My Leadership Journey - a Toastmasters talk in the making

I have a Speech Project for Saturday - it's for my Toastmasters journey. As I'm doing the Coaching path, there are speech projects that I have to do, to get mastery to a certain path - these are called the Pathways, and we choose the paths we want.

My style:

That said, my talk is about understanding my Leadership style. The topic came with a self-assessment that I took, and I'm not quite surprised with the result. I'm a Democratic Leader. As I've always led myself to believe - but the test also makes me realize a truism as well... I don't play well with rules. In fact, if a certain rule makes my actions move slower - or it is something that I perceive to be a barrier rather than help (red tape if you will), then I've got a mind to bend it, subvert it, ignore it... simply not follow it for the sake of expedience.

Now this doesn't mean I'm a rule breaker - it simply means that rule had better have a very valid reason to be there - otherwise, to hell with it. I'm more liable to ignore the rule - then realize a consequence for not facing the rule later. Only then would I a) learn a lesson for the rule being there, and b) even possibly blame someone for not explaining the rule quite clearly to begin with. Yes, I'm the type of person who grabs the gadget from the boxm and intuitively see how it works before reading the manual. That's also because I've seen many manuals that are poorly designed, or written, or illustrated.

Anyway, back to my leadership journey. I'm definitely not a dictator - though I've learned that in some cases, one has to take control of the situation, or step aside and let the more knowledgable person take charge. That isn't abdicating, it's temporarily delegating, should said need arise. I'm not egotistical to think that makes me an inutile leader - just a flexible one. Besides, in doing that, I believe I serve the need of the many - not just a few.

I won't mind getting rich - but not out of the sufferings of others. Not in questionable ways either. Guess that's the reason I'm not rich yet. But hey, I get to sleep soundly at night. So yeah... a democratic leader with a conscience. But you see, the aforementioned allowing someone to take charge because they're the expert... that doesn't mean abandoning them. It means supporting them. I delegate responsibility - I have to likewise delegate authority.

My younger, more technical years:

I was not always that way, though... in my much younger years, I went through a phase where technical expertise was important - and quality had to be taken seriously, for only in doing so could I prove competence, and prepare for a lead position. i also believed in supporting others - sharing lessons learned to the team. But I did not tolerate laziness to study, do the research, or ask. 

One instance, I sat in someone who had to do a demo - and I think I might have heard from others that this person was intimidated by me - as he know I was an 'expert' on the topic. Needless to say, I found a way to attend - and watched him self destruct. I didn't challenge him - but my being there was enough to intimidate him. Was that my fault? Nope. Better he make that mistake in front of us - than in front of a client. I even asked him if he wanted to start over again... but was I proud he failed? Maybe. I will share this story - but I need to make clear that I was a technical person - proud of my capabilities. 

But a far cry from being perceived as a supportive leader. In those days, my leadership style may be described as somewhat autocratic - maybe democratic. If leadership is a perceptions game - and it is for many, then I was perceived as strict, non-supportive. Maybe even wanting a bit of the spotlight - the hero... the star. In the leadership game, I was a possible rabble rouser - convinced I should lead.

My First team - the I/ACT days:

My next challenge as a leader? This came when I took over a team that, for all intents and purposes was rudderless, a group of individuals - talented individuals at that... and ones with highly different personalities. I came up with a purpose, and identity and a vision for the team - I even allowed for some 'friendly' competition with another team. We cross-trained technical skills, and because my team learned from each other - the camaraderie likewise got stronger. 

From a group of individuals, we became a highly supportive team... which was unfortunate for the other team, because from the stars of the company, they became the favorite target of ridicule. I did not participate in such, but seeing as how that behavior helped put pride into my team - I did not stop it either. So what were the lessons of success here? I was a democratic leader... I gave my team a purpose, an identity, and pride in work - I was the cheerleader, and supporter. I might have enve dismissed the other team whenever we discussed how we were doing, when compared to them. i would always remind my team that ours was the harder, more challenging tasks. 

PsiWar:

My team believed me... and unfortunately, so did the other team. In psywar - if you believe your opponent's propaganda, you are not setting the groundwork for warfare, you aren't preparing to win... and because of that, you will definitely lose. Sun Tzu has a saying for this... know your enemy - you win half the battles, know yourself and your enemy, and you will have a multitude of victories. I ended up becoming the supervisor for both teams - as we absorbed the remnants of the others. I can tell you now - trust was hard to come by with the other team... after all, I was perceived as the 'enemy', and no matter how many olive branches I shared, majority of the members of that other team eventually resigned.

A better style:

Was I the perfect leader? No... there were times I had to struggle understanding others' unwillingness to tackle assignments... what their motivations were - why I could not convince them to take the task - but my manager could convince them as well. In hindsight, I could see that despite our early successes, I still din not have the needed Emotional Bank Account with others. For others, yes... I was liked, but not by all... This was a combination of lessons from two books.THe Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and the Situational Leadership.. Thes served me well as a Manager in two different companies, and likewise helped me when I was asked to lead Division B in very challenging times. The fact that I had a very good team of highly competent Area Governors, plus one - an Area Governor at Large; and the rest of my Division team made the experience highly enjoyable. 

Fujitsu days:

In ny new work, I ensured my transitioning into the new team was seamless - talking to everyone and asking their expectations. We then were tasked to build the company's training division from from an ad-hoc exercise, into a highly professional division. We were responsible for having close to 200+ new recruits simultaneously going through the company's 2-3 month bootcamp, with highly stringent requirements. We needed to instill quality into the program, and ensure that integrity was exercised.

