that assumes you like the people whose space you share. It is surely more comfortable to be able to pop into the private office of those you want to see.
So why are most offices these days open-plan? Because they cost less. The Asia Pacific Journal article put the saving at up to 20 per cent. Not only do open-plan offices allow companies to eliminate the cost of all those walls; they can also fit far more people into the same space.
There is nothing wrong with cutting costs; lower costs mean higher profits and a better chance of corporate survival. Organisations in which every employee has his or her own office might soon find themselves undercut by companies, possibly on the other side of the world, that pack staff into a single space.
Open-plan buildings are, as the Asia Pacific Journal says, also more efficient to heat and cool than traditional closed offices, so open-plan is greener as well as cheaper.
Given that it seems here to stay, should managers share the open space with their staff? There are strong arguments in favour. Whether it comes to insisting that all staff fly economy or cut down on lunches with clients, when companies impose a cost-cutting hardship on staff, managers should lead by example.
Against that, managers need a space to talk to employees in private, and for employees to talk to them, away from the straining ears of their colleagues. That can be dealt with by providing meeting spaces away from the open-plan areas, although that requires staff to make specific arrangements to talk rather than just dropping by. (By way of declaring an interest, I should say that I have an office next to the open-plan area of the team I manage.)
But my friend’s point remains: managers may want to work alongside their staff, but their staff may not want to work alongside them. Certainly, managers who work in open-plan areas should give their people a break by going somewhere else from time to time. Mr Morgan of Tube Lines told the FT he liked working in the open-plan office because, “I can listen to the gossip.” The gossip he is unlikely to hear is the gossip about him. His staff probably go elsewhere for that.

Graduates naive about jobs

2009-03-04T18:01:00.000+02:00

Advice to be realistic about job seeking from a recruitment agent should come in handy for any WoWers still out there are looking.

'Graduates naive about jobs'
Mar 04 2009 09:39 Joanita Cillié

Johannesburg - Graduates who are now entering the labour market, need rapidly to adjust their expectations because, in the current economic conditions, there are many obstacles to accessing the workplace.
Jan Coetzee, managing director of Manpower South Africa, says "Generation Y", who were born between the late 1970s and 2000, are entering the market with entirely different expectations from those of their predecessors. Much of these are unrealistic.
"They think a degree will ensure they get work. And I cannot say how many come to us looking for a monthly salary of at least R20 000, exorbitant benefits or a management position."
These individuals have, however, zero work experience and compete with an ever-expanding pool of jobseekers.
South Africa, he reckons, has till now been largely a candidate-driven market. When people with good skills sought work, agencies could quickly place them somewhere.
With many people losing their work as a result of retrenchment, and South Africans returning home from, especially, England, Australia and New Zealand, it is changing into an employer-driven market.
"It is also a reality that the market for permanent employment has shrunk significantly," Coetzee notes.
He comments that candidates with an honours or Master's degree struggle for months to get work and, sometimes, as soon as they get a job quickly lose it again because of the first-in-first-out principle; this can result in psychological scarring.
He advises candidates to first become more realistic about what they expect from a position.
Secondly, they might consider temporary work. Such jobs could become permanent in the future, and these candidates would then be more attractive because they would have gained valuable experience in different industries.

Thought for the day

2009-02-23T13:38:00.001+02:00

“Brand is what people say about you when you’re
out of the room.” Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon

Excelling at your job

2009-02-16T15:14:00.003+02:00

Amidst all the unemployment statistics, a Finweek piece today gives valuable tips on how to keep your job. Although has an edge of cynicism and when I'm reading it, makes me feel like I should walk on a tightrope around the office, it gives some valuable reminders on how to excel at my job: sometimes I forget this in the quest just to survive the day to day.

UNLESS YOU HAVE A JOB where your output is clearly measurable, you may wish to consider the guidance provided below. It would appear such measures - as ludicrous as some may seem - have been proved to work over the years. Donna Rosato, of Money Magazine suggests the following:
"It all starts with profiling. Does your boss's boss know who you are and what you do? If he doesn't, you may well be in trouble. It's no good if your immediate line manager or supervisor alone knows you're good. You have to make sure that at the uppermost echelons of the organisation the right people know your name (and game).
"Stephen Viscusi, author of Bulletproof your job: four simple strategies to ride out the tough times and come out on top at work, warns that 'the invisible guy is the first to go'.
"How do you raise your profile? Suggestions in Viscusi's book include: "face" time (arriving at the office a few minutes before everyone else and leaving a few minutes later) and making yourself noticed. You do that by making convincing statements and asking appropriate questions at meetings and other public arenas. Dressing more professionally. How about volunteering for those assignments nobody else wants?
"Then there's the question of money. You have to be making money. If you're not - and you happen to fall on the support side of the business - you need to be seen to be adding to the bottom line. Companies tend to cut jobs in support areas first. You need to be seen to be sharing leads or ideas to generate revenue.
"You need to network and you need to ensure you network with the right people: align yourself with those perceived to be top performers - those who have the boss's favour. Be careful about backing the wrong horse, because when his race is done, yours may very well be too. On the other hand, hanging out with the top performers may just leave you looking good, even if it's just by association. Some gurus don't agree: we'll leave it to you to decide the best course to follow."
Chris Kalaboukis, CEO of Advice Trader, a leading expert advice marketplace, suggests now's the time to be politically neutral. "If you ally yourself too closely with your boss, you could be in trouble if he goes. Be very aware of what's going on - but don't ally yourself with anyone," says Kalaboukis.
Most importantly, don't complain. Nobody likes people who complain all the time, especially when times are strained and profits are down. Rather be seen to be the one coming up with new, creative, cost-cutting ideas.
Kalaboukis agrees: "That's a sure job buster. Management is strung tight: stress is at an all-time high. Money is barely trickling in, if at all. Now isn't the time to complain. Bottle it all up and never say a single word to anyone at work - or anyone who knows anyone at work - no matter how unfair or wrong things are."
He cites the importance of wearing a mask when at work. "Smile, be happy and never give anyone a reason to ask: "What's wrong?' That, my friend, is the beginning of the end. You may as well get your resumé out."
You need to be seen to be going beyond the realms of responsibility for which you were hired and to position yourself as a "team player". The reality is employees worldwide are being expected to do more with less. You can choose to embrace it or complain about it: either way, you can't change the outcome - which is that you have to work harder. If you embrace it, you're more likely to remain on the team when the short straws are drawn.
However, Kalaboukis warns: "If you excel at your job you'll get noticed. Your co-workers will notice you're doing well and start talking to the boss about it. They'll gang up on you and try to take you down. Excellence makes you different and 'difference' is a negative. Don't be different - but don't let yourself slack off in any way either."
Last, but certainly, not least - be on time.

Quote of the Week

2009-02-12T14:13:00.000+02:00

"The financial crisis that grew into an economic crisis is now becoming an employment crisis, and in the coming months, for some it will be a human crisis. Far from being insulated... developing countries are feeling the effects - and Africa is no exception"

ROBERT ZOELLICK WORLD BANK PRESIDENT addressing the African Union

Interest rates in numbers

2009-02-12T14:08:00.001+02:00

With Interest rates and the budget all over the news lately, this FM article provides a quick snapshot.

100 basis points, or 1%, was the SA Reserve Bank's interest rate cut last week, making the prime lending rate 10,5%. This will provide relief to cash-strapped consumers.

2003 was the last time the bank made this big a rate adjustment. Bank governor Tito Mboweni had, uncharacteristically, said he had favoured a 2% cut.

10,3% was SA's consumer inflation in December 2008. Declining inflation and consumer confidence gave the bank reason to cut.

0,2% was Q3 economic growth rate in SA, its slowest in a decade. Mining, retail and manufacturing experienced negative growth.

1% is the interest rate in the UK, the lowest in the 300-year history of its central bank. The UK has consistently decreased its interest rates from 5% in October last year, in a bid to drag its economy out of a recession.

0%-0,25% is the interest rate in the US. It is down from 4,75% in September 2007.

0,1% is Japan's interest rate. 2% is what Europe opted to leave its interest rate at, this month. It has suggested it may

Thought for the day

2009-02-05T16:17:00.003+02:00

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.
~Author Unknown

More on unemployement

2009-02-05T12:26:00.002+02:00

Two Finanicial Mail pieces this week look at unemployement and the credit crisis. The figures coming through in the news have been a wake up call, especially the estimate that 18 - 30million could lose their jobs in the duration of the crisis. Amidst these sobering figures, unemployment becomes a political issue as South Africa approaches an election in a few months time, and political parties aim to make promises around job creation. There is likely to be intense public scrutiny of top leadership's salaries, as there staff is laid off in the thousands. All factors to watch over the next few months, and which are likely to become issues in my job, the business of communicating.

Numbers
Global jobs in numbers
By Razina Munshi

18m-30m people could lose their jobs due to the global credit crisis, says the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) annual global employment trends report released last week.

51m or 7,1% globally would be affected if world economic conditions continue to deteriorate. Based on November 2008 forecasts, an unemployment rate of 6,1% was expected. The ILO measured unemployment by those without a job, but looking for one.

3bn people worldwide were employed in 2008 - up about 1,3% over 2007. This is lower than the annual average growth rate of 1,6% during the past 10 years.

7,9% is the registered unemployment rate in sub-Saharan Africa. North Africa, with an unemployment rate of 10,3%, is the highest in the world.

5% economic growth is forecast for sub-Saharan Africa in 2009. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the region is in a less precarious position than the rest of the world because of its limited linkages with the global financial system.

0,5% The IMF's (adjusted) expectation of global economic growth in 2009 - down from 2,2% in November.

1,4bn people in developing countries are living in extreme poverty. 2,6bn consume less than US$2/day at 2005 prices.

200m more workers, mostly in developing economies, could be pushed into extreme poverty, if conditions persist.

Source: ILO and IMF

Dog
Unemployment
Jamie Carr

Those who struggled hard but failed to shed a tear in sympathy with the former big swingers of Lehman Brothers may now find it easier to get the water works flowing as the recession bites all across the real economy. Now it's not just the financial casino clowns who are heading for the elevators with the cardboard box of doom, and it's impossible to open a newspaper without reading of 10 000 jobs lost here, 5 000 there. Corporates are responding to an unprecedented drop-off in demand by cutting fast and cutting deep, and this in itself will drive demand ever lower.

SA has already suffered some cuts, but there could be many thousands more before the year is out. While political parties are putting the finishing touches to their job creation rhetoric in preparation for the election, the reality is going to be heading in exactly the opposite direction, and this may add spice to what is already a fiery political mix.

What government should be doing is racing to create the most enabling environment possible so business can bounce back as soon as possible, but sadly the compulsion to interfere may be too strong for our glorious leaders to resist.

Bringing the Obama social networking tactics to SA politics

2009-01-30T10:01:00.003+02:00

Today's Management and Leadership page in Business Day has a profile of Abey Mokgwatsane, which caught my eye because he spoke to the WOW 2007 group about building a personal brand. Abey describes how his marketing agency VWV made a pitch to a South African political party to include social networking strategies in the run up to this year's election, modelled on Obama's campaign.

He discusses Obama's brand and how it was built through the use of social media tactics - recognising Obama's stress on change but also how his slogan "Yes we can" empowered and gave hope to the consumer.

What interests me is whether a social media campaign will work for a South African political party. Yes, social media is taking off - but how much is it really taking off in South Africa? We were discussing it yesterday over lunch, and, for our purposes as a comunciations company, there's so far been little of import in that space that would affect any of our clients - people aren't going to use social sites such as Facebook to chat about a major mining company. The most popular blogs are those like "Mushy Peas on toast", and the Rugby blog KEO is in first place in popularity: we haven't yet seen corporate activists take the blogging sphere and build up a popular following.

I'll be watching the election with interest to see how the social media tactics play out. Abey thinks an Obama like campaign will work just as well here, and focuses his model on cell phones, with their major penetration in SA and African markets. As CEO of VWV at only 30 years old, Abey Mokgwatsane is also definitely one to watch.

Business Day
Surfing into the edges of brand consciousness
30 Jan 09

Abey Mokgwatsane, CEO of pace-setting marketing agency VWV, sees powerful lessons for SA in the Obama communications strategy, writes Doug Gordon

ABEY Mokgwatsane may be the only man in Johannesburg running a R100m annual business whose card doesn’t list his title. It’s a statement, of course — tuned specifically to the vast, young African consumer market who communicate as fast and laterally as today’s global internet community can reach. It’s the reach that voted a little-known junior senator into the White House this month and the kind of thinking that can make the “Obama effect” a major factor for change in our own upcoming elections. Mokgwatsane is the CEO of pacesetting marketing agency VWV, whose pitch to one of the campaigning political parties includes much of the cutting-edge communications strategy that caused tens of millions of voters to get behind Barack Obama in last November’s US elections. “It would work just as effectively here,” Mokgwatsane says. The blueprint for such a campaign, developed by the VWV planners during the recent summer holidays, is based on the rapid cellphone penetration of the South African market — already to more than 80% of the population. Obama’s blitz used SMS, MMS and Twitter to get the word out, which then multiplied via social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to millions who felt alienated from their political establishment. He campaigned for change and he kept it one-on-one, sending out daily messages while his rivals spent fortunes on saturating the TV channels with lavish TV messages. “The Obama campaign aligned the people behind a cause instead of a candidate,” he says. “It became a mission. His young organisers on campuses and in the streets networked through every community. They overlapped, they multiplied. They had an army of people constantly growing behind the single purpose of bringing change to the government.” Obama’s e-punchline made voting personal: “Change starts with you.” Smart campaigning has proved equally effective for VWV in terms of selling products other than political candidates. He and business partners Jameson Hlongwane and Wanda Shuenyane have made the transition to new media for a client list that includes Nokia, SABMiller, Coca-Cola, Nando’s, Neotel and BMW. This month the agency completes a mammoth, four-year rebranding operation on the national freight carrier Transnet. And Mokgwatsane regards the new Mini account as equally significant. “We are increasingly targeting areas of our portfolio in which we can work with the dynamic young market,” he explains. “Clients like these allow us to tap into the confluence of social networking and flow at full pace. It’s what we did with Virgin Mobile two years ago. The brief is always to be cool and do stuff that’s never been done before. To be edgy. It’s fantastic.” Now aged 30, Mokgwatsane has been in step with the multimedia evolution since he began his marketing career. What he’s brought to the superhighway is a street instinct for What’s Coming Next in a well-informed, emergent consumer market that’s setting trends for the whole of the subcontinent.

Working as a marketing trainee for SAB in 2002, he revolutionised the commercial pop culture with SABC1’s influential Castle Loud show. Household names jammed together live every Friday night to set the tone for the new urban chic, what they wore, how they partied and what they drank. Appointed a brand manager, he used a similar approach to separate America’s Miller Genuine Draft from the dated “green glass and silver foil” image of European beers. “The TV ad was like a music video,” he says. “There were no pack shots and bowing the knee to tradition. It was a fresh young brand designed for fun times: a party in LA, a party in London, a party in Tokyo — and a party happening in Jo’burg. It hooked a new brand to the global party vibe.” Backed by a launch event on a Hollywood scale, 1 500 A-listers commuted to parties around SA aboard Lear jets — hooked up to the online audience via images downloaded onto the brand’s website. Miller sales hit 100000 hectalitres faster than any other SAB label at the time — and Mokgwatsane quit to join VWV. “Radical new ideas cause waves,” he shrugs. “I needed the freedom to follow the momentum I’d discovered in below-the-line marketing. I have never accepted that relentless, big-budget TV advertising can establish a product and a new mindset. Not with today’s media-savvy generation. For me, a brand concept is made at 4am, at a club, with your friends, listening to great music — that’s when you connect with a brand. You tune into what the people want next.” Today, with more than 40% of our population younger than himself, Mokgwatsane feels even more closely tuned to the mindset of a consumer generation in its second decade of democracy. As the economy bites into marketing budgets, he’s intent on finding new, cost-effective ways for his clients to reach the public.

