Doing a good job

I'm proud of myself for pulling it off! And in an environment totally removed from my previous experiences!

The day of the dreaded Knowledge Management retreat came to pass, and despite some snafus and mini booboos, I think we did well, especially since it was the first of its kind ever put together here at this multilateral bank. Phew!

We had been preparing this for the past four months! It got moved several times, the speakers almost didn't make it, the budget got questioned, the whole thing nearly got called off--a week ago! In a place where so many nationalities, cultures, mindsets, levels of expertise and knowledge clash and collide, it was a harrowing experience to bring all these people together and talk about common issues they were facing. How much more if you get an outsider to take a look at their processes and make a diagnosis?

It was such a learning activity! I learned especially that these so-called experts and specialists really don't know much about KM, and that's exactly what their positions require them to know. In the final analysis, I realized that a lot has to be done in terms of educating people and orienting them towards cultural change within this organization. It calls for a paradigm shift, and the challenge is how to get these people to admit that they understand and need it too.

There was also so much to learn from this workshop in terms of putting content together and organizing it. So much protocol is needed pala, make sure you have back-ups of EVERYTHING, as organizer you have to be freed up, get other people to do other tasks, make sure everyone reads the survival kits, have a meeting with the hosts...and the list goes on.

But inspite of these oversights, we got several compliments from the participants and speakers. We had a good ice breaker, the handling of speakers was organized, the whole effort was a good beginning.

I was terrified of the responsibility at first, but after all was said and done I was proud that I was on top of it. I will take responsibility for all that happened that day because, well, it was a major accomplishment for me in an industry I'm just learning about. And most of all I believe I did a really good job!