Just as I was proud of my old organization's team, this team was equally exemplary. We had an identity, a clear purpose. We knew the big picture, and had a vision. My new team was highly inspired, and we even shared some interests... everyone was a fan of Star Trek - so it was easy for me to instill a Federation-like sense of pride for the tasks, and work. I did learn one lesson here though... I used to think that 'no news is good news', only to realize that I had to give feedback to others - just to reassure them that they were on the right track. The sense of recognition - which further builds motivation.

Beyond Fujitsu, as I was teaching at Accenture, I learned to hone my Coaching skills. Having done that, I am now fully equipped to handle any quadrant in the Situational Leadership model. From Quadrant 1's autocratic style, to Quadrant 2's democratic style, to Quadrant 3's Coaching style, and Quadrant 4's Delegating and trusting. I can now say I am a flexible leader... though I still am intolerant with red tape situations.

  

 I will review what I placed here - this will be the basis for my talk on Saturday. I just need to further refine the message - make the handles clear... make sure the lessons are clear. For herein lies the journey to my becoming a better leader. The lessons I learned, I hope to impart to you all (the audience, that is).

That said, I can expect several revisions or updates to this entry - that is, when I think of other things to add - but as it is, the contents here will have ot be trimmed, to fit a talk for 5-7 minutes.

Virtual Training: Our New Normal for the Foreseeable Future

 2020 can easily be the shitiest year for many people's lifetime, or just the start of it, as 2021 seems to be just as bad - if not worse. Unless you were old enough to personally experience World War II, and the Japanese occupation in the Philippines, or maybe lived through the Martial Law years (and you just happen to be affiliated with the opposition), few would honestly compare to the COVID-19 pandemic as a really bad time in their lifetime. 

But you see, many of these latter events have long been set aside, and though the Philippines was still quite tumultuous beyond the Martial Law years, we've always found ways to survive - maybe even thrive a little through all those crisis - which probably earned the Filipinos recognition for their resiliency, and ability to bounce back - maybe even find the positive in those negatives. Today, however, it becomes more difficult to find such positives.

These years of the COVID-19 pandemic, running through a year and a half now, has to be one of the worst times we are living in, with respect to having our personal freedom to move around and mingle forcefully curtailed (in an effort to arrest the virus' spread, of course - so there was some logic behind that move). We saw gatherings with friends and families disallowed! Physical gatherings wherein people could stay together in a room, and discuss things... be they gossip columns. or newsworthy topics, or even trends in - and God forbid, share a laugh or Karaoke, as a highly dangerous and contagious exercise. 

Naturally, included in this social purge is the capability of holding physical workshops, lectures and classes - yes, in the effort to make sure people were safe from a virus no one knew much about - aside from 1) it started in China, and 2) does cause death in many that it infects - we were witnessing little else in the ways it was spreading. This has been the case since March, and continues to be the case coming into November... and yes, as I said earlier, this seems to be the case until April of 2021, and so far, still frustrates our Medical experts.

One discovery is that not everyone gets sick from it. For some reason, others seem immune to the virus' effects - and can go about their day with little more than symptoms of your usual cough or cold - however, they remained highly contagious to others. This made tracking the virus more difficult. In a world experience where many experts could trace the presence of a pandemic by the trail of sick people at it's wake, this situation of contagious asymptomatics became a harder challenge to trace the spread. Schools closed, Malls emptied, Offices left as everyone shifted to adjusting with a work (or study) from home set-up.

My problem? That means I can't do what I have been doing for decades now - facilitating workshops for differing clients, because 1). there is no workforce to train in the office, and 2) businesses were now in crisis mode to find means to work around the non-work in office mandate. In other words, they would be too busy adjusting and possibly surviving, that training and development plans were now placed in the back-burner of most companie. Training simply was not a priority, and for those that wanted them to happen - such was not allowed to be done the traditional in-house, face-to-face manner. Period. 

So... while the rest of my family has been continuing their work in a 'Work from Home' arrangement, I've been twiddling my thumbs (figuratively, of course) waiting for this pandemic to die. Still am, a year and a half later... and may wait until 2022. - if I'm lucky.

Things have not been totally hopeless, though. With application tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Rooms, and other apps that have come up with a way to meet in a virtual manner, the offices and classes of the 21st Century, have adjusted and thrived, some have stumbled though -  with the concept of Virtual exchanges of ideas; and with the advent of these virtual meetings, the virtual workshops came to life.

Everything Old is New Again:

In the case of conducting workshops, traditional materials and exercises had to be realigned to better work using the virtual environment. Suddenly, lessons that were paid lip service to with respect to facilitating virtual meetings, had to be dug up, reviewed - and in some cases, learned by people who never thought they would find themselves in such an environment. Best practices were considered, and tools for a better workshop experience had to be thought through. Simply put, adjustments had to be made, improvements considered - and yes, simplification was also key. Why so? Well, here are a few reasons.

Sustaining interest was a challenge even way back when, now it's making the best of a limited medium - if you were a boring facilitator, you were not effective back then. Add the fact that in a virtual environment, the facilitator simply had no control of the participants' surroundings, and it would be difficult to control (or compete for) said participants' attention span. I mean, to watch something for long bouts of time on your computer screen - that may be a great challenge for people who are kinesthetic learners. 

Videos may help, but you can't say we'll rely on our participants just playing videos. Few people have the discipline to see their video viewing through completion - specially when the temptation of multi-tasking said viewing; which many perceive as a passive activity; focusing instead on other deadline sensitive work-items (e.g. sales reports), and deliverables. 

What then happens is that the training becomes the secondary activity - and retention becomes close to just surface level ideas. If this were a physical training workshop, the facilitators could call someone's attention  should multi-tasking seem to be happening. In a virtual workshop, however, this may be happening beyond the facilitator's camera view, as these parallel tasks may be happening on a portion of the participant's computer screen, or it an be on a PC, laptop, or pad beside the machine where the training is happening... again - invisible to the facilitator. 