One example: Mokgwatsane believes that traditional stokvels are an untapped source of investment finance, a resource estimated to be worth close to R1,5bn, with memberships mostly female. “It stems from the apartheid era when many men went off to work and they stayed at home to raise the families,” he says. “I’d guess that maybe 70% of South African households nowadays are led by women. We are only beginning to figure out how to reach them. I’m talking about the grandmothers who feed their kids, clothe them and get them into school, all on their monthly pensions of a few hundred rand.” The trade and industry department last year estimated there are at least 800000 active stokvels with at least 10-million members, providing cash reserves to supplement the meagre incomes of low-income households. “This is a massive community dedicated to a single purpose,” he continues. “They are constantly looking out for a new savings account offering a better rate of interest. Yet many banks, which are desperate for cash, ignore them. The stokvel model is a major new factor. In an election year, it brings into play every one of those millions of women as potential investors taking charge of their savings and the future of their families. That’s who we need to reach in an election year.” Cellphones provide the cheapest and most effective route of doing that. Text greetings flew at a rate of 1000 a second between families and friends as New Year arrived this month, on one leading network alone; at least 50-million messages pinged out on Christmas day. Digital hook-ups are handheld and thriving here in the same way that Obama amassed his own grassroots collective. Empathy is what gets millions of people on message. “Keep it simple,” says Abey. “Express it in a single sentence that everyone can relate to and talk about.” Brands must connect with the right market energy to build fast, and when it works it’s dynamite. President Obama is already a brand icon at a level that marketers can only dream about. Virtually unknown to the American public a year ago, his credibility and user-friendly image now puts even Tiger Woods in the shade. He’s the first president to use his smartphone inside the Oval Office — a product endorsement that would be worth at least $50m a year if he wasn’t doing it for free, say marketing experts.

“The BlackBerry anecdotes are a huge part of Obama’s brand reputation,” he notes. “It positions him as one of us: he’s got friends and family and people to communicate with, just like all of us. And it positions him as a next-generation politician.” He followed the Obama campaign with increasing fascination as the buzz mounted on the net and began generating global headlines. He’s feeling the same excitement about our own upcoming elections. “The Obama campaign model would be the quickest way to bring an intensive, fully organised operation into play here,” he says. “When he won the election on November 5, the world changed. There is a new era of truth that’s sweeping the globe, the unvarnished realities of business and politics exposed by the economic recession. “Obama understood from the beginning that change was the key issue — change that was coming and would radically affect us all. He grasped that instinctively and drove that message throughout 2008 while his rivals only latched onto it in the closing weeks before the election.” That’s the pitch that Mokgwatsane used last month to bring state-of-the-art communications to our own election. “South Africans want respect and they want to be kept in the loop about the issues that affect them personally,” he says. “They couldn’t care less about old-style electioneering, gossip and moral baggage. The greatest credibility a candidate can offer nowadays is simply to tell the truth and trust the voters to make their own decisions.”

72 000 retrenchments announced in one day

2009-01-28T12:02:00.002+02:00

Scary headlines yesterday announced 72 000 retrenchments across the globe. I heard the news on the radio when driving to work and was suddenly very glad to be driving to work! It is still unclear how badly South Africa will be affected by the threat of retrenchments, a lot of the big companies are skirting around the issue, but they are sure to be around the corner. At Brunswick we will no doubt have to carefully manage how some of our clients issue these annoucements. Between that and the impending elections, its bound to be an interesting year!

Massive global job cuts as crisis deepens
A tidal wave of layoffs washed across the world, sending 70,000 workers into joblessness as the pain of the global recession worsened. Brian Moss, Reuters27 January 2009 02:51
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tidal wave of layoffs washed across the world on Monday, sending tens of thousands of workers into joblessness as the pain of the global recession worsened.
Amid reports of tumbling corporate profits, dire outlooks and a lowered global growth forecast from the International Monetary Fund, companies in Europe and the United States announced they would cut employees in a dramatic effort to reduce costs and keep their businesses afloat.
Despite the corporate gloom, markets rallied on some of Monday's other news: No. 1 drugmaker Pfizer Inc said it would buy rival Wyeth for $68 billion, Barclays said it had no need to raise capital and sales of existing U.S. homes unexpectedly rose 6.5 percent.
"In the midst of a global recession, here is Pfizer, hopefully spending their dollars wisely," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group in New Brunswick, New Jersey. "It adds a little confidence that all is not lost."
But the darkening view was reinforced by a dismal revised outlook from the IMF, which slashed its forecast for 2009 global growth to 0.5 percent from 2.2 percent in its last economic outlook in November, a source told Reuters.
The IMF saw the U.S. economy contracting 1.6 percent in 2009, with the euro zone shrinking 2 percent and Japan contracting 2.6 percent, according to the source. The IMF pegged 2010 world growth at 3 percent.
The tsunami of layoff announcements, affecting more than 70,000 workers, started in Europe, with electronics maker Philips reporting 6,000 job cuts as it posted a bigger-than-expected 1.5 billion euro ($1.9 billion) loss, its first quarterly loss since 2003.
ING cut 7,000 of its 130,000 jobs, replaced its CEO and got guarantees from the Dutch government as other European banks sought to reassure investors they are coming to grips with the turmoil in financial markets.
Corus, Europe's second-largest steelmaker, said 3,500 jobs would go worldwide, including 2,500 in Britain, as the company, owned by India's Tata Steel, sought to boost operating profit.
CATERPILLAR, SPRINT, HOME DEPOT
In the United States, Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of heavy equipment, said it would eliminate nearly 20,000 jobs, reported a 32 percent drop in profit and forecast the weakest year for business since the end of World War Two.
Sprint Nextel Corp the No. 3 U.S. mobile service provider, said it will cut up to 8,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its workforce. [ID:nN26368948] Retailer Home Depot Inc said it will cut 7,000 jobs, or about 2 percent of its workforce.
Chip maker Texas Instruments said it was cutting 12 percent of its workforce, including 1,800 layoffs and 1,600 voluntary departures [ID:nN2638388], and car maker General Motors Corp said it would lay off 2,000 more workers at two assembly plants.
On the flip side of Pfizer's deal for Wyeth, Pfizer said it will cut 15 percent of the companies' combined 130,000 workers -- about 19,500 jobs.
Major U.S. indexes rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 percent and the broader S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent. Bond prices fell as the increase in existing-home sales raised questions whether the housing market was as weak as thought. European stocks rose, with Europe's FTSE 300 index closing 3.2 percent higher.
Gold climbed above $900 an ounce, the highest in more than three months.
Governments around the world focused on stimulus packages to grapple with the financial crisis.
U.S. President Barack Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters the president "would do everything in his power to ensure the financial system does not collapse," after a weekend in which Republicans voiced objections to Obama's stimulus proposals.
Obama's choice to help lead the government effort, Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, won Senate approval after a delay due to qualms over his underpayment, since rectified, of some personal taxes earlier this decade.
Geithner is expected to be sworn in quickly and within weeks will likely unveil reforms to the $700 billion financial bailout program to provide more support for housing and credit markets and possibly to absorb troubled assets from banks.
Canada will spend C$7 billion ($5.7 billion) on infrastructure over the next two years, a government minister said, and officials said Canada will run budget deficits totaling C$64 billion over the next two years.
"We not only create jobs and economic activity now, we also improve our economic competitiveness for decades to come," said Minister of Transport John Baird.
The Norwegian government presented a $2.87 billion fiscal stimulus package to prevent a surge in unemployment.
In Iceland, however, the government of Prime Minister Geir Haarde collapsed under the pressures of the financial crisis.
Banks have borne the brunt of the credit crisis, which was sparked by mass defaults on U.S. home loans. The sector has seen a wave of consolidation as leading banks around the world have collapsed or been taken over.
But shares in Britain's Barclays leaped 73 percent after it said its projected 2008 pretax profit of more than 5.3 billion pounds ($7.3 billion) would include significant writedowns of 8 billion pounds and that the bank had made a good start to 2009.
global recession, job cuts,
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More about Blogs

2009-01-26T12:22:00.002+02:00

Another piece highlighting the importance of blogs, this time focused on their usefulness in attracting graduates to a company. The rise of social media is attractign increasing attention. I wonder how many South African businesses are starting to take notice? Seems we can no longer hide behind the excuse that blogs haven't really taken off here.... if I find out more I will keep you all posted! (via posts on my blog : ) )

Fin 24
Businesses: blog or bust
Ines Schumacher
23 Jan 09
Johannesburg - Your company may be losing out in the battle for Generation Y if it does not have a corporate blog, according to the latest research by employer branding specialist Magnet Communications. In its annual student employer survey, Magnet Communications established that students and young graduates react well to corporate blogs. "They are generally viewed as less controlled than corporate websites, since information doesn't come from a faceless corporate - giving blogs a high degree of credibility," the report says. A corporate blog is an online space used by a company to communicate with its employees and/or its customers. The concept is not something to be frowned at, since more than 12% of Fortune 500 companies have set up corporate blogs. However, it's not a concept that has had a wide uptake in South Africa.
"Some South African companies are still afraid of the medium because people are saying bad stuff about them," says Mike Stopforth, CEO of social and mobile media company Cerebra. His message to those companies is to give consumers the platform to interact with the company, because the bad comments will still be made on other platforms. The appeal of a corporate blog for potential employees is to get a sense of what a company stands for and the "vibe" of the environment, says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of technology research firm World Wide Worx. "Young people don't want to get the feeling that they're stuck in a prison camp," he says. Of course, there are the inevitable pitfalls. "A corporate blog is only a good strategy if you have the right blogger," says Goldstuck. "A CEO blog is a bad idea if the CEO is a bad communicator or writer and has nothing to say," he says. But handing the blog over to a public relations (PR) company to manage denies the company its voice. "People see through an unauthentic blog immediately," he says. Stopforth says: "If there is major dissonance between what the brand stands for and its voice online, readers are going to push back."
How to do it right
Most importantly, a corporate blog has to follow four simple rules, says Goldstuck.

1. Convey an authentic message
2. Be interesting
3. Don't use the blog as a marketing exercise
4. Interact with the users.

Stopforth would add one other rule to that list: "A corporate blog has to empower its users and involve them in brand-building. That will give your blog meaning." Fin24.com has compiled a short list of corporate blogs that add value to the company, and another looking at blogs that should never have been set up in the first place.
The good and the bad
Samsung South Africa: Samsung's blog is unique in that it engages users with other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as providing some product support. "The authors are fans of Samsung and they are potential new talent for the company," says Stopforth.
Marriott International: A blog by the CEO of a hotel chain. In Marriott on the move, Bill Marriott blogs about the world as he sees it, showing us the humanity behind the brand. Another good CEO blog is Boeing's blog, which gives insight into the workings of the airline industry.
Google blog: A blog where Google employees blog about the working environment. "This blog works well only because Google's corporate environment encourages creative thought and employees feel free to express their views," says Goldstuck.
Sony Playstation blog: Sony harps on about its Playstation and all the latest games it's releasing. This is just a PR blog.
Starbucks blog: Apparently a place for commentary on the brand, but mostly PR material posing as an independent blog.
Happy blogging!

Social media and Businesses

2009-01-23T10:33:00.000+02:00

A Business Day piece (sourced from the FT) looks at the damage social media can do to companies, particularly if they do not respond in time to complaints in that sphere. It suggests that companies need to develop a response strategy for dealing with social media, highlighting that bigger US companies such as Ford Motor and PepsiCo are already appointing social media strategists.
Importantly, the piece also emphasises that corporate communications have radically changed with the onset of social media : "It's no longer just companies talking to the press, and customer service talking to customers. All these other people showed up in the -middle. They may not be press and they may not be customers, but suddenly their collective voice is bigger than the traditional channels."

Business Day
Logging in with the new corporate firefighters
By David Gelles (FT)
23 Jan 09
When advertisers launched a campaign last September for the pain reliever Motrin, they hoped to attract the attention of mothers whose backs might be sore from wearing baby-carriers. The advertisements implied that while baby-carriers might be fashionable, hauling a child around could be painful. Mothers were not amused. Soon after the ads were released, anti-Motrin campaigns appeared on Facebook and blogs. Outraged mums, furious at the suggestion that their babies were a hassle, posted rebuttal videos on YouTube. Through Twitter, the microblogging service, thousands of people attacked the company. Motrin was caught off-guard. For days, no company representative replied. Critics accused the company of being not only insensitive but also unresponsive. Eventually a marketing executive at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that markets Motrin, e-mailed individual bloggers to apologise for the campaign. But the damage was done. The "Motrin moms" episode illustrates the power of social media - the expanding network of websites that allow users to interact with each other and, increasingly, with companies. It also demonstrates the perils for enterprises that are unprepared to interact with social media. But now a growing number of companies, including Ford Motor, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo and Dell, are creating new high-level jobs to ready themselves for engagement with social media, with titles such as director of social media, head of communities and conversation, vice-president of experiential marketing and digital communications manager. The role of these new executives is to monitor and influence what is being said about their companies on the internet.
Johnson & Johnson made its own appointment in the wake of the Motrin debacle. Having already dabbled in social media, in December the company promoted Marc Monseau, a 10-year company veteran and former director of media relations, to director of social media. "My responsibility is to work with the corporate office and the individual companies to better interact online," Mr Monseau says. "It underscores the fact that we realise this is an important audience and one that we need to develop relationships with." These new jobs represent a broad shift in media relations strategy at large companies. "Corporate communications has radically changed," says Andy Sernovitz, chief executive of the Blog Council, an organisation for heads of social media at big companies. "It's no longer just companies talking to the press, and customer service talking to customers. All these other people showed up in the -middle. They may not be press and they may not be customers, but suddenly their collective voice is bigger than the traditional channels." The essence of social media is conversation. Rather than a one-way stream of information, where companies make announcements to the press and customers, social media enables a great deal of interaction, where companies are in constant dialogue with the public. "We've seen a shift from doing things the old way to now having conversations with our customers," says Jeanette Gibson, director of new media for Cisco Systems. Ms Gibson, who began her job in 2007, says there is now a mandate at Cisco that all staff be attuned to what is being said about Cisco online. "It has definitely shifted how we've done communications," she says. "Our executives are video blogging every day. Everybody's job is now social media." Dell, the computer maker, has one of the most robust corporate social media programmes. Bob Pearson, former senior vicepresident of corporate communications, became vice-president of communities and conversation for Dell in 2007.
He now has 45 people working for him. The core team works on "blog resolution" - trawling the web for dissatisfied customers, then attempting to contact them to make amends. Others on Dell's social media team manage the company's 80 Twitter accounts and 20 Facebook pages. Still others manage IdeaStorm, Dell's forum for customer feedback. Dell is taking its customer feedback seriously. When the company launched the Latitude laptop last summer, six of the features, including backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader, were ideas that came from IdeaStorm. "It's always worth talking directly with your customers. It's always worth listening to them," says Mr Pearson. "It's the wisdom of crowds." Peter Shankman, a social media expert and founder of Help a Reporter Out, a service that broadcasts reporters' requests to a network of experts, says many companies are still reluctant to get involved: "Companies are slow to adapt because they're still not 100 per cent sure they can make money with social media," he says. Yet Dell, for one, has made a business of it. By broadcasting discount alerts on Twitter, it says, it has generated more than $1m in sales. And in the US, 59 of the 100 leading retailers, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart, now have a fan page on Facebook, according to Rosetta, an interactive marketing agency. Other savings can be realised through the Web's ability to reach many people at once. "If you solve someone's problem on the phone, nobody knows," says Mr Sernovitz. "If you solve that same problem in writing on a blog, it costs you no more, but thousands of people are satisfied. And then, if 100 people never call because they found the answer, you very, very quickly get to multimillion-dollar savings." Other companies are using Twitter to douse public relations fires before they erupt. Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford Motors, used Twitter to appease users who were angry after the carmaker sued an enthusiast website that was selling unauthorised Ford merchandise. When fans of the enthusiast site posted angry messages, Mr Monty "tweeted back" to explain the company's position. Bonin Bough, who was appointed director of social media for PepsiCo last year, also used Twitter to defuse a brewing crisis after the company released a series of advertisements depicting a cartoon calorie character committing suicide. "Social media is much more than getting out there and having conversations," says Mr Pearson of Dell. "It transforms a business if you use it correctly."
How to get the best out of social media
* Service alerts. In October, Comcast cable customers turned on their TVs to watch a playoff between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. Instead, they found an old sitcom. On Twitter, furious viewers began complaining about the problem.
Frank Eliason, Comcast's director of digital care, saw the "tweets" and soon informed users that the problem was a power outage. "Twitter allows for an immediate response," he says.
* Storytelling. In December, Molson Canada sent 10,000 cans of beer to Canadian troops around the world. To promote this noble act, Molson's PR team did not place the story in local papers - they blogged about it. Soon seven other Canadian bloggers followed up the story. "The blog allows us to tell our story," says Ferg Devins, manager of the brewer's social media programme.
* Customer relations. A few months ago, a member of Kaiser Permanente, the California healthcare provider, had a poor experience with her doctor in San Diego. She blogged about the event, attracting comments.
Holly Potter, head of social media for Kaiser, contacted the doctor, who made amends with the patient. She then blogged about her corrective experience.

Manage your career through social networking

2009-01-23T10:32:00.000+02:00

An interesting piece from Business Day.