Not to mention the participant's ability to mute themselves and turn videos off. In fact, in some cases, these turning off of their video cam is used to better the shared bandwidth, so the connection doesn't suffer. And talking about suffering - yes, what if the home connection isn't up to the challenge of suddenly having to handle several virtual meetings? After all, each household may be working or studying - usually, all at the same time. In a lockdown, it will be difficult to request for a shift to a better connection - say, fibre networks, because just like you and me - these service providers are also adjusting to having theri workforce in lockdown.

Now, if the facilitator is not interesting to listen to (okay fine... IS boring), it will be a safe bet that the participants are on mute as they aren't listening at all. Heck, they could be watching an NBA game, while 'listening and participating' and the facilitator wouldn't be the wiser for it happening. This would be the same as a person attending a physical workshop - yet daydreaming about elsewhere, or elsewhen, or someone else - but not the facilitator. This is definitely a greater concern in virtual meetings.

How things are now done:

1) Breakout rooms are useful

So what do I do to counter this boredom. Take more frequent brakes, ask questions to the participants - choosing them randomly, to see if they are listening , or have any questions, or concerns. Assign them discussion topics -and with the help of either Zoom or Teams breakout rooms capability, make them discuss certain lesson topics - usually as pairs , triads, or small groups - while I jump from one 'room' to another to check on each team's progress. I can better ask questions in this smaller circle, and address concerns. This way, facilitation still happens - participants stay engaged - lessons still get learned by way of the participants discovering things by their discussions... i.e. it's less boring if they do the talking.

2) Trainings are 'virtually' tiring 

It has become a new normal for training session to be, at most, half a day (or four hours) sessions. Because believe it or not, it is more tiring to conduct, and to just 'sit-in' in said kind of workshop. So what used to be a 2-day training, now has to eat up four half-days. This is a kindness not just to the facilitator - but to the participants as well. Not to say a full day virtual training can't be done (i've done it with one client - though I did want to make sure they knew what they were asking for - and we were able to get things done), but that is more the exception to the rule.

3) Ah Internet Stability... please be merciful:

I've mentioned this earlier - but it bears repeating for emphasis. Having a stable, and reasonably fast internet service provided us for virtual workshops, has become a necessity. And poor service is simply unacceptable because both the students/participants, and the trainers/facilitators/teachers are affected when the internet service fluctuates. It would be better to have yourself make sure your connection is stable - in this case, physical cables connected to your internet router are better than WiFi

4) Should it rain... 

Well actually, rain sin't a problem. It's when the rain is accompanied by lightning - which affects signal stability, now that is a problem. And should the rain be real strong, it may affect a location in many indirect ways - flooding, for example, will make any person attending, forget everything else, to tackle said flood. And a strong enough rain can also affect signals and connectivity. Someone can just fritz out. 

The big problem is of course power outage - there goes your connectivity... period. You could have a back-up... via cellular signals and your phone as your connection, of course. Just expect a higher than usual phone bill. I suggest you have a look at the weather patterns for your scheduled training workshops, and have a discussion with the client should a day really suffer from intense weather - so suggest the possibility of rescheduling the workshop at a fairer weather date.

5) Be ready to counsel

In the pandemic, everyone is affected - everyone. So everyone is your workshop - just like you, are inundated with negativity, death, and bleak news. First... don't add to that by having bleak, dark humorous examples or stories. Even then, specially when sharing sessions are happening - some participants may inject pandemic related stories that can be real downers. 

It can be tempting to stop the person's sharing - feeling that the situation is fast becoming a downer. Don't do it. Listen, let the person talk - it's cathartic to them, and others may equally feel the need to share. Allow for one or two examples - validate their feeling (it's okay to not be okay), remind them that everyone needs to feel more resilient - offer some hope. 

Then, gently remind everyone that the workshop needs to continue - but, you'll be willing to give time to further discuss their frustrations after the workshop time - give them time. But please... do not feed on the rage, frustration, hopelessness. If you feel it is necessary, talk to HR about the person - they may need more professional help - help you may not be capable of giving.

There may be more to share... but for now, consider these five tips. I. on the other hand, will come up with a part 2 of this - soon as I have five other things to share. Until then, peace - and stay safe.

The Critical Need for Counselling these days... you game?

 The Pandemic has been with us for (officially) one and a half years now. Globally, it may be near it's second year. What we thought would be a won struggle by this time has given our medical frontlines a false sense of hope because the virus has mutated to spread so much faster, and the vaccines are woefully slow in being distributed and implemented. But that has not been the main frustration. I'll get back to that in a while. For now, what we all thought was a light at the end of the tunnel, suddenly turns out to be a much longer tunnel - no small thanks to the Delta Variant.

Just to give a bit of situationer. Some time May this year, we were seeing the arrival of vaccines - and the medical frontliners, senior citizens (60 year old and above),  and the people with co-morbidity situations (the more vulnerable due to certain existing pre-conditions e.g. asthma, high blood pressure - in other words, unhealthy people. But even this was not easily done... there simply was not enough vaccines available. Initial manner of registering to get a vaccine were also unclear.

Things started to get better:

However, at least people were starting to be vaccinated, and there was now hope that those vaccinated will not fear the strong possibility of death due to infection by the pandemic. It was hoped that by August of this year, the economy would open up - in fact such was already starting to happen. After all, people were now able to control COVID's spread with the exercise of proper safety protocols. 

Restaurants were allowed to open - and even I, and my family were once again enjoying dining out (and not al fresco style either). In return we noticed that restaurants were generous in their servings... a way of saying 'thank you for your trust and patronage' 

Delta changes everything:

Unfortunately, a new variant dashed all these hopes. It did not just spread much faster (more contagious), but it also targeted children (who were somehow spared from the varus these past months) and teens. Suddenly, the vulnerability range ballooned. Not only that... even fully vaccinated people were still able to catch said virus... and though many felt it at a less severe case - others still died after contacting it. It seems that our medical practitioners have yet to find fail safe procedures in curing COVID infections. 