Get Linkedin and put your best Facebook forward

Mark Gray, of recruitment and technology company Graylink, tells Penny Haw how job seekers and those looking to hire are increasingly finding each other online
FORGET the credit crunch, what about the career crunch? A survey of graduates and students conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers last month found that 81% were more concerned about their job prospects than they were a year ago.
Getting a job as soon as possible, they say, is a top priority. So much so, in fact, that more than 50% conceded that they are willing to look for work that is not relevant to their qualifications to ensure that they are employed. Furthermore , 42% anticipated less pay than they had initially hoped for.
And that is only one side of the recruitment coin.
As budgets come under pressure to facilitate the economic downturn, companies and their recruitment agencies are increasingly looking for more cost-effective and creative ways to fill positions.
But while in some places employers are cutting back, indications are that the majority of businesses across the world are still looking to recruit, particularly those in budding economies such as that of the Middle East. This means that overall, there are more applicants in the mix and that an increasing number of hopefuls are prepared to consider global assignments. The result for many human resource professionals and recruitment agencies is an increase in workload and the call to make greater use of technology to more effectively manage the rising flood of applications.
Technology, says Mark Gray, who heads up South African-based recruitment and technology company, Graylink, has had a huge effect on recruitment processes — for candidates, recruitment professionals and employers alike — in the past five years. Not only are employers and their agencies increasingly adopting online-only recruitment policies, but more and more are using social networking platforms — such as Facebook, Orkut, MySpace and Linkedin — to hunt for candidates. These sites, he says, are also increasingly helping job hunters market themselves online by providing potential employers with access to profiles, work history and details of specific skills.
Gray, who is the son of 1980s Johannesburg recruitment buff Don Gray (of Don Gray Associates), and the nephew of Allan Gray (founder of investment management firm, Allan Gray Limited), established Graylink as a supplier of specialised recruitment software to replace paper-based processes in 2002. Since then, he and his developers have advanced and expanded the application — which is delivered to clients over the internet — to make it possible for their 150 active clients to better track, screen, filter and manage applications, and to engage with thousands of job seekers in seven different languages across the world each month.
“Most companies readily acknowledge that recruiting talent is a priority,” comments Gray, whose enthusiasm for the internet survived the dotcom meltdown and which, combined with his understanding of recruitment, has helped put Graylink up ahead in the field of online recruitment in this country.
“Managing the recruitment process is, however, a challenge. When there is no database to source from directly, costs and time-to-hire increase. Done manually, the process requires a great deal of administration, and is inefficient and slow. What’s more, traditional recruitment advertising is increasingly costly and, in most cases, it does little to build the organisation’s brand.”
Graylink — which, in addition to operating out of its head office in Cape Town with a bureau in Johannesburg, also has offices in the UK, France, United Arab Emirates and Singapore, and representation in the US, Australia and, from early next year, South America — provides a single software code base to automate clients’ recruitment processes. Each organisation gets its own database of potential employees, and a recruitment website that is incorporated into its existing website.
The look, functionality and marketing-led approach of an organisation’s online recruitment service are, stresses Gray, fundamental to its success.
“It goes without saying that, like customers, candidates are attracted to strong brands,” he says. “Our approach ensures that each client’s brand is carefully managed and that it wins the attention of the right audience. With more organisations moving their recruitment online, competition has increased and it is no longer enough to have a website that merely lists current vacancies. You have to add value, compete for the best talent and, wherever possible, go out and look for it — and that is where social networking sites come into play.”
According to a study by CareerBuilder.com, which is one of the largest online job sites in the US, one in every five employers in that country uses social networks to research information about job candidates.
Reuters reported last month that “traffic on the world’s top professional web networks has surged since the financial crisis started to make headlines, with top player, privately held Linkedin, notching 25% more registrations in September than forecast”.
Membership on Linkedin has increased from 18-million at the beginning of the year to more than 31-million. It is growing fastest in the financial services, media, education and technology fields.
Increased use of social media, says Gray, compels employers and recruiters to examine, network, attract, engage and connect with potential employees like they have never done before. Companies are increasingly questioning long-standing recruitment strategies and accepting that social media has entered the mainstream as a recruitment strategy.
“While South Africans are slower on the uptake than many of their international colleagues, the more savvy local recruiters are already getting into social networks as a new way to hunt talent and market their clients as employers,” he says. “When done correctly, recruitment via social networking platforms can be a more effective and inexpensive way to reach and engage relevant talent than traditional methods.”
There are two options for recruiting candidates via social-networking sites: recruiters can either set up pages on the sites for passive recruiting or, using various search tools, actively troll the sites for suitable candidates.
Trolling is generally done by using keywords to search targeted sites. This way recruiters dig out high-quality candidates that cannot be found elsewhere. These candidates can then be contacted directly about job offers that might interest them. Organisations can also set up groups to create communities around a shared interest, simultaneously using it to find talent.
The premise is that employers and recruiters have the opportunity to target, sound out and interact with candidates at length before final interviews take place.
Candidates, on the other hand, receive job offers from companies that have taken the time to seek them out, and find out all about their career objectives and skills.
Moreover, the kinds of online conversations recruiters have with candidates can reinforce the organisation’s brand. For example, Linkedin has a very active feature for asking and answering questions. As a member of Linkedin, a candidate is able to convey knowledge and expertise, positioning him or herself as an expert on a certain subjects. Linkedin also allows job seekers to list previous employers to confirm credibility.
But, cautions Gray, using social networks for recruitment and branding is not as simple as clicking and searching.
Recruiters need to understand exactly what organisations need, what each site provides in terms of service to users and intelligence to the recruiter, and which of these their desired candidate audience is actively using. In other words, it requires a specialised approach.
“For employers and job seekers to remain competition, they have to start getting more active around marketing themselves on social networks,” says Gray. “But it is as important to do it correctly to make it work — and to avoid damaging the brand, whether that of the company or the candidate.”
That then, is perhaps the other career crunch of the 21st century.

A difficult time ... much doom and gloom news

2008-12-11T10:48:00.003+02:00

In the past few days more and more companies have followed suit with news of mass retrenchments and reviewing of capex plans. Yesterday Rio Tinto (a major Australian mining company) announced that it would cut 14 000 jobs. Anglo is due to announce its capex review next week. Diamonds are stock piling around the world as companies like De Beers battle to sell the luxury product. On the local front, Lonmin has already announced the retrenchment of 5000 + workers. The price of steel has plummeted, and major steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal South Africa has extended the shutdown of its plants over the holiday period.

A recent survey by KPMG predicted that a third of South African employees will be retrenched next year. Although this year has been difficult, many take the view that we will only really start feeling the affects of the recession next year.

And its not just mining and commodities that are badly affected: a piece from today's Business Day reports on widespread job cuts across the newspaper industry as media houses face pressure to maintain profit levels. As Renee Bonorchis points out, this will result in increasing juniourisation in the industry as companies make shortsighted decisions on whose jobs to cut. For example, Jeremy Gordin, a respected Sunday Independent columnist, was recently retrenched. She sees this as shortsighted as she believes it is quality journalists like Gordin who draw readers to a newspaper. Firing him and keeping more junior writers will ultimately lead to the death of the industry.

On the flip side, this will lead to an increase in new media: blogs, websites and other platforms that are cheaper to run without the costs of printing, delivery, paper etc.

An important part of my job is to keep tabs on the news and what's going on in the world. It's an exciting time to be doing this as things are changing - the credit crisis is forcing people and companies to review their old ways of doing things. Although it all seems to be doom and gloom news at the moment, I also enjoy knowing that I am able to hold an intelligent conversation at a dinner party - I am amazed at how much I've learnt in a year and a half! Our daily morning newspaper sessions during our World of Work course stood me in good stead for the work I'm doing now.

Business Day column below.

The human spirit under fire at the end of a difficult year
Renée Bonorchis
11 Dec 08
THIS is my last column for the year. By the time this column appears again next year, a number of my colleagues at various publishing houses may be out of a job. At Primedia (which owns the likes of 702 Talk Radio and Highveld Stereo) there’s a hiring freeze, no end-of-year parties and little or no bonuses. At Avusa (the company I work for) bonuses have been cut, all entertainment and travel expenses have been wiped out, but as yet there’s no serious talk of retrenchment. But over at Naspers, with publications such as Beeld and Rapport, the letters for voluntary retrenchment have gone out and if 20% or more of the staff don’t take those packages, then some will be getting the chop on January 5. Lovely timing, don’t you think? But the company that really takes the cake has got to be Independent Newspapers. I should declare that I worked for this company for eight years. It runs titles such as the Star, the Cape Times, Business Report and the Pretoria News. Last week it sent out letters offering certain production staff voluntary retrenchment. At the same time the news broke that one of Independent’s best writers, Jeremy Gordin, had been retrenched. Gordin is an experienced political reporter and he writes like a dream. You’d think that he’s just the kind of person you’d want to hold on to in tough times because he’s the kind of writer that keeps readers interested, but no, the talk is he was axed because he’s expensive.This kind of shortsighted thinking on the part of management was evidenced again in the retrenchment letters that Independent sent out to staff across the country. The company wants to amalgamate its production people so that instead of having specialists working on specialist titles such as Business Report, it will have one long production line with financial copy editors struggling with sports articles and senior copy editors being demoted to mere cogs in the wheel.
From those copy editors (also known in SA as sub-editors) Independent wants to get rid of 15 of the most senior of them in Gauteng alone. In Durban and Cape Town, another four or five of the most senior people must go. Junior staff are not up for the chop because they’re cheaper to employ. And Independent’s overabundance of extremely senior staff, who hide in wood-panelled offices up on the top floors and appear to do very little, are certainly not facing retrenchment. The message being sent out is that the quality of the papers is expendable. A newspaper, it would appear, has become a fast-moving consumer good, not much different from a can of baked beans. The old hacks may sneer at my idealism in thinking that a paper is anything more than a consumable, but dammit, why shouldn’t we be idealistic about the press, that vital pillar of our democracy? Why shouldn’t we expect the papers that we read every day to strive to give us the best news, the best writers, the best pictures, the best designs? And why shouldn’t anyone expect that, if you work hard and get to the top of your game and put up with the good and the bad from the company you work for, you’ll be rewarded for it rather than kicked out because you tried too hard to do well? It’s this kind of rubbish that breaks the human spirit. It’s this kind of mismanagement that destroys newspapers and companies and reputations. During the year I have spoken to countless businesses in SA about job losses and how to deal with the economic downturn and there are three main ways that they have viewed the situation. Some have said it’s now that you need to keep your best staff — while others downsize, the bullish types can take market share and be well positioned for the upturn. Option two was to do with allowing natural attrition to slim the head count for at least the past six months and using training programmes to re-skill certain staff and redeploy them into other areas of the business.
Option three was carefully thought through retrenchments that were often started well before December and involved departments that would not impact on the business’s ability to offer customers the best service possible. As you’ll notice, Independent’s strategy doesn’t appear to fall into any of the above categories. Part of the problem may be that Independent answers to bosses in the UK and, with the rand having weakened, those bosses want their returns even if it means hacking the local company to pieces. Independent may be a prime example of how not to run a sustainable business. So this month I’m going to worry about my friends at other publications; I’m going to worry about the future of journalism in SA; I’m going to worry that too many companies have learnt nothing about survival; I’m going to worry that yet again people have become the expendable components in a downturn; I’m going to worry that all the talk about social responsibility and sustainability means nothing when cash flows are tight; I’m going to worry that companies use and abuse their staff and that, even with our progressive labour laws, it never seems to stop; I’m going to worry that despite the world suffering through a tough year together, we’ve come no closer to finding a collective solution that helps people rather than hurts them. On that note I’m not so sure I can wish you a happy holiday. But I do wish you health, wealth and prosperity. Till next time.

Companies should offer internships

2008-12-11T10:46:00.001+02:00

Something from today's Business Day on the importance of internships in equipping SA with the skills the country needs.

Companies ‘should offer internships’
Luphert Chilwane
11 Dec 08

SA NEEDED legislation that forced companies to give engineering students the internship-type work placements they needed to obtain their qualifications, said Vaal University of Technology faculty officer of co-operative education, Dutch Matlaletsa, yesterday. Matlaletsa’s comment came after Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena said that each year several thousand students could not graduate because they could not secure internship work placements . Speaking at the Technical Skills Africa conference in Johannesburg, Matlaletsa said that SA’s skills shortage continued to restrict the country’s growth and development. “Companies must refrain from using universities as ATM cash-cows because they are not investing much into students’ skills development,” he said .

For SA to survive, it had to produce at least 1000 engineering graduates annually until 2014. The science and technology department had adopted 18 (two from each province) of the government’s dedicated mathematics and sciences schools, giving them learning materials and support, Mangena said. This was part of the department’s plan to help increase the number of matriculants eligible for entry into science, engineering and technology studies at higher education institutions. The 2008 Scarce Skills Quota list showed that annually SA needed an injection of 1000 civil engineers, 500 aeronautical engineers, 500 electrical and electronic engineers, and 500 specialist pipe engineers, he said. SA’s higher education institutions were not producing the requisite number of engineers to match the growth rates in the South African economy, and students were affected because they could not secure the internship-type work they had to complete to obtain their qualifications, Mangena said.

How to manage your work life

2008-12-10T12:08:00.001+02:00

Hello all, I thought I'd kick off my re entry into the blogging world with some tips on how to manage your work life (and become a star!)

Happy holiday season everyone!

1. Initiative. Blazing trails in the organisational chaos by going above and beyond the accepted job description to offer new, often bold, and value-adding ideas.

2. Networking. Overcoming knowledge blocks in your daily work by plugging into the knowledge net of technical gurus.

3. Self-management. Managing your whole life at work by contributing to the critical path and ensuring high job performance.

4. Perspective. Getting the big picture by learning to see things as your customers, competitors, colleagues, and bosses see them.

5. Followership. Checking your ego at the door to lead in assists while exercising independent, critical thinking on goals, tasks, and methods.

6. Leadership. Doing small “1” leadership in a big “L” world by partnering with colleagues to accomplish important tasks.

7. Teamwork. Becoming a positive contributor to group goals, commitments, work activities, group dynamics, and accomplishments.

8. Organisational savvy. Using street smarts to navigate the organisation’s competing interests, to win others’ help and cooperation, to address conflicts, and to complete tasks.

9. Show-and-tell. Persuading the right audience with the right message in user-friendly format.

Top tips: How to behave when you get your internship

2008-04-17T15:03:00.002+02:00

Here are some good tips for the 2008 group on what to do once you have been placed in an internship. I've found it's really important to make sure that you are likeable and are a positive contribution in the workplace: so make sure you are friendly and SMILE, smile, SMILE!

Fiona McDonald may have shared with you that she knew that Celeste (a WOW intern in 2006) would do well on her very first day, when she ensured that she greeted everyone in the building.

The course that you are on now is like a training ground for your future job. Hope you can practice the smile now!

* Make sure everyone knows who you are and why you’re there
* Put in the hours
* Be a help not a hindrance

- Make yourself as indispensable as you can
- Show off what you’re best at – you’ll be hired because you add something no one else can
- Have a sense of humour
- Don’t be annoying
- Listen until your ears bleed – ask questions and remember the answers
- Read people – this is the hardest bit – knowing who to approach and when
- Get on the killer brief, even if it means you beg, borrow, steal and work through the night
- Only present your best work – 10 great ideas is better than 50 OK ideas
- Prepare to make tea and coffee, work late, be poor and do all of that with a smile!

Welcome to WOWers 2008!

2008-04-02T12:10:00.002+02:00

It was a great pleasure to welcome the new WOWers to the programme on Monday. As I mentioned briefly in the session, it was a nice opportunity to reflect on the process I've been through. I've built a lot of confidence in the last year and learnt a great deal, all of which began with my first day in WOW 2007.

Lesley and Jean, thank you for setting up such a wonderful programme that has helped me in so many ways.

I look forward to reading all the new blogs and also to sharing my thoughts on the blogging process with the new group today.

And a very big WELCOME to you all. I hope you are all looking forward to it!

Brunswick: 9 months on

2008-02-14T13:41:00.002+02:00

It’s been almost nine months since I started at Brunswick. What began with an offer of a one month contract was extended to two months, and then for a further six – and at the start of this year the three interns (including me) began on a more formal training course – which gives us all a period to learn in a structured manner.

Our last training session was on the role of an executive (the next step up from an intern). Our role is, essentially, to support the rest of the office. The point that made the biggest impression on me was how to do this more proactively. There are several ways we can be there for our teams:
- if there is a meeting we can offer to take notes and then distribute them
- before an upcoming event we can ask what needs to be done and how we can help
- if we see something important, such as an article that may need urgent attention, we need to take responsibility for making sure the right people have seen it
- in all our work, it’s important to consider what would be most useful to whoever has asked for it – and take care to present it in a way that is accessible to them. For example, during the recent power crisis, I was collecting some news coverage for a client. Rather than sending a mass of news articles only, I highlighted in red what would be relevant for them.
- there are a multitude of smaller things we can do – for example, when we send out news coverage, we can write in the subject of the e mail what the article is about, so that the person reading it can immediately see if it’s relevant.

The bottom line is: how can we work more efficiently and what can we do that will save whoever receives our work their time?

We’ve been encouraged to start working more proactively rather than simply getting bogged down by the volume of work. It’s challenging to think about things in this way; rather than waiting to be asked, to offer instead. This way, we will all feel like we’re making more of a contribution to the team and I think start to learn more and more.

Daniel, our trainer, emphasised that the more efficiently all the teams in the office work, the better the service we give to the client.

So I challenge everyone to think about how they can be more proactive in the workplace - rather than wait for work to come to you.

Holiday fever

2007-12-11T02:34:00.000+02:00

To give you all a taste of the holiday fever beginning to spread in the office, I'm sharing some of the silliness to keep you laughing (point 2 is especially for Valentin):

HOLIDAY GUIDE - How To Survive A Shark Attack (Very Handy)

1: Don't swim in the ocean.
Ninety-nine percent of all shark attacks take place in exceptionally large bodies of water also known as oceans.
The way to determine if you are currently in an ocean is to taste the water, which should be salty.

2: Listen out for the music.
In the event that you are foolish enough to swim in an ocean, listen carefully for the music, as demonstrated in the marvelous documentary
film Jaws. All shark attacks are preceded by the 'daah-da, daah-da' chords, which will gradually become more rapid as the shark gets
closer. This is due to the Doppler Effect.

3: Swim with fat people.
Try to surround yourself with more appetizing companions.
If you know them well, you might even try to switch their suntan lotion with A-1 Steak Sauce. This will definitely improve your odds.

4: Don't go into the water without a knife.
This is not to defend yourself but to stab the person (a.k.a the decoy) closest to you in the case of a shark attack. Once you are sure the
'decoy' is bleeding profusely.....swim for your freekin life.

And finally.....

5: Don't panic.
In the event that a shark actually bites you, try to remain calm. This really won't help you survive, but everyone else on the beach will
appreciate you not shrieking madly, as this is quite unsettling

After a long absence from my blog - which happened for a number of reasons, mostly because I don't want to sit in front of a computer when I get home from work - I'm back!
It's been an interesting few months - with office moves, employees resigning and new employees arriving, load -shedding (the dreaded), Christmas parties and appraisals...
I'm on leave next week and will have some time to reflect on my year at work. Look for me then... until that time, don't get eaten by any sharks!

forgetting my lessons in conflict management

2007-10-24T11:47:00.000+02:00

I forgot my lessons in conflict management and was reminded:

1. If you have a problem, voice it - or it will just get bigger.... and bigger.

2. If a team member approaches you about a mistake you've made, apologise and rectify as soon as you can.... rather than being rude to the person who raised the issue with you.

3. Put your personal differences aside for the sake of a healthy working relationship and a well functioning team.

A few years ago, I shared a flat with a friend from varsity who proved very difficult to live with. Rather than approach her about things I was unhappy with, I kept quiet, and the issues got bigger and bigger and we ended up having a huge fight.

I realised then that it was much better to talk about things as they arose. My natural inclination is to avoid conflict, though. But I've thought back to WoW and the conflict - productivity graph...

A lesson I'll keep having to be reminded of until I put it into practice!

Here at last...

2007-10-02T01:17:00.000+02:00

Godfrey Chesang has arrived at Brunswick at last! I know many WoWers know him as he has spent several years at Wits studying his PhD in politics. I look forward to getting to know him and working with him.

It's nice to be working for a firm that is happy to employ people from a range of different backgrounds - English, politics, economics, law... and that they don't feel people like Godfrey or myself, with postgrad humanities degrees, are "overqualified"!

News on Vincent Maher- M&G's web strategist....

2007-09-27T02:31:00.000+02:00

And someone who's done a lot for making blogging a popular pastime in SA! Have a look at his blog/ his aggregator site- amatomu.

Vincent Maher has been nominated for the IT Personality of the Year 2007 Award. ITWeb has short-listed 10 nominees, and from these will select 5 finalists on Friday, 5 October. Maher is currently the strategist at the Mail & Guardian Online and has been a key figure in a number of local Web 2.0 developments. Earlier this year he built and established Amatomu, the first blog aggregating site in South Africa. Maher and Amatomu recently won the Highway Africa New Media Award in the corporate category at the Highway Africa Conference held in Grahamstown from 10 to 12 September. He has also been at the forefront of developments such as Amagama (www.amagama.com) and Thought Leader (www.thoughtleader.co.za), amongst other things. Part of the final decision is decided by public voting, which can be done on the ITWeb site. To view the list of nominees and vote visit http://www.itweb.co.za/events/itpersonalityoftheyear/2007/. Maher’s blog can be read at www.vincentmaher.com.

Team work means all hands on deck

2007-09-22T09:45:00.000+02:00

One of our research team members has been battling in the past few months or so as her mum has been very sick. This means that there are times when she can't be at work - often at short notice. Sometimes this means picking up some of her work.

I thought back to the video we watched, The Overcoming, of the cyclists who all pulled together to help their friend who had a sick mother, in our weekly meeting, when it was highlighted that an essential part of team work is supporting each other through difficult times.

My support allows my team member to have flexible time and attend to her extra responsibilities at home. It's important to be gracious about helping - it's sometimes tempting when there's a lot to do to not be so happy about picking up extra work: until I remember the stress and pressure my team member is under is far worse than my own.

Being professional at work

2007-09-22T09:32:00.000+02:00

One of the things that was raised at our weekly meeting this week was our professionalism at work. The partners were discussing ways to raise the level of professionalism in the office - internally and externally - in order to safeguard our reputation.

I hadn't really thought about that before as I'd always thought of our office as being relaxed- but suddenly realised that I needed to be careful. It's difficult, though, to know what is appropriate behaviour and when something that is fun becomes unprofessional. It's one of those things that I think I will get more of a feel for when I've been working for a little while longer.

The partner mentioned several things we all can do in the office, including:

making sure all documents are spell checked
putting a Brunswick logo onto all external documents
using official Brunswick templates
working on our interaction with each other in the office - for example speaking to people if we have a problem rather than complaining behind their back

Some things I think I can do personally:

keep the office tidy. It's part of my job to tidy up the newspapers every day, but often they are left lying around. At the end of the day, it's often the last thing I feel like doing - but it's important.
dress well
be friendly to people but still maintain a level of formality
don't send an e mail when I could just as easily get up and ask

This is one of the ways our work environment is changing. When I mentioned this to Lesley as a possible topic for next year's WoW, she agreed that it's difficult ground to negotiate. When she first started work, people would all wear suits. Now Steve Jobs will give a major presentation in jeans and takkies.

Inspirational thought for the day

2007-09-12T11:45:00.000+02:00

My Mum's favourite saying that I thought I would share with everyone:

"The forest would be a very quiet place if only the best birds were singing."

So - everyone has something to contribute. Even if you are not particulalry talented, if its something that you enjoy, keep doing it. It takes many voices to make up the symphony that is a forest.

New appliances

2007-09-10T07:24:00.000+02:00

I'm very chuffed with my new flat screen, computer, and very smart new keyboard at work.
We are all about to get new phones and we've just had a big office move. We're also moving to a faster internet service provider - all signs of a growing, improving business.

It's been a little disruptive over the past week as we've had workmen putting in new phone cables and this morning was chaotic as the move took place over the weekend - it took some time to get settled.
It's definitely worth the benefit in the long run though.

Creating a happy office

2007-09-10T07:08:00.000+02:00

My rework of the motto: "Be the change you want to see in the world", is "Be the smileyness you want to see in your office".

When people are busy, it's easy for them to become stressed and irritable. But I'd like to try my best to create a pleasant working environment and always make the effort to smile, greet people and"lighten the load of the world" in general.

On the office 'treadmill', there's one thing after another to get done, and it's tempting to lose your way and get bogged down with tasks. During WOW we talked a lot about being excellent, creating relational capital, and having a work experience that amounts to more than just getting a string of tasks done. How do we make our working lives more memorable than a to do list, and try to live the FISH philosophy?

I have some ideas:
- make the effort to find out how people are - you can spend a lot of time in an office with someone but still never really get to know them
- keep your sense of humour
- see things in perspective (just because you have 5 things to do before the end of the day doesn't mean you can't stop to share a joke with a colleague)

Do members of the WOW group have other ideas, and do they encounter similar problems?

Things I learned today

2007-09-04T02:46:00.000+02:00

You can never be too busy to say good morning to someone!

Communication is the essence of great team work

2007-09-02T07:11:00.000+02:00

One of the most important things I learned this week is the above - if you communicate well, most of the bumps experienced that are a natural part of working with a group of people will be ironed out. Things go wrong when people are not on the same page.

I've written about this before, but this week I had some more reminders to keep talking to those people in my team to avoid misunderstandings. And it helps with conflict too.

Things I learned this week.

2007-08-18T05:26:00.000+02:00

Things I've learned this week:

1. Respect the office hierarchy. People in senior positions are there because they've worked hard to get there, and know a lot more than you. In a relaxed atmosphere like Brunswick, it sometimes easy to forget that. Even with small things, this is important- for example, for the last month I've been sending out a market wrap every afternoon. Normally, I typed in e mail addresses in the order of the way people are seated. Then, this week, Gareth (my desk neighbour) pointed out to me that it's standard business practice to order email addresses according to seniority - so start with partners and work my way down to interns. Not something you would know unless anyone told you - but again, it's about respecting hierarchy.

2. If you have a problem with someone or you feel they haven't done something properly, the best thing to do is to take it up with them personally, rather than complain to your colleagues. Complaining just allows the problem to get out of hand.

There are office politics no matter how small or how big the organisation - if you put some people together and ask them to complete a task, there's bound to be friction and disagreements. I was chatting to my cousin and he said he thought he learned the most in the first two years of work - and most of his lessons were about interacting with people in a professional manner. That's why EQ and what type of person you are are so much more important than what you study, I'm beginning to realise.

Characteristics of an executive

2007-08-18T05:21:00.000+02:00

I've been working on the Brunswick training manual. The following is an excerpt - they are guidelines to the characterstics of an executive. If you don't already know yet, an executive is a juniour employee. Some of these characteristics are particularly important at Brunswick, but a lot of them apply to most jobs. As interns, these are what we should be aiming to develop - so I thought I'd share them.

Ø Intellectual Curiosity: Executives should have a dynamic interest in how we help our clients and what our clients do, as well as possess a general inquisitiveness about which strategies and approaches work. Brunswick’s open floor plan and unique team structures allow for abundant opportunities to learn about strategic communications—curiosity about these issues and the role you can play in assisting our clients is key to being a strong member of the Brunswick team.

Ø Calm under Pressure: Executives should possess a calm and assertive attitude, especially when under pressure in situations such as handling difficult clients, maintaining composure when the internal team is extra-busy, or facing an unfamiliar situation. Brunswick is a fast-paced environment; keeping afloat during a transaction or other critical situation is a necessary part of being a member of a team here.

Ø Multi-tasker: Executives will inevitably have many things on their plate at one time should be able to juggle deadlines for various teams in a responsible and organized way. This means being realistic about what you agree to take on for your team and always understanding the timing on a project or document.

Ø Flexibility: Executives are an integral part of the client teams and this requires a flexible attitude and being able to adjust to a fast-paced atmosphere. When we are hired to handle a transaction or a crisis situation, this often means late nights and weekends. Be prepared that this means you will sometimes have to cancel plans or come in within a few hours’ notice.

Ø Team Player: Executives should be willing to jump in and assist with special projects, bring ideas to the team, and be proactive in their contributions.

Ø Problem solver / Pro-active personality: Executives should possess a can-do and take-charge attitude and try to offer solutions to sometimes unforeseeable problems.

Ø Eyes & Ears: As an Executive your job is to be aware of the news and climate around our clients. Keeping apprised of key issues and being a resource for the rest of the client team is very important! For example, it’s good practice to check your client’s share price and sector news before a call! Keeping up with media trends, analyst notes and regulatory filings are just a few of the ways that you will keep your team constantly updated with client news.

Ø Quick thinker: Executives should be able to understand and turnaround requests in a timely and effective manner. They should anticipate upcoming work and serve as the organizational backbone of the team. Executives should not shy away from managing up in addition to managing down.

Ø Discreet gatekeeper: Executive should be sensitive to the confidential nature of callers, emails and documents relating to new or current clients.

Ø Energetic with good sense of humour: The atmosphere at Brunswick, while sometimes hectic, definitely remains light and collegial. Being friendly with your colleagues and participating in the good cheer of the place will help make you feel more comfortable. And as the pace here does get busy, having a chip on your shoulder during a crunch time will only make it more difficult to get the job done

Some of these things I find especially challenging - such as keeping calm under pressure - but the more I'm at Brunswick, the easier things get. I hope other WoWers are finding the same thing!

Playing a supporting role and being appreciated for it

2007-08-12T05:44:00.000+02:00

Most of the work that I do at Brunswick so far involves media research. As we are a corporate communications company, it's vital to keep track of what's being written or said about our clients. I often have to search for and collate articles and then compile a summary of the key issues in the coverage. This allows the client teams to advise the companies on the issues facing them. Essentially, the research team plays a supporting role. Its a very good way to learn about business because I'm reading a lot, which helps me to slowly build up a knowledge base.

Last week the research team was given quite a big project, to be completed by Friday. It involved a lot of work, but it was manageable as everyone put in their bit, and under the guidance of Zach, who volunteered to be project manager, it was finished at the right time.

When we handed it to Rob Pinker, he thanked us very much for a great job and praised us for the quality support we were giving him. I really like working in an environment where the work we do is appreciated and I felt very satisfied knowing the team had finished a job well done.

And my highlight for 2007 is...

2007-08-12T05:35:00.000+02:00

I had lunch with my family today as a small celebration of my extended contract at Brunswick. My brother asked me what was the best thing that I've done this year, and without hesitation, I said it was doing the World of Work course.

I'm not sure what kind of job I'd be doing if I hadn't signed up for WoW - I would probably still be looking for one... In February, I had two rounds of interviews to be an entry level journalist at Engineering News, and I still laugh whenever I see the magazine and think that I nearly worked there- I wasn't offered the job in the end but I was close to it. (No offence Temi, but I don't think it would have been so thrilling for me!)

And it was also a wonderful experience to meet all my fellow WoWers from so many different places. Thanks to you all, and a special thanks to Jean and Lesley for putting your time and effort into creating the course that launched all our blazing careers!

All quiet on the blogging front...

2007-08-12T05:32:00.000+02:00

I've just had a look through everyone's blogs and noticed that no one has posted for a while - including me. What's happening?
It would be great to read blogs about everyone's work experiences so that we could offer support and advice. I know that time is an issue- it is for me, particularly lately as I've been very busy at work. But even two line blogs would be good- let's go team WoW!

Excellent News!

2007-08-01T11:41:00.000+02:00

I am so excited to report that I've been offered another six months at Brunswick on a training contract! I am really looking forward to learning much more about this business and getting stuck into some more writing, and other, projects. I feel I've just begun to find my way around and am delighted that I'll have the chance to properly begin my career here.

I hope other WOWers will have as much success at their host organisations!

Here is the e mail that Rob Pinker, our managing partner, sent around to the rest of the office:

I am pleased to let you all know that Susan Arthur has accepted our offer to extend her internship with the company for a further six month period, effective from 1st August - entirely reflective of her efforts over the past two months!

Google finding my blog page

2007-07-29T09:17:00.000+02:00

Peter Hanworth-Hayden, the external visitor to my blog, found it by googling his surname. It's good to know that my blog comes up on google- what a powerful search engine.

Apparently, each post is treated as a separate web page, so search engines will find them separately - which increases the chances of your blog being found.

The google team are really doing well - I had a quick look at their extra features - and there are a lot of them. In response to the ongoing concerns to save energy, they set up blackle - a search engine with a black screen. They explain their reasons for doing so below:

"Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen." Roberson et al, 2002

In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.

We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy."

Blackle works exactly like google. It's just a black screen. Try it at www.blackle.com.

An external visit to my blog!

2007-07-24T10:07:00.000+02:00

Some time ago, I wrote a post about a South African gentleman named Peter Hanwith-Horden who was featured in the Star Workplace. He had spotted some errors in a training manual and wrote to the US publishers. He was then contracted to re -write the manuals for a South African context. The article used his work to show that South Africans can compete in a global arena - quite relevant to our World of work discussions.

Last week, I was excited to find a mail in my inbox from the gentleman himself. This is what he said:

I came across your blog regarding my write up in the newspaper. Thank for your kind words. That's not the first time I have mailed the USA explaining to them that their books had errors .
Most of the certification books have errors.