It may not be an exaggeration to say, everyone has been affected by a COVID death in the family from a global perspective. A year and a half later - we may have learned how to tackle the problem... but we can't say the battle in the hospitals is a won deal. It won't be so while there are deaths still happening.

Where we are now:

Yes, it sounds bleak - and in many cases, it really is. Hospitals are complaining of over-capacity of patients coming in, other medical practitioners are over-worked, underpaid, not given hazard contingencies, and are quitting a system that seems to take them for granted. But why so? For that answer, we look at the other side of the pandemic's problem - at least, here in the Philippines.

As the country went on a hard lockdown - belatedly realizing the seriousness of the pandemic, the President, who was balking at suggestions to close borders to other countries - specially China... more worried about how the move would insult said countries, finally realized what was happening and decided to do the most drastic action - Lockdown. 

People were not allowed to leave their homes - only one person would be allowed to go out and get necessities (food, medicine and other needed items), quarantine passes were issued out for this. Those allowed to go out had to wear face masks and face shields - and even since the virus was still a mystery for many - others, myself included, even wore gloves. We also started using disinfectants, and hand washing alcohol.

Adapting to change:

The problem with this strategy? Yes... you control the people's movement, but no one was contact tracing to determine who was infected vs. those who were not. Not only that - the spread may have slowed down - but the longer we wait... the longer people were not working, or going to school. 

Offices and classes were forced to reroute their businesses and lessons online. Suddenly, Zoom or other similar apps were necessities - not nice to haves. However, those working in manufacturing could not reroute their production line online... and many of these people were experiencing a 'no work, no pay' practice. 

Society's vulnerable:

These were the people that could not afford a long lockdown. These were the people that would go hungry if they wouldn't work... and unfortunately, these were, more often that not, the people who lived in a highly population dense area - where there was hardly any room for privacy - and should anyone catch COVID, they would surely infect others in the household.

Much as Government wanted to keep things in lockdown to control the virus, doing such would make a large part of the population lose their jobs. People were beginning to ignore these government mandates because they had to work.

To compound the problem, even in lockdown, there seemed to be a poor contact-tracing protocol - it's like the medical people were always in catch-up mode. By the time they probably located a contact... this person how might be a carrier, might have passed the virus on to others already.

Simply put, the lockdown was not a solution - just a delaying tactic as it waited for the vaccines to arrive. Meanwhile, an earlier chance to get the vaccines was wasted because of indecisiveness by the head of the government's medical department. The government was forced? to purchase vaccines from China, citing that the western world had already cornered vaccine supply. Many Local government units through their mayors, and private institutions also wanted to purchase their own vaccines - mostly out of frustration, and to ensure supplies.

Unfortunately, these purchases - though approved, were most likely given least priority - and it was only August of this year (almost a 6 month wait) before the start of such arrivals. Meanwhile, hospitals were filling up, and death was felt by many families who helplessly witnessed loved ones pass away due to a lack of medicine, lack of facilities, lack of vaccines.

Simply put... government was swamped - they seemed helpless,; dare I say it, inutile... people felt angry and frustrated with what seemed to be an endless cavalry of problems, and with death looming around hospitals, and many not able to even say a proper goodbye to their departed COVID dead (the cadavers are ordered to be cremated), the feeling of loss was not properly assuaged. Loss was also felt by many in the form of closed businesses. Putting these all together, it's easy to see how many do not picture life in a positive vein.

Depression sets in:

This leads me to my topic. How do many people find release in this kind of environment? There are many ways, if you think about it. But admittedly, some will feel old and passe after a year of doing the same. In normal times, people in grief may go out with friends... family; to places where they could feel happy... properly grieve even. But if you're just stuck at home? Alone, lonely and not able to visit - or be visited by friends and family... depression may set in, even if you don't know it yet.

News channels don't say it is a problem, but you will notice a constant display of phone numbers that are being displayed - saying that anyone who needs to talk to someone can call these numbers. If you were following the news early on in this pandemic - you would have been inundated with countless 'bad news'. After all, other countries were equally challenged with the pandemic. 

A global problem:

One gems seemed to be Israel, but it is more the exception to the rule. Lessons learned from the many deaths of Italy (that disregarded social distancing for their usual embrace and kiss greetings) and Spain, that got the virus with a population that had so many elderly who had no vaccines at all. The videos by exhausted doctors, weeping out of frustration - telling their tales... tales seemingly unheard by others - more so political leaders who didn't care, or held a cavalier attitude that that wouldn't happen to them... until it did. All these just added to the negative vibe one would encounter.

Try to find refuge in Social Media? You could do that... but at times, reality intrudes one's safe space. It innocently stems from a friend's post - asking for prayers for a family member - now battling COVID in the hospital... a few week later, you realize they are now mourning the relative's loss. So TV isn't the answer, and social media reminds you - at times, how danger still lurks. What to do?

Well here's the thing... you can always talk so someone - as I mentioned, even strangers on a counseling hotline. A friend is fine, but if they, too are suffering, even if misery loves company - it's still misery. We don't need more misery. You want someone to listen - maybe even understand what you're going through... and hopefully talk to you with some semblance of sense and empathy.

Someone you could talk to whenever you need to... it need not be someone who is the same person all the time - it may be a plus factor for others - but for some, just the need to have someone else to listen. Here's another thing... asking for help is not something to be ashamed about. 'It's okay to not be okay' has become a popular statement these days. 