One thing I have found in this country is that some companies don't appreciate the skills at all - for example, after my write-up was in the newspaper not one of the management came to congratulate me - not even the boss I report to!

Great Blog
Peter Hanwith-Horden

I wrote back to thank him for his compliment and also to invite him to join in commenting on our group's blogs. I was very excited to have an external visitor to my site, which made me curious - how did he actually find it? I have e mailed him to ask and wait with baited breath to find out!

Technology - the curse?

2007-07-24T09:39:00.000+02:00

In a previous post I wrote about the importance of communicating in the workplace. From some of the comments on that, I started to think about how technology gets in the way of communication.

Brunswick is a small office - less than 25 people. Yet despite this, we use e-mail for just about everything. Often, we don't get up to talk to someone sitting two desks behind us. As a result, I can spend the whole day without ever really connecting with others in the office - especially those who sit at the other end. We mail each other a lot rather than walking over. Laziness? I think so. But it's very convenient to send a mail - but not always effective. Often, e mail helps because we need to transfer things from one computer to another. But at other times, it gets in the way of communicating a clear brief.

Some time ago, my Dad mentioned that he disliked that someone in his office always sent e mails rather than making the effort to talk to him in person. He saw this as a sure sign that the man did not have the potential to reach a higher position in his company - its essential for a leader to have people skills and the 'likeability' factor that Maxwell wrote about on his blog.

The solution? I think it's much more personal to actually talk to someone. Will I do it? I'll try to make a conscious effort to. The other option is also to use the telephone.

During one of our weekly meetings, someone requested that we please refrain from fiddling with blackberries or cell phones during meetings with clients. A while ago I went out to lunch with Rachel, my mentor, for a catch up. She brought her blackberry with her - to be available in case anything important required her attention. Often, my Dad takes his 'devices' on holiday with him - robbing him of the ability to ever fully relax. One of the FISH philosophy principles was to BE PRESENT - and I think technology is robbing us of the ability to focus completely on the person we are talking to. Devices are always a distraction.

Suggestions - turn off devices when they aren't really needed, focus on what's happening in the present moment, and don't take your work on holiday with you! (I better convince my Dad to do that too).

Inspired creativity

2007-07-21T01:59:00.000+02:00

I was driving home today and saw someone begging holding this sign:

My cat has been arrested for eating my neighbour's chickens. Please help with bail money.

What a creative way to convince people to part from their cash! In Joburg, even beggers need to think differently about what they do.

I usually buy a copy of Homeless Talk and I try to get mine from someone I drive passed often on the way up to Jan Smuts avenue. He has the biggest smile and he always waves as soon as he sees my car and gives me a thumbs up. Service with a smile!

Team work means getting things done

2007-07-18T09:55:00.000+02:00

At 5: 30 this afternoon, a request was sent through to the research team. It involved a search through some publications for a year's worth of coverage on a mining company, with the specific focus on its BEE dealings. Also required was a quick summary of these articles.

The work needed to be done ASAP. As you may imagine, it was quite a big job - and I think a number of us were starting to wonder when the day would end.

Fortunately, the 6 team members assembled quick as a flash and, by splitting the work, we were able to complete it in just over an hour.

There's the power of team work for you - in getting things done!

JSE visit

2007-07-18T09:47:00.000+02:00

Our visit to the JSE during WOW was very informative. I think knowing the basics of the stock exchange is essential to understanding how businesses work. As I read and ask questions, I'm learning more about it.

From last week, Thobeka and I have been doing a twice-daily market snaphsot to send out to everyone in the office. This includes the share prices of all Brunswick's listed clients - the opening price, the current price, the percentage change between the figures, and the market capitalisation (number of shares in issue x current share price) - and the daily indicators (forex, gold price etc). We get the information of the Reuters terminal.

This is doing two things: Helping to familiarise me with our client list and the stock exchange. In the paper with all the market figures there is a brief explanation of what all the figures mean so it helped to read that too.

The more time I spend at Brunswick, the more I'm learning... I never would have bothered to know what a market cap was before this. Now that it has some relevance for me, I'm more interested.

Learning the corporate lingo

2007-07-18T09:32:00.000+02:00

Early on in one of our World of Work sessions, Lesley joked that she'd felt slightly panicked when she heard her supervisor say that she would be finished her PhD soon. This was until she realised that in academic speak, soon meant three years.

After years getting to grips with 'academic speak', I'm having to learn a new corporate lingo. On Monday I was working on a review of annual reports for a booklet that is compiled by Brunswick's design partners in London. I had to look at some annual reports and comment on a few things that stood out about them. This was challenging for two reasons: I'm not all that familiar with annual reports (but this helped me to learn); and I'm not a practised hand in 'corporate speak' yet. Carol rewrote some of the things I'd written so that they sounded more polished. It's another stepping stone in learning to be part of the world of work and make the adjustment from university life.

I'm also slowly getting to grips with some financial terms. At the Transnet results, I heard the word EBITDA - and thought it sounded like Greek. I accosted my Dad for some explanations and now I know it's actually an acronym, standing for: Earnings before tax, interests, debt and amortisation (this last one is an accounting term which basically means depreciation of assets).

I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of things.... I may even write a dictionary for dummies of financial terms one of these days - anyone like to join me?

Team work means talking to each other

2007-07-11T09:56:00.000+02:00

Today we had a brief meeting with the research team in the office, just to touch base with each other and discuss any queries or problems. The research function is quite important at Brunswick, as it provides a support for the client - facing staff who need to have access to certain information to stay on the ball.

One of the biggest things that was emphasised during the meeting was the need to communicate with each other. Even in a small office (and at a communications firm at that!) we sometimes forget to talk about who's doing what, or feel reluctant to shout if someone feels their work load is too big. One of the major keys to succesful team work is TALKING.

EQ - more thoughts on time management

2007-07-11T09:45:00.000+02:00

I still think time management was one of the most useful presentations we had at WOW. In the world of work, and in life, it's all about being able to juggle tasks. Previously, I wrote about being uncertain (as an intern) as to when was appropriate for me to leave work. But at a business like Brunswick, I'm beginning to realise that it's not about how late you stay. You are really your own manager. As long as you get your work done, that's fine.

To help juggle tasks, it's necessary to be able to identify priorities..... rocks vs sand.

My new version of EQ is "EFFICIENCY QUOTIENT". It's all about how efficient you can be in the time you are given to do a task. It's not only about doing something quickly, it's about doing it well at the same time. As I wrote previously, it feels as if I am on the beginning of a life-long journey towards developing the skill of managing my time effectively. It's one of the most difficult, but also the most essential, things to do.

My first networking lunch date

2007-07-10T09:17:00.000+02:00

Today I enjoyed my first 'networking' lunch with my two desk mates (or pod mates, in Brunswick speak) and two journalists from Sake 24 (the Afrikaans business supplement that appears in Afrikaans dailies across the country).

It was nice to have the chance to chat to my colleagues away from the office space. The journalists were pleasant and we talked about current issues. The lunched helped me to understand a little more about building a relationship with journalists (an important part of what Brunswick does) and to see the work we do from their perspective. For example, they don't enjoy being phoned ten times a day to be asked, "Did you get our press release?" and then later, "Are you going to use it?" (especially at a daily publication, which means there are extra deadline pressures).

The restaurant that we went to, Smoke in Pretoria, had their deserts on the first page of their menu - a fun approach. Their food was excellent. I enjoyed my 'office outing' and had the chance to experience another side of the Brunswick business.

Making mistakes

2007-07-10T09:05:00.000+02:00

Yesterday a colleague gave me some good advice. When you make a mistake, say you've made a mistake. Admitting it immediately will allow the team to deal with the problem before it gets any bigger. Trying to cover it up will only make it worse. At the end of the day, it's about serving the client, not about your ego. And he emphasised that he learnt the most through making his own mistakes. Celeste wrote in one of her posts that she felt a key to her success was the ability to learn quickly and not make the mistake again.

(This advice wasn't given in response to a particular mistake I'd made, but just as a general comment).

Interestingly, I was chatting to my Dad about this when I got home. I said I thought it would be more difficult to admit a mistake as a new employee or an intern, as you would be trying extra-hard to impress. He disagreed. As a new person, people expect you to make mistakes. As a high-level executive, you are supposed to know what's going on.

My feeling is that it takes a bigger person to admit their mistake than those who try to hide it.

Live Earth

2007-07-08T09:52:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I was privileged to be able to go to the Live Earth concert with Ijeoma. The concerts took place in all seven continents in major cities like London, New York, Sidney and Tokyo, in a global initiative to draw attention to the crisis of climate change. The line up of artists was as follows:

ANGELIQUE KIDJO
BAABA MAAL
DANNY K
JOSS STONE
THE PARLOTONES
THE SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR
UB40
VUSI MAHLASELA
ZOLA

In between set changes we had various people speaking to inspire us to change our daily habits. There are small things we can all do, including:

Recycle
Buying Pick 'n Pay "Green Bags" (or others like them) and taking them to the shops everytime we go, instead of using plastic ones
Eat less meat - have one 'vegetarian day' at least a week
Don't leave electrical appliances on standby
Switch of lights/ other appliances if you aren't using them
Buy local produce, rather than imported products that have been flown in, which contributes to the Co2 in the atmosphere

The Live Earth concert was inspiring and prompted me to think about my own habits. Also, I realised that the concert was once a germ of an idea in someone's head, and now it's been brought to fruition across the world. It must be fulfilling to see your idea grow and be achieved on such a large scale.

Willing hands

2007-07-08T09:32:00.000+02:00

In Susan Mwangi's article in a recent FM Campus on foreign students and their search for employment in South Africa, she talks about how Valentin Tassev secured his job at the UJ theatre by holding out his hands.

This was a "here I am" gesture - it showed his willingness to work and also that he was hardy enough to do the tough physical tasks that the job requires.

Although Valentin was looking for manual labour, I believe interns need to display the same 'metaphorical' gesture in the workplace. The path to success is to be willing to do whatever is asked of you, even if it's something like sorting out the week's newspapers or making phone calls. Those tasks are one of the cogs in the machine that make the organisation work.

Fiona McDonald shared with us that this was one of Celeste's secrets to success at RMB. Being willing to do any task is a great way to show off a positive attitude.
Every morning I try to do an "attitude check" and tune it up if it feels a little off course.

New arrivals at Brunswick

2007-07-04T10:14:00.000+02:00

WE have a new intern, Zach, arriving next week. He is an American and is in South Africa for a year on a Fullbright scholarship. Zach will be there for two months, as he is hoping to work for the New York office and wants to check out what it's like while he's here. He came in for five minutes last week to say hello to everyone and already he's caused quite a buzz in the office. It should be interesting to have another intern around.

On Monday two new staff members arrived to take the place of two ladies who left. In August, four more people will be coming. Brunswick is growing and we recently had a major re-shuffle of desks to accommodate the changes. It's exciting to be part of a team that is dynamic and is in a growth spurt. With lots of new business coming Brunswick's way, I'm sure the extra hands will be of good use.

The digital citizen will take over the world.... (insert evil laugh here)

2007-07-03T10:47:00.000+02:00

A post that is an off shoot of the blog research I'm doing.. full report will come later

AS bloggers, all of the WOW group are at the cutting edge of a digital revolution that is sweeping the world... The power of the blog is in the power of the social network - the buzz that can be created in a community that talks to each other.

On Monday, the Business Day Exporter supplement published an article on the success of Stormhoek wine. It was a little known brand until Hugh Macleod, author of Gaping Void (one of Britain's most read blogs), came on board and used his site to tap into this community and promote the wine. Graham Knox was quoted in the article as saying that they're spending very little on marketing, achieving success, and having a ball at the same time.

Blogging is still relatively new in South Africa, but it's starting to take off. Recently, there has been a spate of articles on the subject in the press. We even have SA blog awards for different categories, including business blogs.

Well known publications are starting to link into the blog trend. The Mail and Guardian has blog sites linked in to it. The News 24 home page hosts various reader's blogs. A new daily publication, The Times, launched last month - an iniative of Johnnic Communications - and is looking to revolutionase the media scene. It sets out to be an interactive publication, hosting youtube videos on its site as well as asking a number of its columnists, or 'blogumists', to write blogs. At The Times, they believe that the future of media lies in its interactivity.

On Anton Harber's blog recently, hosted by the Wits Journalism website, he discussed the yearly readership statistics for publications. It was clear that well established media, with the exception of the Daily Sun, were loosing readership. It seems clear that for traditional print and broadcast media to survive, they need to look at ways to change to acommodate the growing trend toward harnessing the power of the digital citizen.

Vincent Maher, a well known South African blogger, wrote about how last week's snow had prompted over 2000 people to send in their pictures to the Mail and Guardian's site. His editor was really excited as it was the first time the public had really interacted with the publication. So it may take extrodinary events to prompt South Africans, a little slow off the mark in terms of the rest of the world, to enter into the digital revolution on a big scale.

In the digital citizen lies the future.... and as bloggers we are all part of it. Go team WOW.... together, we have power!

Having fun in the workplace

2007-07-01T10:49:00.000+02:00

BRUNSWICK has a fun, relaxed office culture.

During my interview, it was described as a 'sink or swim' environment. Essentially, this means (or how I interpret it so far) that's it's not paternalistic. No one is standing over your shoulder to make sure you do your work or policing the hours spent on facebook. It's up to you to get on with it, and if you need help, ask for it. (I'm sure if someone wasn't delivering, it would be dealt with appropriately though.) This is a great environment to learn in - and to learn quickly.

It's also a fun office. Even the directors have a sense of humour and often joke with us. Last week everyone went out for farewell drinks for two people who were leaving. (We're getting three new people in next week, including an intern from the US- which should be interesting). They all had a good party (unfortunately I wasn't able to go as I had a bad cold and by 6pm I really needed to lie down).

On Friday, we had month-end drinks and snacks in the office. This was combined with the weekly meeting, which normally happens in the morning but was moved to the afternoon that day. (I think it's a much better idea to have a Friday meeting than a Monday meeting - Monday mornings being the most productive work time.) After a while, Siba turned some music on, which lightened the atmosphere even further, and we all chatted. It's nice to work in a small office with friendly environment.

The downside - at the moment, especially as an intern- is knowing what's appropriate. For example, with working hours - it's been difficult to know what's expected of me, as the hours are fairly flexible, and people leave and arrive at different times depending on what's happening. Some days everyone's there by 7 30 am and they leave after 6pm. Other times there are only 3 people in the office by 8 30 am. It takes some getting used to.

WOW skills in the real world of work

2007-07-01T10:28:00.000+02:00

One of the most useful, practical sessions we had during WOW was Janet's presentations on time management. I think it's one of the most important skills to master.

So far, there hasn't been a dull moment at work, and there's never been a time when I've had nothing to do. People often ask for things they need done, usually when I have an existing project. I'm learning to juggle things in the order of their priority - mentally picturing the rocks and sand as I do. To help with this, it's important to ask whoever gives you the task what your deadline is.

During our WOW presentations, Dr van Zyl brought up the point that your time is often not controlled only by you - there are other people who impact on your decisions. This is true of the workplace environment.

For example, on Monday myself and Thobeka were asked to compile a media analysis of the coverage given to a company in the last twelve months, to be done by Friday lunch time. By Thursday morning, I still had quite a bit to do, and had planned to spend most of the day working on it. However, when I arrived at the office that morning I was asked to help compile a training pack as a matter of urgency. This took me most of the day, which meant that I wasn't able to spend much time on my work for Friday. I arrived home feeling frustrated. I went into the office early on Friday and was able to complete it on time.

Another challenge for me has been learning to complete tasks quickly. I've always been a slow worker, and so far, this hasn't mattered when I've been doing essays for varsity, as no one else depended on what I produced. But now, the workplace is fast-paced, and I need to learn to work quickly, while still producing a quality product. This includes learning to focus on what I'm doing and not get distracted by the other things that are happening around me.

I think this internship is the start of a lifelong journey towards mastering time management!

Results Day

2007-07-01T09:32:00.000+02:00

It takes a visit to an event like the announcement of Transnet's Annual results to realise how much organisation goes into it. Most of the people involved had very little sleep the night before. (This didn't include me, as I helped on the day only, apart from some phone calls I'd made). I didn't expect such a large event as the Omnia announcement I'd been to the week before was not like this. Transnet, however, is a much bigger and much more influential company.

I arrived at the Hilton Hotel at 7 45 am to find the registration table and banners already set up. The event management side was handled by Simeka TMS, a public relations firm, so they had taken care of this. The hotel took care of all the catering, and made sure the food kept rolling out for most of the day.

There were several presentations of Transnet's results to different groups of people, starting at 6 30 over breakfast - this was to shareholders. Next was the presentation to the executive boards, the trade unions, and then the media. Brunswick's responsibility was to handle the media side. We had to be there mainly to ensure that everything ran smoothly - to schedule interviews and to make sure the journalists were where they were supposed to be at the right time. I helped Karen (from Brunswick) with whatever she needed, which included finding a fax machine and dropping off a journalist at the Star offices in the afternoon. The trade union's presentation ran over time.. apparently they were asking difficult questions.. which meant that everyone started panicking about Maria Ramos's tight schedule. It worked out in the end though.

I was able to sit in on the results presentation, which was interesting. I still have a lot to learn about financial terms, but I brought a copy home so that I could take more time to understand them.

As soon as the media presentation was done, Maria Ramos went through to the interview room where the TV crews filmed her. In the afternoon she had a long string of interviews with print and radio publications. Ms Ramos then went to an evening function - so it must have been an exhausting day. On Wednesday morning she was due to give another breakfast presentation.

The day after the results, I helped to compile a media pack on Transet - basically collecting everything that had been written about the company's announcement. I felt like I was part of the news in the making. When I did my internship at Caxton, I helped to organise a cocktail party for Joburg 'celebrities' like Nico- the owner of Espresso. This time, I was mixing with a different crowd - the media 'celebrities' whose writing I read everyday, as well as people in the news such as Maria Ramos. I enjoyed being able to put names and faces together.

More annual results

2007-06-25T09:05:00.000+02:00

TOMORROW I'm going to be attending the Transnet annual results, helping out with any organising that needs to be done at the venue. Maria Ramos is going to have a very long day... there are several presentations to different groups of people and a long list of radio, television and one-on-one journalist interviews. The first event is at 6:30 am and the day will end at 6:30 pm. At least I only have to be there at 8am! I'm looking forward to it - Transnet is often in the news and it should be interesting.

A request to everyone reading this: next time you get an invitation to an event, please RSVP as soon as possible! I spent a lot of today on the phone to journalists and editors to find out if they were coming to a breakfast on Wednesday morning. I had a list of +_ 50 people and of those, only about 10 had RSVP'd. So for the sake of the organisors, please RSVP!

I look forward to sharing what I learn tomorrow on my blog. Look out for any reports on Transnet's results in the news.

Keeping the shark alive

2007-06-24T00:42:00.000+02:00

In the evening when I get home from work, my head is usually buzzing with thoughts about the day. I have a little voice that tells me what I could have done better and another voice that tells me I did a great job. I've taken to running myself a bath so I can relax while I listen to my internal dialogue. Watching TV or reading a book doesn't really help as it distracts me from digesting my thoughts.

I've realised that this time will be ideal to blog. I haven't been doing so yet, as I don't want to sit down at the computer straight away when I've been in front of one all day. Perhaps a good system will be to jot down some thoughts on paper (I could even do this in the bath) and post some blogs later once I've organised my ideas and they've had a chance to settle.

Blogging is a great tool as writing things down will help to digest the multitude of new things I learn each day. It also allows me to get comments as well as other people's advice, or just sympathy - so far, the group have understood the time management problems I've had. I think a blog is better than a diary, because it's public, which somehow commits me more to being regular about it. A Sunday Times article discussed celebrity bloggers, such as Lindsay Lohan, whose posts often begin " I'm SOOOOOO SOOOOOOORRRRRRY! I haven't written for EVER!" (Read the article at http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/article.aspx?ID=433821. It's called "Avoiding the blogging graveyard). (I hope I never get to that stage!).

I'm going to try writing more often during the week, even if the posts are brief, to keep the world abreast of how I am doing, but also for my own benefit. And of course to keep the shark alive! I remember Elspeth's advice - just write something, even if it's two lines. And also, it doesn't have to be perfect the first time. That's what editing is for. Watch this space....

Reading, reading, reading - an updated version

2007-06-19T09:32:00.000+02:00

I've added some more detail on this post at the end... so read on even if you've read this before!

Working at a communications firm like Brunswick, it's important to be very familiar with the media. So far a number of the things I've been doing have revolved around that, for example at the moment I'm working on putting together detailed profiles for the major and influential South African publications. Yesterday I was looking at Maverick magazine and I thought it was really great. Its style is quite flamboyant and chatty and it has some great business profiles- when you have a chance I suggest you have a look. Perhaps we could add some to the book club.

At Brunswick we are encouraged to read the Business Day and the Business Report every morning, while the FM and Finweek circulate weekly, and other magazines also come to the office. We do this to know what's happening in the world, but also to keep tabs on any coverage on Brunswick clients. Often the research team (which I'm on) will need to put together a media pack with an analysis, so that the clients and their advisors can monitor what the public's perception will be. I think that being a regular reader is a great habit to get into, not just for communications people, but to learn about and become familiar with the business world. Being in the office has increased my interest in business and the news, because what I'm reading about now has some relevance for me. Since WOW I've also enjoyed reading about African politics, since it was often a hot topic of conversation during our sessions.

There are a lot of terms I don't understand - especially financial ones- but through a slow process of reading and asking questions I'm building up a 'business knowledge' base. The book club will be a great help to. I went to an annual results announcement for Omnia, a chemicals, fertiliser, and mining company, on Wednesday. The results announcement is an overview of how the company has performed that year, and includes a lot of financial data. I brought back their information pack and sat with Rachel, my "god parent" (a Brunswick term for mentor) and talk through some of the things I didn't understand - so I'm getting a bit of 'finance 101'.

At the Omnia results Rod Humphris, the Executive Director, briefly discussed how the demand for bio-fuels impacted on their business. I was interested to see how many dynamics influence a company's performance. Economically, because there is a demand for bio-fuels, which is produced from maize, the maize price goes up globally, which affects our food prices and the cost of fertilizer, which affects Omnia... (As I try to think through this I'm casting my mind back to the "Economics for Non-Specialists" course I did in first year varsity!)

On the way home from the results I was chatting to Taryn (person who works on Omnia account) about it and she asked me to do a short research project on what's happening with bio-fuels in South Africa, for inclusion in the Omnia annual report. I'm looking forward to it as it's very topical at the moment. I will keep you posted on my findings via my blog! Read more about Omnia at http://www.omnia.co.za/.

Never downplay your role

2007-06-17T07:57:00.000+02:00

A small piece of advice for everyone as they go into their internships. When someone asks you about yourself, never say "I'm just an intern". Your role is as important as anyone else's. Leave out the 'just' - don't dowplay your role in the organisation just because you are the newest person there. And don't be tempted to FEEL like you're not so important, either. Concentrate on thinking of the ways that you CAN add value and are an asset.

Day 2… the learning continues

2007-06-14T09:32:00.000+02:00

When I got home yesterday after my first day at Brunswick I felt exhausted – there was a lot to take in and adjust to! I’m pleased to say, however, that today I feel quite energised – part of that is down to meeting the wonderful Irish author Marian Keyes (known as the “queen of chick lit”) this evening at a talk hosted by The Write Company. (Read more about her at http://www.mariankeyes.com). She was a joy to listen to because she was very lively, funny, personable and confident – all great qualities for anyone to have, especially in the workplace! She was also very gracious and kept thanking the audience for coming to listen to her – even though she’s a best selling author, she seemed genuinely surprised that people had chosen to spend their evening with her.

Today was a similar day to yesterday for me – a continuation of the induction process. An important part of being in the communications world is keeping up to date with the media, and becoming familiar with all the important publications. Today I was working on an assignment that would help me to get a feel for these – ones I’m used to like the Financial Mail, but also others I haven’t read before such as Maverick and Fin week. I also had a ‘crash course’ in some financial terms – I’m hoping to pick those up as I go along – I know I have a lot to learn! I think a big part of my learning in the next two months will be to manage my time… Janet’s rocks and sand. In the workplace there are always several things happening at once, so learning to prioritise is important. I’ve noticed that Thobeka (the other intern in the office) always communicates with whoever has asked her to do something – for example, yesterday, she had a few things to do at the same time, and she spoke to someone who’d asked her for something urgently to explain the other pressures on her time. This is a good lesson for me - communicating makes sure that both people are on the same page. Another adjustment will be working in an open plan office – it’s great that everyone’s accessible when you need them – even the directors share this space - and it creates a friendly atmosphere, but I find it fairly difficult to focus on something that I’m doing with other things happening around me. I remember that I found that tricky at first when I was at Caxton, but after a while I got used to it.

Watch this space for the next instalment about my life in the working world!

Getting to know the ropes on my first day

2007-06-13T08:53:00.000+02:00

As soon as I arrived at Brunswick, Refilwe the receptionist gave me a warm welcome. This set the tone for the day as everyone in the office was extremely friendly and emphasised that they would be available should I have any questions for them. Rachel (part of the panel that interviewed me) showed me around the office and introduced me to the team. On my desk I found an induction programme for the day that set me up with times to chat to different people in the office. I’m glad I was welcomed like Beauty and not left alone for a week like Justine Dangor was (as she shared with those who attended the “Grow Tomorrow’s leaders” workshop on Saturday) – I appreciated that Brunswick had put some thought into introducing me to life in their company. I spent some time looking through the Brunswick information folder and also talking to the other intern in the office, Thobeka. Thobeka is from Tshwane University of Technology and has been at Brunswick for six months already. Her internship is part of her International Communications degree. She is part of the research team and she talked me through how I would go about doing various things, including what to say when I answer the phone! One of the biggest pieces of advice Thobeka gave me was to ask for specific instructions when I am given a task – such as finding out when the work needs to be done by. It really helped to have her to explain things to me that I would otherwise have had to learn by trial and error. At lunch time the two of us went to the café down the road to eat and chat some more, and in the afternoon I helped her with a few tasks she needed to finish. Having so many friendly people in the office really helped to put me at ease, and I’m looking forward to learning a lot in the next two months!

“Spud” joins the bookclub!

2007-06-09T07:22:00.000+02:00

Even though we set up our bookclub with the intention of sharing business-orientated books, my previous post on John van de Ruit’s bestselling book “Spud” generated some interesting discussion amongst us. Those who commented on my post wanted to read the book, so I decided to throw “Spud” into the mix. Perhaps it will be a good stress reliever, as it really hits the funny bone – or at least it did for me, but I’ll be interested to see how other people in this group respond. Part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was because I’ve been to boarding school and, although we didn’t get up to nearly as much mischief as Spud and his dormitory mates do, I can identify with the story.

After Valentin’s comments on my previous “Spud” post that the mere act of putting pen to paper is political, I initially disagreed with him. I argued that there was nothing political about this humorous, fairly light-hearted book. But after thinking about some more, I realised that “Spud” makes a political point about South African fiction - by doing so remarkably well out of being funny, Van de Ruit suggests that as a nation we are ready for entertaining, rather than issue-driven, fiction.

“Spud” is the diary of a young boy in his first year at a prestigious boarding school. It is set in 1990, a critical turning point in South African history. This creeps into the story, as Spud’s head boy is the son of apartheid hero Albert Luthuli, who educates him about the past and convinces him to join the school African Affairs society. Spud quietly develops a liberal attitude under this influence, which clashes with his father’s outrageously racist ideas. A bit of satire creeps in here, but this is about as “traditionally” political as Van de Ruit’s book gets. Not pure politics, but a good dose of humour to tickle your funny bone, so I hope it gets people from the WOW group laughing!

Books for writing advice

2007-06-07T08:22:00.000+02:00

During WOW Bruce asked me to suggest some books with writing tips. I thought I’d share two that have helped me. One is “The Elements of Style” by E. B White and William Strunk. This is probably one of the most famous books on writing, and it’s been going since the 1920s when William Strunk first wrote it. He based it on a writing course he taught at university, and E. B White (of “Charlotte’s Web” fame) was one of his students. Years later, he was asked to update the work, and in his edited edition you’ll find a forward where he remembers his eccentric Professor Strunk, whose favourite trick was to repeat things three times for emphasis. (“Omit needless words! Omit needless words! Omit needless words!”, White recalls him saying, and banging on his desk as he did so. This is one of the writing tips given in the book). It is written in a list form, and has tips on style as well as commonly misused words and grammar. It’s a very thin book, small enough to carry around with you. The advice is simple, direct and very useful.

The other book is “On Writing” by Stephen King. This is more of an enjoyable book to read, as it is as much the story of King’s life and how he wrote his way to success as it is about his writing tips. His style is very conversational and the book is very easy to read. One of the most memorable things for me that he advised was “Write the first draft with the door closed; write the second draft with the door open”. The first bits you write down are just for you, but after that you need to pay attention to other people’s feedback. For example, you may love your dog character, but if all your readers tell you they don’t understand why the dog is in the story in the first place, the dog either needs to go or you need to carefully re-write his part. Our comments on each other’s blogs were a great place to give and receive feedback, which is a really important part of the writing process.

“On Writing” is available in the Wits Education library, and the Cullen library has several copies of “The Elements of Style”.

Thoughts from our “Grow Tomorrow’s Leaders” Workshop

2007-06-07T08:21:00.000+02:00

During the WOW course we often discussed how we felt university life left us unprepared for life at work. As graduates on the job hunt, it feels like a bad thing. But a lady at the “Grow Tomorrow’s Leaders” workshop on Saturday didn’t think so. She argued that the role of the university is not to churn out a long line of worker bees who all look and think the same. Universities exist to create knowledge capital and intellectual thinkers. As Professor Mbigi put it in his seminar, if we just look for jobs, we may as well not have spent all these years studying. We have not been turned into workers, but rather into people who can thing beyond this and identify problems that need to be solved. As Mbigi advised, a career built around a problem will be lasting. (In Kuseni Dlamini’s session Temi mentioned that varsity makes employees and not employers - so this point is debatable.)

Mbigi also caused much laughter when he said his business degrees had not been of any use to him. Although he currently lectures at business schools, he feels that the Humanities training is much more valuable. I suspect what he values most is the critical thinking skills and broad general knowledge base he built up. As humanities graduates we pride ourselves on our analytical skills, but we need to learn how to use it in a way that the world will value. During the tea break, a management consultant was discussing his use of academic ideas in the workplace. If approached a client and said, “Yes, I see you have a problem here. Marx identified it in his theory of liminality, and he suggested you do X, Y and Z”, they wouldn’t have much time for him. Instead, he needs to identify the problem and tell them how to solve it. Knowing Marx’s theories may help him to identify and solve the problem, but his employer doesn’t care about how good he is at discussing it. In the world of work it’s the results that matter.

And although we may feel like it’s a long hard road to secure employment now, it may not last. Someone else I was chatting to mentioned that in the long term, she’s noticed that humanities students don’t have too much difficulty finding jobs. It may be more tricky in the beginning than for others, but once we are in the marketplace, we generally have more success than, say B.Com graduates. Her comment is obviously a generalisation, and only based on her experience, but it’s still good to know. A great way to apply our critical thinking skills now will be to look at the bigger employment picture, and think about problems to build our careers around.

Meeting the professionals on Saturday’s workshop was encouraging. It’s especially valuable to talk to people who have come from Humanities backgrounds and have made their own successes – it helps to remind us that there’s hope for our career futures!

South African literature as a commercial success

2007-05-30T00:06:00.000+02:00

Last weekend when I was at the movies and an on- screen advert got me thinking. It was for “Spud: The Madness Continues”- the second instalment of “Spud”, the South African book that has been on the Exclusive Books bestseller list since its release in 2005.

The first “Spud” has been an incredible success, selling 56 000 copies to date, when the definition of a South African best seller is 10 000 copies. Penguin has recorded that 30 000 copies of “Spud II” have been ordered since its release just over a month ago. It will be interesting to see how well the sequel fares, but this figure is already an indication of its anticipated success. South Africans are not known to be great readers, and there are even less who actually buy books. That one home-grown novel is doing so well is encouraging.

The advert for “Spud II” was the first time I have seen a South African book advertised at the cinema. It was part of a larger “Homebru” campaign to promote local literature, running in May- but “Spud II” is at its forefront. Nu Metro cinema and Exclusive Books are both owned by Johnnic, so the partnership probably meant that the cost of the advert was affordable.

“Spud” is a wickedly funny novel that is accessible to all ages- anyone who’s ever been to boarding school will identify with the boys’ antics. John van de Ruit, its author, was already a fairly well known South African personality because of his two plays, “Black Mamba” and “Green Mamba”, which he performs around the country. John ‘Spud’ Milton, the book’s main character, is likeable, and his dilemmas often evoke feelings of pathos in the reader. He has many awkward moments during his descent into manhood and is continually embarrassed by his less than orthodox family. The things Spud and his dormitory mates get up to provide endless fuel for entertainment.