And why not? In a world where many are isolated physically, where meeting face to face, and experiencing the warm and friendly touches, embraces even of friends and family can't happen, having someone to listen while you talk can be a big thing for someone's psyche. One feels less alone, less lonely... less sad.

Problem is, are there enough counselors? I mean these people - just like doctors, or even priests hearing confessions - are just that... still people. They get tired too. Some even get sick, too. So I now ask the ane question that we need to ask. "Can i be a counselor too?'

Practitioners of Counselling go through a lot of learnings... work through lessons on how to listen, how to make suggestions, read tells and other body language, learn how to talk in a calming, non=threatening manner. How not to give bad advice. A lot... a lot of them people skills, and a lot more dealing with medical science, psychology, maybe even psychiatry. So unless you have the knack for having to learn all those... it will be difficult to learn being a counsellor. 

Stepping up:

This doesn't mean you can't listen. You can't try comforting. You can't ask your friend to think things through - though you have to realize that thinking is not something they want to do. Or you can't ask questions to understand them more. So long as you do a passive listening manner - not automatically agree their their possible cognitive dissonance,  You should be fine. After all, they must need someone to listen to them - for them to rant, to release... even if it's done in a virtual meeting. Consider that.

If anyone needs to destress, suggest they stop watching the news first - maybe focus instead on learning new things - maybe a hobby they wanted to try - albeit maybe a long delayed one. Binge-watching some shows may be good too - but preferably less stressful ones - so scratch the Walking Dead, or other similar downers. It might be even good to watch hilarious shows - yes, even the supposed shallow ones. But even better would be inspiring shows. One that emphasizes hope. No, I'm not emphasizing, Star Wars Episode IV either... but if it helps, why not? 

A good book or series of books can be great too. Other possibilities? Painting can be cathartic... suggest that - and just remind each other that Picasso wasn't a success overnight. So one shouldn't be too hard on the work they do (even if it's far from their imagines=d outcome), just learn more... paint more. Same thing with drawing, or writing. Try some yoga... listen to music... the choices can be many. I mean if you try to think about how you yourself are surviving this pandemic, you'll get ideas.

Don't think you're not good enough to help and listen. Don't sell your importance and yourself short. In times like these - every little act of kindness helps. Remember that.

Mind you... I'm not a psychologist, nor a psychiatrist, nor a counselor. Call me, instead, a concerned human being. I do hope what I shared will make you think.

Revival time (again - but this time, I mean it... well, hopefully)

 Yes, it has been years since I posted anything here. The most valid reason (not excuse, mind you) is simply the adage 'out of sight, out of mind'. Simple as that. But I intend to change all this near invisible aspect.

First of all, I'll be coordinating this with my relatively new Facebook page -

 https://www.facebook.com/CoachButchSyyap

where I have been posting my training-related activities. I will most likely (in an effort to revive the use of my blogs, post items here and link it to my FB page... and more likely, vice versa.

Next... yeah, I noticed that a lot of pictures were accidentally deleted in this blog because I removed the pictures from my laptop and archived them in an external HD. Nuts... didn't know that would happen, and now it seems that this will be a great effort to recover all those pictures. So unless I get the urge to do that, I'll just let things be and move forward.

Pictures to help paint an idea

Whether it was intentional, or not, I noticed a dearth of pictures in the past entries for this blog. My reaction to this would be 'but isn't that boring?' - Yes. It can be boring. Make no mistake, the cusps of wisdom can be found in the narrative - but unless there is an attention-getting picture to accompany the article, people might just gloss over what we have to say.

See... just right there - that was me in 'lecture/facilitator mode'

An Accenture Philippines Virtual classroom - one of several.
My participants normally would be from Manila and (virtually) Cebu.
Of course, because of these, my trips to the South have become less frequent.

Anyway, yes... I believe that if a picture can help spice things up by getting the reader to look at the picture - and therefore, read what else the blog entry says... then why not?

Take this picture on the left. It's about a training being conducted. I took this picture, yet found a way to include me in the frame - no... not photoshopped. Just some good old WiFi connection with my phone - or in earlier days, a timed shutter click.

Maybe I'm biased, since I love taking pictures As can be seen in my Instagram account. Or maybe it's because I know that the pictures do add dimension to an otherwise flat-looking article. Either way, if you're going to be reading my blog posts, I will be inserting pictures where I consider it to be appropriate.

More often than not, there will be a story behind the picture which will be expounded in the blog article. But I would not be honest if I don't say, it's to also show my ability to take pictures.

Will I use pictures from others? Only with a really good reason, and with the proper recognition.

Revival time (again?)

First of all, yes... I can count with one hand how many times I've tried reviving a blog or another - after all, if it's not profit-oriented, like most (if not all) of my blogs, this becomes - as cliche as it sounds, a work love. So yeah... maybe I've not been giving my blogs the love they deserve for the past years. Call it a need to focus on other things for survival's sake. Call it a reduction in the passion to blog, call it a plain and simple shift in priorities... each one can be true. But to call it a permanent move to stop blogging entirely? Of course not.

Why revive this now? Simple... I'm still neck deep in training. Maybe not as deep as I used to be... nor as deep as I want, but I still find myself doing it. After all, I am good at it, and it continues to give me some 'new' experiences. One particular experience? A workshop on 'How to Blog'. 😆

An old picture of a training room that I used to frequent a lot.
As customary for me, I arrive early to check things out before classes start.

This also gives me a chance to check out what is new with the tools I worked with all those years ago. See if the experience has (can be improved upon), so yeah... time to clear the dust from this blog, and start sharing my thoughts once again. Hopefully, it will be a long (longer) journey - and I get to share some more gems of wisdom.

I will, of course, balance my sharing with the need to reflect discretion in what I can and cannot share. So depending one whether I have some signed agreement of secrecy or not - well, let's just say I'm the kind of person who looks for loopholes, and can opt to share if there is really nothing worth keeping a secret about. after all, who reads these things? 😜 So strap in for the ride, as I share insights, tidbits and glimpses into life as a trainer / facilitator /coach.

Retooling time...

I'm in the middle of learning Lean Six Sigma, a quality process/practice that seems to be making it's presence felt in the corporate world. Look around many organizations that are serious with their improvement efforts and you will see the need for a Six Sigma Black Belt practitioner. Though the belt color may be just a way to organize their practitioners' seniority and capability, it is seen as some kind of manner to guarantee that someone knows what they are supposedly talking about.

So why did I enter into this particular arena? For starters, I am no complete stranger to quality processes - and practices. After all, having been exposed to the concepts of the Capability Maturity Model's CMMI for several years, you could say that the importance of quality has rubbed off on me. After all, when I was expected to teach the introductory and expansion courses of CMMI, I had to have a clear understanding of what all these meant.

Now comes 6 sigma, and it's underlying practices - and I would like to delve into this. Become a known practitioner and be part of the growing local community. It's also a nice coincidence that the Master Balck Belt handling all these training, happens to be a training colleague of mine in PM, and testing. Aside from that, I count at least two - possibly three colleagues also taking the program, so it's not as if I'm all alone in all this.

So yeah, even at the cusp of my fifth decade in this world, I find the need to improve my knowledge and skills. I've known this all along, and I don't hold it as a negative thing... after all, this was the life I got used to when I started learning programming and analysis way back when. It's simply retooling time for me - like it or not... and I don't 'not like' it. But I do hope I can find ways to better absorb all these ideas in a faster manner.

Conducting Training in Cebu

Since September this year (2012), I have had four occasions to go to Cebu for training conduct purposes. These happened for different courses, with different partners - and yes, allowed for different drinking partners as well. My first outing to Cebu was to assist Jinkee with PADS in Pioneer bldg., and then the day after, conduct Testing fundamentals with Tess at the e-block within the Cebu IT park. All in all, it was a three day conduct, and we were billeted at the Summit Circle. I also got the chance to meet Carlos on my first night and experience STK ta Bay's gastronomic dishes. I also brought home some Chicharon and Cebu lechon. Ironically, I only tasted Cebu lechon (Ayers) when I brought it home to Manila. We all got an earlier flight than scheduled on our way home.

My second endeavor had me billeted at the Golden Prince with Brian and Marie - Brian had a separate conduct, while Marie and I had Project Management School - a near bruising 4-day conduct. The Golden Prince wasn't as good a location as the Summit, but at least it also had WiFi. Unfortunately for the Golden Prince, they had some roach problems which sort of black listed them from Accenture after our outing. We also had the opportunity to drink in Ayala's Gilligans, and I ended up drinking a pail filled with SMB light (roughly 6 bottles) plus one more bottle - I can't recall what we talked about that lasted until closing time of the mall... but it was indeed a lively discussion. On my last day, I got to meet with Dennies, who treated me to lunch. Brian and I then decided to take the cab to the airport and hopefully repeat getting an earlier flight... unfortunately, it seemed that PAL decided against doing such practices sometime between my last Cebu trip and this... so we ended up waiting for close to four hours in the airport. What I was able to do, however, was to take home some frozen (Zubuchon) lechon, and a few Belgian cookies courtesy of Carlos. It was a tiring experience, but at least Brian and I shared a cab home.

My third conduct was with Marie, while Gina and Francis had their own training. This time Marie and my training was for Test Design Fundamentals in Pioneer. This particular outing was also, I might add, the one where I almost drank nightly with Gina and Marie - twice at Marie's room (an idea of mine) so we could enjoy wine at a cheaper manner than having to pay corkage. We enjoyed wine, cheese and grapes. We enjoyed eating at places our students suggested to us. On our last day, I had a unique problem - I had bough some groceries on the assumption that I would consume them slowly each night. Now I had (among other things) a whole pint of milk. A task I had Francis help me with before leaving Accenture - we got to the airport and waited things out again, and I ended up bringing nearly four kilos of lechon.

My fourth conduct was with Ariel... this time, we were doing Estimating... a course I really don't have much love for - but can conduct when necessary. For the most part, Ariel and I had our own evening activities... not really bothering each other, and we would just meet for the taxi trip to e-block. We experienced the spicy, boneless lechon of Ayers on our second to the last day. I checked out the poolside of Summit Circle, and probably took the only alcoholic beverage of my trip this time around - one light beer. We decided, on our last day to try to finish early, because of the supposed traffic due to the fiesta in Mactan island. I don't know if we were lucky, but we did not encounter as heavy a traffic as we thought. We ended up killing time in the Marina plaza, and even got a massage. We arrived in the airport rejuvenated. I also, following the example of Jingo and Francis, left my car in the airport parking - thus making the trip home form NAIA less tiring and worrisome. I also brought home two kilos of frozen lechon - one which we've consumed... the other, still in the ref.

Now, what can I say about the training we've conducted? The classes were, for the most part, not that many, hence making the classes easier to handle... the participants, for the most part, were also quick in being able to absorb the ideas presented in each conduct. So I don't find the conducts as tiring as those I handle in Manila. Had it not been for the fact that arrangements have to be made with Ben every time I leave for Cebu, it would be fine for me to do these more often.

Having said that, it looks like I will have another trip to Cebu, for a PADS conduct wiht Jinkee mid-December. I'm looking forward to it.

Possibly last of the Testing courses I'm handling

It seems that the Accenture Testing Center for Excellence is looking to start handling the Testing courses internally, as opposed to having 3rd party vendors (which I'm technically a part of). The move is a logical one, and had I been in Accenture's shoes, one that I would have implemented long ago. After all, if the company is a Center for Excellence, then why need outsiders teaching their capabilities the best practices of the company?