John van de Ruit has his own theory about his book’s success. He thinks as a nation we are hungry for literature that moves away from traditional “South African genre”- stories about apartheid laden with white guilt. “Spud” doesn’t carry any baggage, despite being written by a white male. The young boy going to boarding school and learning to survive there is also a story that can come from our country. Our literature needs to diversify the narrative of the past and locate stories that step away from the nation’s suffering.

Seeing the advert at the movies prompted me to consider what “Spud” has done for South African literature. It is possibly the first fictional bestseller not written by one of our literary ‘heavyweights’, such as Nadine Gordimer or Andre Brink. The story is currently being made into a movie, which indicates that South African writing is becoming a commercial success. And it’s also been adapted for an American market and has been given a huge release in Barnes and Noble bookstores. The novel will draw attention to our country in a positive light, and begin to break the association of our literature with apartheid and human rights issues. The roaring success of “Spud” indicates that there is hope for South African literature. Let’s hope the Americans agree.

Teamwork- lessons from the bush

2007-05-29T07:21:00.000+02:00

This weekend I was privileged to be able to spend some time in the bush with my family. While we were there, we saw the extremely rare sighting of a leopard – and a leopard in action to boot. Our game ranger drove like a bat out of hell to get there in time once he’d heard about it on his radio. Two vehicles were already there, and it was just as well we’d raced as we only saw about five seconds of the big cat. The leopard was running across the plain towards a group of impala, and as it came for them, two males headed up the team and ran towards it. The leopard retreated back into the trees. The impala, obviously very distressed, continued to sound alarm calls and the air filled with their tension. They had escaped being a meal for a few seconds.

It was fascinating to watch the bucks’ behaviour and the way they functioned within their team. Two obvious leaders stepped forward and took charge, while the rest of the group made sure that the babies were protected. All the buck were alert and watching out for themselves and each other. Without the support of those behind them, the males would not have been able to challenge the leopard.

The impala taught me some important lessons about the value of teamwork:
In teams, the individuals look out for each other and warn one another of danger
The team ensures that they protect the weakest of their group
In a group, you are capable of doing much more than if you were just on your own
Many eyes see more than one pair is able to
There is safety in numbers
Times of crisis brings out the best in the group and the individual- the strength of a leader is proved when they are under stress

It turned out to be a lucky morning as, twenty minutes later; we came across two lions basking in the sun on a plane, eagerly watching some zebra and wildebeest some distance from them. The zebra were too far away, though, to make an easy meal, and the lions gave up on their half -hearted attempt at stalking them and decided to attend to their morning grooming. Our vehicle was about twenty metres from them, which was all right as they had their backs to us and seemed in no mood to take up a quick chase. That is until my cousin dropped his cap onto the grass and quickly lent over to retrieve it. The disturbed lion walked straight toward our (open) vehicle and we all held our breaths as he loped past.
Second and most important lesson for the morning: Respect nature!

These are two of the many sightings we had during the weekend. It was wonderful to spend some time away from the busy city and draw some inspiration from animals and nature.

Blog awards

2007-05-20T01:50:00.000+02:00

With great fanfare, Roy tore the envelope and piece after piece of paper floated to the floor. The imaginary drum roll sounded and then came the announcement: “And the two best blogs of the WOW group 2007, as voted by their peers, are…. Ijeoma and Susan!”

Ijeoma and I beamed. We went up to shake Roy’s hand, and then we realised we needed to climb onto the table to receive our prizes. With some difficulty, we hoisted ourselves up, conquering the distance without the aid of a chair; we smiled for the camera and congratulated each other, before relinquishing our brief moment in the limelight and descending again.

It was a great honour to be voted one of the two best blogs in our group. It was even better to stand on the table to receive the award. It was fun and different, but more importantly, it was an extension of the blogging process. Standing up there, everyone in the room could see me, and for a moment, everyone was honouring me for who I was. Writing my blog was about standing up and saying, “Here I am” - a platform for self- expression and an opportunity to showcase what’s important to me. Sharing and reading each other’s blogs created a sense of community in the group, where we were able to bounce ideas of each other and receive useful feedback on our thoughts. Blogging about WOW has been a great way to think through what was most meaningful and useful for me. Having one also committed me to writing with some regularity.

Blogs have been very much in the news lately. It’s great to know that as a group we are part of that secret bloggers’ club, and part of the debate that rages on caused by well- known media personalities such as David Bullard.

Our Friday night graduation ceremony was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on WOW and to honour each other for the contribution we’ve each made to the group. Thanks to everyone who voted for my blog - I am proud that you chose to affirm me in this way.

The universe of YES!

2007-05-20T01:49:00.000+02:00

Last night I went to watch the movie “Freedom Writers” with Hilary Swank. Hilary Swank plays Miss Gruwell, a young, idealistic teacher whose first job is at Woodrow Wilson High school in Long Beach, California, at a time when the area is racked by gang violence. She is assigned the “dumb” group- a bunch of thirteen and fourteen year olds who have all been directly affected by the violence around them, and many of them are members of gangs or have been to jail. Gruwell sets out to make a difference in their lives. From the first day her project is seen as naïve idealism and she is met with little support from all sides- her head of department, her principle, her husband and her father all criticise her. Despite these ‘no’s’, with time she gains the respect of her pupils and she continues to choose to see the best in each one of them. She buys them books with her own money, organises and personally pays for a trip for them- things which no one had thought to do because they didn’t choose to look at this group as ‘worth’ the effort- they were always branded the ‘delinquents’, the ‘losers’. “I couldn’t believe that Miss G would do all those things for us,” a touched student wrote in his diary.

Miss Gruwell’s vision for her class was always in the ‘YES’. Ignoring the resounding ‘no’s’, she looked for the endless possibilities in the people around her. Her attitude inspired a force of change in her students, who took her positive vision and ran with a project that sprang from their own initiative. The group took her belief in them to heart and were able to exceed her expectations.

Watching this movie, I learnt that to really make a difference requires getting into that universe of yes. During Roy’s creativity session, we used the concept of Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats of creativity, and had to ‘change hats’ during the day according to what we felt we needed to do. At one time, I chose white- the mode of yes: answering, “Why will it work? What’s right about this?” I realised that I have a tendency to knee-jerk into negative thoughts, automatically thinking why something won’t work. To inspire change, requires learning to quieten the little voice of my inner critic, to put it under the table, so that I can inhabit the universe of endless possibilities, the world of YES!

The WOW experience

2007-05-13T21:09:00.000+02:00

The World of Work programme is over, but, as Lesley emphasised in our final session, it’s not the end, but only the beginning. This weekend I’ve been thinking about what I’ve found to be the most valuable aspects for me.

In the first few days of the course, Ijeoma and I both agreed that we found it difficult to talk about ourselves, particularly to people who we (then) didn’t know so well. But the one thing we’ve all done a lot of in this course is talk about ourselves. Every time a guest lecturer arrived, we almost always had to say briefly who we were. Most wanted our names only; others wanted to know a bit more. And through the course I’ve learnt how important it is to be able to present ourselves to the world confidently and openly, especially to potential employers. If I’m not able to share with someone what I’m really interested in, they usually won’t spend too much time worrying about drawing the information from me.

The simple act of repeatedly introducing myself has really helped to build my confidence, and learning about the current trends in the work place has helped to provide a solid platform from which to launch into the “big bad world”.

As a group we’ve been really interactive, as one of our speakers commented. I particularly enjoyed Kuseni Dlamini’s session, where he encouraged us to participate in discussion with his provocative suggestions. The discussion he facilitated brought out each person’s particular strengths, as we all spoke with passion and insight into the questions at hand. We participated as intellectual equals, while each person was able to make a valuable contribution to the group, as we were all encouraged to speak.

It was a privilege to be part of a group of people who comes from all over Africa and other parts of the world. Previously, I hadn’t had the opportunity to mix with such a diverse group- everyone brought to the table a different perspective, yet will still managed to form a cohesive team and build some good friendships. Dlamini’s session showed me that our disagreements and differences of opinion were valuable because they stimulated debate, and that it is possible to challenge each other but still form a connected group.
The experience helped to prepare me for the variety of people I will no doubt interact and work with when I enter into the world of work.

These two things speak simply to the process of being part of this programme, without even beginning to touch on the lessons learnt on a content level. It’s difficult to place a value on these things in monetary terms, but the course was worth much more than the R1000 we all paid for it.

Jacob Zuma: A great African Leader?

2007-05-06T19:48:00.002+02:00

Fiona Macdonald’s session (Fiona Macdonald consulting) encouraged us to think more broadly about the concept of leadership and the need to develop a model that focuses on Africa. In our discussion, the topic of Jacob Zuma came up. There are many ideas about why he would or wouldn’t make a good president. Some think he is inadequate because of his lack of education. But there are many leaders who are not highly educated and still were successful. And in his time as a political prisoner on Robben Island, Zuma studied and learnt from his fellow prisoners, suggesting that he is self-motivated and disciplined. Another reason people site is that it will be bad news to have a president who has been involved in rape and corruption trails and who mobilised his supporters by singing, “Bring me my machine gun”. Many say that the day Zuma rules will be the day they leave the country.

Fiona’s theory is that Zuma’s presidency will be a bad idea, as he does not have a followership as a leader- he hasn’t earned the respect of a sufficient number of people who will stand behind him. We know from the thousands of people who gathered outside the courtroom during his rape trial last year that he does have a large following of supporters. But there are an equal number of people who do not support him. In the 21-22nd April edition, the Weekender carried an article on the possible candidates for presidency (www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=2658448). It said that the ANC was divided on the issue of Zuma, and where he to be voted into leadership the party may reach a deadlock. Similarly, South Africa would become a country split down the middle, rather than a unified rainbow nation. The article identified three “compromise candidates”, Kgamela Motlanthe, the ANC’s secretary-general, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Foreign affairs minister, and Joel Netshitenzhe, the “perhaps government policy chief”.

The issue of who our next president will be is an extremely contentious one, and I thought Fiona’s theory of followership provided an interesting new way to consider the increasing debate around what makes a good leader.

Thinking creatively about creativity

2007-05-06T19:48:00.001+02:00

Roy’s seminar on creativity got me to think far more broadly about the subject than I had previously. In the game at the beginning when we had place names stuck to our back, I think we all learned that as a group our geography is very flawed. As a group of mostly foreigners, I wouldn’t have expected anyone to know where Howick was- the place Ijeoma had to work out. It is a small town, a ‘dorpie’, in Kwazulu-Natal that has become like a retirement community. It does have a tourist attraction: the Howick falls, where the Umgeni river drops 300 feet. So Ijeoma was getting very frustrated when she got conflicting answers as to where this place was- some in the group had told her it was in Europe! Eventually she worked out the answer by finding that the name sounded like “Horlicks”.

Playing this game taught us that we needed to find other strategies for arriving at a solution, particularly when we find one – such as relying on geography- isn’t working. I have played a similar game on long drives with my brother. He will think has of a celebrity’s name and I would guess what it is by asking ‘yes no’ questions, and then we would swap. I remember getting quite frustrated playing this, particularly at the end of a trip when I just can’t get the answer. Next time, I hope I’ll be able to think of more strategies, and beat my brother by asking the least questions!

As Roy defined it, creativity is applied problem solving. So now I think of creativity not just in the context of writing poetry or painting, but also as a vital skill that can be cultivated in life and particularly in business. For example, an advert for Investec Asset management says, “You’ll be expected to zig when others zag”. Part of their job is to bring a mixture of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking to the table.

What I most appreciated was the various tools he gave us to help us step- by- step through the creative process. The workshop reinforced that taking action is an essential part of this. An idea that is not acted on is a lost idea, just floating around in the air. Many times I’ve thought of things and not written them down. I think I’ll be keeping a notebook in my bed from now on! Thanks Roy for an informative, fun and very practical session.

Secrets of success

2007-05-06T13:03:00.000+02:00

Some conflicting views have emerged from our speakers during the programme. Kuseni Dlamini challenged to see that there was nothing wrong with self -interest because it drives personal success. Others have emphasised the importance of having a heart for the community. Professor Lovemore Mbigi encouraged us to work harder than anyone else if we wanted to be successful, even if it meant working eighteen hours a day. Fiona Macdonald talked about the importance of a work-life balance and in our stress management workshop we discussed getting eight hours of sleep a night.

But despite these contradictions, all the speakers have agreed on two essential ingredients of success. The first is to know who we are. The second is to stand out from the crowd and be an exceptional person. There are many ways to impress- with our talent and our abilities, but most of all, with our attitudes. Fiona Macdonald told us that Celeste made an immediate impression because she made the effort to greet every single person she met on her first day at work. Celeste was prepared to do anything she was asked, including going to buy Berocca for a group of hung-over accountants who had partied the night away and had to spend the next day at a conference. Through her actions she showed that she was keen, enthusiastic and friendly, and her employers knew she was a person who would add value.

Aki Kalliatakis emphasised that the people we remember are those that make a personal effort and go out of their way to serve us. One of the secrets of success of the employees at the world famous Pike Fish Company is that they know that they choose their attitude at every moment of the day. Brad Arden spoke about ‘hot’ people as the ones who are really in demand. Kuseni Dlamini reminded us that in a globally competitive market, people who are sought after will be able to live and work wherever and for who ever they choose.
So I think the biggest challenge for us as we go into the world of work is to remember always that our attitude and our actions speak loudly about us, and that a commitment to be exceptional will carry us far down the ladder of success.

Linking your CV to your blog

2007-05-06T13:02:00.000+02:00

We’ve all struggled to follow the complicated instructions to try and put our CVs as links on our blogs. On Thursday Roy suggested a much simpler way of doing this to put an end to our html woes!

We do this the same way that we linked everyone else’s blog addresses to our page. So, go to:
1. New Post
2. Click on ‘Template’.
3. Click on ‘Add a page element’.
4. Click on ‘Add link list’.
4. Copy and paste the url of your CV into the url address (You get this by right clicking on the time of your post and clicking on ‘copy shortcut’. Give it a name- eg ‘my online resume’.
5. Click on ‘Save changes’.
So this way you end up with a section where your links are that says ‘my online resume’. The CV is still a post on your blog (don’t delete the post like I did!) but at least this way it is easily accessible for anyone wanting to find it.

Speak up or you won't be heard

2007-05-05T23:37:00.000+02:00

One of the big challenges facing our group and me in particular over the course of the WOW programme has been learning to speak up. Speaking loudly is just one of the aspects of learning to present ourselves to the world. In the first session that Roy Blumenthal had with us, he challenged us all to make a commitment to speak up and project our voices so that everyone in the room could hear what we had to say. The room unfortunately seems to swallow the sound of our voices into the buzz of the fans and the projector, sometimes making it a strain to hear everything. Roy’s tips were to sit up straight and breathe from our diaphragms, reminding us that people in the world of work weren’t going to have much time for us if they couldn’t hear what we said.

I remember a time in high school when my soft voice gave a negative impression of me right from the beginning. I went to audition for the Kwazulu-Natal Youth choir. I was particularly nervous and when the conductor introduced himself, my voice came out in a tiny sqeak. “Oo, I hope you don’t sing like you speak!” was his first comment.
His first impression was of my nervousness. Roy emphasised that small voices suggest that we are small people. A potential boss, like the choir master, most likely will think that how we speak is an indication of how we are going to perform- dealing with people and tasks in the workplace.

Speaking clearly and loudly is just one of the ways of presenting ourselves to the world.From the very first day on the course, most speakers have asked us to introduce ourselves and talk briefly about where we come from. Andrew Hofmeyr told us that Graham Codrington, today a successful professional, knocked on his door when he was first beginning his career and gave a presentation on himself. Interviews are about presenting who we are and selling ourselves as a valuable product. This course has helped me particularly to see the value of being able to speak confidently about myself and my goals. I have learnt that, if I can’t speak up for myself, no one will know who I am or give me the benefit of the doubt. If I don’t speak clearly, I won’t be heard.

My online resume

2007-05-03T10:48:00.000+02:00

SUSAN ARTHUR

E-mail: sue.wasabi@gmail.com

CAREER OBJECTIVE

I am interested in a position that involves reading, writing and editing, as well as dealing with people.

PERSONAL PROFILE

I am an English postgraduate with well- developed written and oral communication skills. I have experience in writing and editing work in a media and literary environment as well as in the academic world.