However, two things can get in the way of this reality:

The first is, of course, the future facilitator's knowledge of the lessons to be taught. You see, despite my, and my colleagues, being outsiders, we are aware of the technologies and practices of Accenture for the past decade. On the other hand, the new facilitator, although coming from some testing-related projects, may be approaching their lecture from a practical perspective - nothing wrong here, except the possibility that they may not be practicing what the ADM (basicslly the company's bible on how to run the entire project) is saying.

This means that somewhere along the way, there will be a possible misalignment with what 'is the best practice' and what 'is being practiced', as the facilitator uses his or her experience as basis of discussion. This will include, practice, terms, thought processes. Nothing technically wrong here - unless said project practice is doing some 'practical' short cuts that may impact quality of the practice.

The second concern is more a business-priority concern. Apparently, many companies - Accenture included, look to training as a 'cost' and not as a strategic pillar. The latter will mean looking at all testing-related activities, including training of personnel (and naturally, all aspects of said train ing - including faculty development) has to be addresses from a long-term investment viewpoint. Simply put, it's a farming mentality (to use the analogy), you reap the benefits after having spent the effort to planting.

What am I trying to say? My experience is that resources assigned to training are suddenly pulled out when more profit-centric projects suddenly need them... thus uprooting critical resources to the ongoing training. Why is this the case? Because of the aforementioned viewpoint of training as a cost, and not an investment.

The irony of this is that Accenture -at least a few years back, even published a book on the return on training - specifying how much a return on every training hours can be, calculating it at a 5:1 ratio, meaning for every $1 spent on training a resource, the ompany can get a return of $5. Said repot was even hailed in the industry for it's putting a monetary feedback to training, one of many nebulous activities hard to put some measure on; specially in this seeming metric-intense environment.

That said, I'm not saying this is the case here, though historical experience bears this out.

On a personal viewpoint, it will mean I won't be given testing-related training in the near future. But so long as this will be done properly, I won't mind losing the work, and will be happier if I need not be recalled after a few years because Accenture suddenly reassigned their resources to more profit-centric projects.

Trying my hand at being a College Professor

Yup. You read right. This past semester, I tried my hand at being a substitute professor in a relatively new college. Here's how it happened... I was conducting a specialized training for a friend - having a few of his staff, and volunteer staff as my students - a sideline while I was relatively having a lot of free time on my hands. Well, it so happened that the sister-in-law of a friend (who was also in my class; the friend that is... not the sister-in-law) suddenly found herself a faculty short.

It seemed that their Marketing 15 (Internet Marketing) class for their College of Business, was missing a professor. My friend asked me if I was interested to take on the slack, and I said 'sure, why not'. After all, the class was only on Saturday afternoons.

So it was, that I found myself going through interviews, teaching demos and the likes of which I have not gone through in... well, decades (I think). They found me fit for the course (of course), and asked me to submit some requirements (of which I've yet to fully copy with - like I said, its been a while).

I met my students... 19 individuals, and to say I got to really know them would be a lie. After all, how can you get to really know all of them when you only get to meet them once a week? And only for three hours at that? It was really a struggle for me to have this class... Aside from the fact that I came in mid of the semester, I also had my Cebu trainings coinciding with my schedules.

Needless to say, I got through... had to design a Final Exam and guide the students through creating web sites for advocacy programs, while preparing lecture materials based on a PowerPoint presentation; which in turn was based on a book that I did not have. Though we were using the computer lab, there were times when Internet access was troublesome. It was during these times that I felt a bit frustrates, but persevered on for the benefit of the students... after all, it was not their fault that all these things happened.

The semester finally and eventually ended with me hanging in there. For the students and my friend's sister-in-law. Yes, there were times I wanted to say I may not web free to teach next semester, specially if Cebu will still be in the agenda, but to say I did not in any way enjoy this experience, would likewise be a lie. I like helping people...Guiding them in one way or another, and I hope that I will get to handle another class - though this time, with a better prepared plan and curriculum. Though I don't see myself doing this too soon either.

Meanwhile, it's the semester break, and I have to submit my requirements. In that regard, I've emailed people, scanned certificates and found some old articles I wrote, because apparently, these are all important in any Education institution. Ah well... On the other side, being called 'Professor' in a college, has a nice ring to it... even if it's just an informal title.

Supervisor training rollout

It has been a while since I've had a new training to sink my teeth into. In fact, I can't recall the last time I did it - unless I count the one I did for John's people and the Red Cross. Other than that, it may have been a year (at least) since I did something like this.

At this particular juncture, the workshop in particular is thenSupervisor 101 training developed by Accenture. This is a two-day training meant to replace a much needed to be retired  Leadership Skills for New Supervisors training - poor hodgepodge of a saner training that I also had the opportunity to conduct. So imagine this... I'm on the 3rd iteration of this conduct, sort of... After all, Supervisor 101 is - for all intents and purposes, a new and very different training.

Well, this time, it's a whole lot better than what it is replacing, and, at least, it integrates various trainings, like Cross-cultural communication, Managing Diversity, handling of issues... Plus the usual tips on handling teams and performance management. So yes, it's still a seeming hodgepodge of many topics put together, just that these topics are all essential for any supervisor... More so an Accenture manager/supervisor.

Like any roll out, there are challenges we (Jingo and I) face, and one challenge in particular is the tight schedule of this training. Even our participants see how cramped this is, so it's not our imagination (yes, I noticed and commented on this as well when I first studied the contents), but being consultants with little clout within the organization, we could not influence the change. Tis can be frustrating... Because the training materials are good. It however suffers because the participants are not able to absorbed everything the training wants them to do... at the given time frame.