EDUCATION

2006-April 2007: MA in English at University of Witwatersrand (Wits)

2005: Honours in English at UCT

2002-2004: BA with Majors in English and Law at University of Cape Town (UCT)

2001: Matriculated from St Anne’s Diocesan College with an A aggregate (IEB exams). Distinctions in English and History

WORK EXPERIENCE

August-December 2006 Hope Home and School
Job Description: Researched and wrote brochure. Selected photographs for brochure

Skills acquired: Honed ability to write clear, simple and conscise prose
Practical skills- acquiring the information needed to produce a brochure

September- December 2006 Special Projects, Caxton Publishing
Job Description: Journalist Intern- researched and wrote articles for publication using internet and personal interviews. Selected photogrpahs for publication

Skills acquired: Practical organisational skills- helped arrange social function
Administration and people skills

August 2006- Creative Communication
Job Description: Assistant editor for manuscript of a novel

Skills acquired: Developing capacity to pay meticulous attention to detail
Effective communication of ideas
Fine- tuning writing skills

Feb-November 2005 University of Cape Town Libraries
Job Description: Student library assistant- helping library users at desk after hours

Skills acquired: Assisted students at the library desk with queries
Customer service skills
Communication and problem solving skills
Computer skills

December 2004 By Word of Mouth Catering Company
Job description: Waitress

OTHER SKILLS

Writing and editing skills
Ability to communicate effectively with others
Empathy and listening skills
Ability to read and process large quantities of information as well as skim-read
General computer skills
Own transport and valid drivers licence

References available on request

South Africans in a globally competitive market

2007-05-01T22:04:00.000+02:00

Kuseni Dlamini from RBCT spoke to us about the increasing globalisation of the market place. Being successful means being able to compete on an international level, and the challenge for us is to build up our skills so that what we offer becomes a global commodity. Most of us know that countries are clamping down on immigration laws and it is more and more difficult to get visas, passports and work permits. But Dlamini’s view is that if we are really excellent, countries will be competing to attract us- any and every door will be open.

After Dlamini’s talk, an article in the Star workplace (25th April) caught my eye. “We have the skills to compete on a global stage”, announces the headline. The article is about Peter Hanwith-Horden, an IT specialist who spotted some errors in a textbook produced by an American publisher. He took the initiative to contact them after he found errors that had slipped through the cracks of their quality control. The publishers were so impressed that they asked him to edit their next book.

Hanwith-Horden’s specialist skills were good enough for the firm to take notice. He is an example of an individual achieving with excellence. It’s encouraging to know that there are South Africans who can compete on a global level.

Bridging the gap between education and the workplace

2007-05-01T21:33:00.000+02:00

The difference between what is required of us in the workplace and in our education is vast. Fortunately, programmes like WOW and the Thusanani project are beginning to address this problem.

At university, we can get away with missing some lectures, sitting at the back of the class and never asking a question. The pervasive attitude on campus is that as long as you pass, it’s fine. My family jokes that, at university, everyone fails something- almost as a rite of passage. This is a culture of mediocrity rather than excellence, where we manage if we produce unremarkable assignments. But in the workplace, we need to stand out. Those who are mediocre, it is becoming increasingly apparent, simply will not make the grade, particularly in an environment that is becoming globally competitive.

Success in education does not guarantee a smooth ride into the workplace. Richard Branson never went to university; in fact he left school at fifteen and started his own business at sixteen.

Several speakers on the WOW programme have commented on the lack of ‘soft’ skills taught in our education system. To be successful in a work environment, we need to be able to work in teams and manage conflict effectively. We are expected to develop these kinds of skills elsewhere. At university, they are an added extra. In the world of work, they are a necessity. So is it important to try to find ways to teach everyone these skills?

Unfortunately it seems that we are not receptive to being taught soft skills. A few years ago, UCT introduced a course called “Becoming a Professional” into its first year medical curriculum. The course teaches students the basics of professional conduct, focusing strongly on teamwork and approaching clients and colleagues in a non-judgemental manner. These are all vital skills, and particularly important as someone working in the medical field. Yet on campus I would always find students who complained bitterly about having to do this course. Most found it a waste of time. Perhaps our education system needs to re-look at how it prepares students for life and for work, while in the meantime, we need to take personal responsibility for developing our own set of valuable skills.

The Value of a B.A Graduate

2007-05-01T19:13:00.001+02:00

Andrew Hofmeyr mentioned that were he given the choice to hire a B.A or a B.Com graduate, he would definitely take the B.A. In his experience, business are increasingly searching for a different kind of skill, and coming to value the qualities that a social sciences student can bring with them.

A course recently launched by UCT has shown that Mr Hofmeyr’s view is increasingly shared. Their Graduate School of Business has introduced a course that harnesses the creative arts in the development of teamwork (http://www.bizcommunity.co.za/). The course, Creative Tools for Optimising Team Performance, will use music, storytelling and the dramatic arts to enhance teams and unlock their potential. In an increasingly competitive world, the traditional management tools of analytical thinking are no longer enough. Team leaders need to be able to approach management in much more innovative ways to stay ahead of the game. By focusing on the creative arts, the course will allow people to tap into the discipline, listening, observation, and problem solving skills that importantly are utilised in the environment of creative teamwork.

The participants in the World of Work programme mostly come from a social sciences background. It’s encouraging to know that the world at large is becoming more receptive to utilising a range of creative skills in a business environment. The challenge for us, as Mr Hofmeyr spoke about, is to be able to package our skills in a way that will be attractive to businesses.

The Entrepreneur

2007-04-25T20:37:00.000+02:00

Marius Venter from the University of Johannesburg involved our group in thinking creatively about entrepreneurship. The most important starting point of being an entrepreneur is to know ourselves. He illustrated this by asking each of us to describe ourselves with words that begin with each letter of our first names.

In the human treasure hunt, we were each given a worksheet of things and had to find someone in the group who had done that, for example: had he/ she ever made a personal greeting card, or won the lottery. Once we had completed the search we discussed what each of these experiences meant for the entrepreneur. For example, entrepreneurs need to be competitive, have clear goals, have the ability to budget, and be able to add a personal touch to their business.

Our final task was to break into teams and draw a picture that represents all the characteristics of the entrepreneur. My group drew a lion, because it is both a team animal while displaying the characteristics of a leader, it has an instinct to survive, just as entrepreneurs pursue the goal of profit making for their survival. One group drew a tree, with the many qualities of the entrepreneur displayed on its branches, and the final group drew a man who had many things, from a thinking mind to some money in his pocket to begin his business.

The session allowed us to explore what it takes to be an entrepreneur through active participation. South Africa needs more people who will take the initiative and create jobs for others, so we learned some valuable lessons that we will hopefully utilise in our future careers.

Leaders everywhere

2007-04-25T20:34:00.000+02:00

In many of our sessions, particularly Brad Arden’s, it has been emphasised that everyone can be a leader. And not only that, but that everyone at a point in their working lives will be required to lead. When Eileen Maleka from CCDU was doing her workshop with us, we each picked a piece of paper with a skill on it at random from a packet and spent five minutes thinking about whether we felt we had that skill. To my surprise, I got ‘leadership’, something I do not feel comes naturally to me. But during this course, I have begun to realise that there are many ways to lead; while the old philosophy that such people are born, not made, is no longer recognised as true. Everyone has the capacity that can be developed and expressed in his or her personal style.

Today, Kuseni Dlamini from Richards Bay Coal Terminal spoke about the power of personal excellence to transform our environment. To mobilise change in South Africa and on the African continent, he emphasised that it is necessary to foster a culture of achievement and an “I can” attitude rather than one of blame. Beginning the shift begins with ourselves, and by committing to being excellent in all that we do, it will inspire others to do the same. Everyone can lead by example. Benjamin Zander (the orchestra conductor that I wrote about in a previous post) leads by being passionate about what he does, and through this he encourages passion in those around him. The author Marianne Williamson writes: “We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.”

The input from the workshops had opened my mind to think more broadly rather than traditionally about leadership, and encouraged me to recognise my personal potential that can only grow by being developed and nurtured.

You don’t have to throw fish around to make something fly

2007-04-24T13:23:00.000+02:00

In Aki Kaliatakis’s presentation, I felt that one of the highlights was watching the video about Pike Place fish market (www.pikeplacefish.com). Watching the flying fish packers go about their daily jobs with such enthusiasm and energy was truly inspiring. But as the employees emphasised, it’s not simply about the fish. It’s about choosing a way to behave, choosing an attitude and making the effort to be fully present at every moment in the day. To make something fly, it’s about going about our tasks as enthusiastically as they did.

If everyone is in business, as Andrew Hofmeyr reminded us, then everyone we encounter is a customer. If we are building a personal brand, then the product we are selling every moment is ourselves. What kind of impression are we making at each moment in the day? Ali’s notes quote, “They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them”. What are the simple things that will make us unforgettable in the minds of those around us? While we were waiting for things to get started, Ali simply walked round the table, shook each of our hands, and greeted each of us personally. It immediately made me warm to him as someone who would go the extra effort to acknowledge me.

Let’s get back to the fish packers. Their company culture filtered to every employee. Every person was required to participate in order to make their working environment a success. Once we get into the world of work, we may just be the intern. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t make a difference. As has been emphasised in previous sessions, every employee can get involved in decision making. Everyone can take initiative and fulfil their task with passion, enthusiasm and a great attitude. And once that shines out, it will affect everyone around us.

Benjamin Zander (www.benjaminzander.com), an American musician, conductor, and motivational speaker, speaks about creating leaders everywhere. In the orchestra, the conductor is perceived to lead the group. Those playing the instruments are seated in groups that denote their importance- those in the front play a greater section of the melody. However, under Zander’s baton, he began the practice of getting everyone involved. Practicing a particularly difficult piece, he asked each of the members to turn to their partner and teach them the melody, creating leaders everywhere. He began the practice of putting a white sheet of paper at every member’s podium so that they could give him feedback on their performance. By doing so, he inspired everyone to get involved and express their passion. By being fully present in their performance, each member of the orchestra could lead, no matter where they were sitting, even if it was in the eleventh row.

Zander believes that “a leader does not need a podium”. A leader does not need to be the CEO of a company. Even as an intern, we can lead by choosing a positive attitude that will inspire the same in those around us. We don’t need to throw fish around to make something fly.

network, network, network!

2007-04-22T20:53:00.001+02:00

Over the weekend, I was chatting to a friend who travelled for some time in Korea after he had finished his varsity degree. He has been back for about a year now and has been in a job for seven months. During his job search process, he found that things only really started to get moving once he’d made the effort to talk to everyone he had some form of contact with in his desired industry. He reminded me that it was extremely easy to ignore a CV that has been sent to your email address. Now, even as a relatively junior member of staff, he gets CVs in his inbox regularly. Luckily, the world of work programme is giving us ample opportunity to begin to develop a network from which to draw. It’s so much easier to make an impression on people with face to face contact than on a piece of paper (with the exception of blogs that begin to bridge that divide). Chris Gardner- the main character in “The Pursuit of Happyness”- ensured that while he dropped off his application, he personally handed it to his potential employer. He stood out from the crowd from the start. The movie is based on a true story. Today, Chris is the owner of a successful stock-broking firm and an inspiration to all potential job-seekers such as ourselves!

linking to other's blogs

2007-04-18T11:58:00.000+02:00

Here's how to link other people's blogs to your site.
1.Click on new post.
2. Click on template. Go to 'add a page element'.
3.There will be a list of things that you can add, one of which is "link list". Click on "add to blog". 4.Type in all the blog addresses where you see "new site URL".
5. Click on "add link" and the URL will be listed at the bottom.
6.When you are done, click on "save changes" and the addresses will be on your blog.

Re-conceptualising the career box

2007-04-18T11:53:00.000+02:00

We’ve all been faced with the terrifying prospect of our very first job interview. When the day for mine drew nearer, I grew more and more nervous, until just talking about it would make my hands shake. All this confounded my Dad, who didn’t seem to be able to understand my pain. Until I got fed up with his lack of empathy and asked him, “Come on Dad, don’t you remember how you felt at your first job interview?” He replied that he’d never had one. He wrote a letter while at university to the company where he’d done some vacation work and they were happy to give him a job.

The days of this exceptional ease in finding a first job is long gone. (To give my Dad credit, though, he did take the initiative to find, and hold down, a vacation job). As Andrew Hofmeyr joked, no one’s going to be forming a queue at our door to take advantage of a Latin/ arts/ languages/ politics degree. Re-conceptualising our skills requires some revolutionary thinking on our part. But our opportunities are endless.

Jerry, a family friend, plays computer games all day. By doing this, he makes a fortune. He has paid for their beautiful house in Kommetjie, an exclusive area in Cape Town, in cash. He could afford to spend a year travelling around the world while he worked. Essentially, he sells objects that he has acquired in the game in a shop on e-bay. He can work anywhere were he has a decent computer and an ADSL line. By training, he’s an ichthyologist- a fish scientist.
The Sunday Times carried an article this week about a place where we can all have a second life (www.sundaytimes.co.za/article.aspx?ID=433838). Second Life is a virtual computer world with no sickness, old age or death, and everyone is beautiful. 4.5 million people belong to this community, purchasing virtual commodities for real world money. Everyday, up to $1.5 million exchanges hands. Corporates have caught on to this phenomenon and rented space in the game. A singer has launched her album in this world. Businesses can hold conferences in a virtual conference room.

In our world, our scope for career options is as broad as our capacity for innovation. How much more exciting this is than the world of my Dad, where he never saw a job interview room, was expected to be a lawyer, doctor, or businessman, and was never interviewed for his first job.

Interviews, CVs, and the World of Work

2007-04-18T11:52:00.000+02:00

Raj and Eileen spoke to us about skills in the workplace as well as talking us through handling an interview and preparing CVs. Eileen handed round a packet that had a selection of skills on pieces of paper. We each had to pick one and spent some time thinking about whether we had that skill and why it was useful in the workplace. As a group we discussed each of these skills, such as leadership, management, political awareness, problem solving and action planning, and why it was important for every employee to develop these skills. She stressed that a positive attitude was vital in the workplace.

Raj focused on CVs and interviews. He talked us through some interview strategies, including having a checklist for the day of the interview and the importance of preparing ourselves. In his opinion, the start and the end of the interview are the most important as they will stick in the interviewer’s mind.

In the group we shared some of the questions we feel are most difficult to answer, for example, “what are your weaknesses?” Strategies for answering this question are to focus on weaknesses that can be corrected by education or experience, while showing that we have a commitment to self-development. An interviewer will direct questions that deal with core competencies, such us our ability to work in a team, our communication, and our time and stress management.Raj suggested in the run- up to the interview that we visualise ourselves coping competently in the situation and being able to deal with all the questions calmly and confidently. Several times a day for a few days before, and particularly on the day of, the interview, it is effective to talk positively to ourselves to help quell our fears. And finally, it’s important to recognise that it’s a stressful process and gives ourselves a treat once we’ve survived the process!

Writing competition

2007-04-18T11:45:00.000+02:00

For all the budding journalists in our group, I thought I'd share a competition I've seen on News 24. Called "Craft your column", you can send in a column of 500 words on any topic by the 30th of April. The winner of their prize will get a six month contract to write a column for them, worth R6000. On their website they say they have been in-undated with entries, so I suggest we get cracking! I hope our blog posts will give us plenty of ideas.
Click on this link for more info: http://www.news24.com/News24/Your_say/0,,2-2127_2079881,00.html

Being a great intern

2007-04-15T12:30:00.000+02:00

This week, we’ve been discussing our expectations of being a new employee or an intern in a company as well as the employers’ expectations. Being in the world of work is all about being able to present yourself in a confident way. In the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness", Will Smith plays Christopher Gardner, an intern in a stock- broking firm. Chris is the example of a near-perfect intern. When he delivers his application form, he makes sure it is personally handed over to the boss. He knows that he is just one of many applicants and makes sure he is not simply another name on another piece of paper. And by the time he reaches his interview, he has impressed the firm sufficiently so that they are prepared to accept him even though he arrives, due to unavoidable circumstances, in paint-stained overalls.

Once he gets his internship position, he is one of a large group. But he continues to make sure that he is not just a face. He always makes the coffee. He always runs errands even at great cost to himself. And everyone knows his name. Most importantly, he goes on coming to work with a smile on his face, despite personal circumstances that are extremely difficult. By the time the firm needs to select an intern from the group as an employee, Chris is able to greet every member of his panel by name. No wonder they chose him for the job. Chris was prepared to do whatever it took to reach his dream. As he tells his son, “You want something. Go get it. Period.” With this attitude, he was able to triumph. We can all learn something from him about how to stand out in the crowd and get the job of our dreams.

helpful hint on blogging

2007-04-11T16:50:00.000+02:00

How to delete a post: Click on Dashboard link on your Blog page. Click on Manage posts. A list of your posts will come up. Click on the Delete sign next to the post.

Thinking about blogging

2007-04-11T16:37:00.001+02:00

I feel a little apprehensive that a lot of other people will be reading all about me and my world. I feel frustrated with trying to get the blog spot to work well but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Beginning Blogging with the World of Work

2007-04-10T12:18:00.000+02:00

I am excited to start blogging as it will give me the opportunity to express myself and order my thoughts as I reflect on the process of entering into the work place. My blog will be my own personal space.