Still, rise to the challenge Jingo and I did. So we are able to follow the timeframe, but we had to diverge from the suggested practice, which bespeaks of our capability to assess how things are going, and make the necessary adjustments. We focused on the important topics, then considered the game at the end when we were sure of finishing all important topics first.

There were observers... and I was wondering whet they would be observing of us. Strange, really. I know it's possibly because of how they are just making sure of the conduct's quality. But if they did their due diligence, they should have known that we are their preeminent trainers. We're even more Accenturized than a lot of their employees. This last statement may be seen as a boast, or exaggeration, but I really think that in this case, it's validated.

All the while, I was experiencing a head ache, and Jingo noticed this. But I finished my modules. We wrapped up the training, and are just awaiting the verdict of the observers. We shall see. Ther funny thing is, efen as we were doing the conduct, Jingo received a text message from Malou that we had another scheduled conduct in November.

Ah well... Mission done, and I got a good night sleep after. Glad I did it, and showed people that I can still roll out a new training conduct - specially one that is leadership/management oriented.

On the importance of joining a Speechcraft.

Speechcraft is a program of the Toastmasters, that is offered to people who are not Toastmasters, yet may need a similarly designed, however truncated, public speaking improvement program. Normally, a Toastmasters club offers this for free - or with some fee... normally to defray operational costs in conducting such a program (e.g. snacks, certificate printing, etc...) People who join this normally go through several speech projects with each one focusing on one improvement aspect for said speech... be it better organization, gestures, vocal variety... each one being evaluated by a Toastmaster, so the Speechcraft participant gets to know where they may need certain improvements.

So why did I write this? It's a response to a conversation Bryce shared with someone else. When asked what he did this summer, he mentioned that I joined him in a Speechcraft program. Asked why? He said he did not know. I guess the latter is my fault, as I just asked him to join... and I even stuck around to make sure he did join. As to the why... I was hoping it was self-evident. I guess I was wrong.

Anyway... why should one join a Speechcraft? Self-improvement angle aside, let me just mention a few reasons - the first being that Speechcraft does help one build confidence in and for public speaking. Granted, Bryce may not lack in volunteering for certain roles where he gets to prepare and present... but he's riding on the fact that he knows what he's talking about and is confident he can deliver his talk in proper English. But by attending Speechcraft, he learned certain techniques that would further enhance his communication skills - not just from a one-on-one perspective, but hopefully even in front of a lot of people. So yes... Confidence is easier to achieve... and with that, a more believable speaker. After all, would you listen to - much less, be convinced by someone who does not seem confident of what they're suppoed to be talking about?

Second...  Speechcraft helps improve one's stage presence. The program, as I said earlier covers two very important presentation aspects... gestures (including eye contact, proper use of hands to help describe something, or enumerate clearly... anything that - with the use of hands, feet or even facial features. This will hopefully allow people to send their message across real well. After all, any visuals (and I'm not referring to PowerPoint here) that helps the message get across faster and clearer, is a must have for any presentation.

Third... Speechcraft allows people to become better leaders. It may not be an automatic thing... after all, leadership demands several skill sets, but with one's attendance here - by earning the confidence, the capability and craft of speaking and getting your message across clearly, anyone can have the makings of a real leader... not just someone pretending and getting by with filibustering or just pretending to be confident. People demand this communication skill form their leaders. So yes... anyone seriously considering the possibility of leadership should take Speechcraft lessons.

Thing is, these skills are not some hidden mystery. You can read about it in may tomes. But one last thing (well, not really, but in the interest of keeping things short, I'll stop at four), Speechcraft offers a practical experience laboratory. People learn by listening, by practicing and by reflecting on what others say. It's a workshop... and along the way, they become more aware of certain needs for improvement... come next meeting, assuming they are serious in pursuing what their mentors and evaluators say, all Speechcrafters should come out with better results.

And THAT Bryce, is why I made you join this Speechcraft workshop. I want you to be better equipped as a future leader.

I took this test today... quick and easy. As seen below, this is the result I got. Cool.

DISC Personality Style

Inspiring Inspiring, influential, interactive, and interested in people. This person likes to interact with others and have fun. They tend to focus on talking with people and keeping things exciting over tasks.

Facebook quizzes, quiz apps & blog quizzes by

Leader's Window - after a long time of not conducting it...
Just like riding a bike and welcoming a long time no see friend.

 These pictures represent Day 2 of the training. I did not strive to take quality pictures - just take some pictures. I know if I were serious, I would practice all the time... believe me, I did. But I did not strive to show these pictures here, as they did not have anything to do with said training.

 This conduct was jointly facilitated by Mon and me. As usual, in the first day, the participants took a Leadership assessment test - and on the second day, we asked them to check their answers and helped them interpret their results.

 While waiting for my turn to do the facilitating, I would read an ebook freely given by Seth Godin. Naturally, I was doing this with my iPad.

 Part of the latter lessons in the afternoon was to do Performance Contracting (and some Coaching on the side), so this is what I asked the participants to do. This was to practice them with doing PC-type meetings.

 Coaching scenarios helped them realize their potentials and areas for growth - in this triad exercise, an observer will take down notes, so they could give their feedback to the 'coaches' in this role play activity.

 Our participants were eager to learn and very game to participate, as these pictures show. Considering that a lot of them were currently in Bench, this would be a bit of a new experience for them... none the less, they still tried adopting the lessons and practicing them via said role plays or game-related activities.

 Feedback giving need not be serious all the time, and we Filipinos can really inject humor to lighten an otherwise heavy message. It might not be advisable in real life... but in a training like this, the fun aspect makes for better learning.

L

More Trainers:

Here are more pictures of colleagues I've been lucky to work with (for the most part anyway), sa as I already posted some pics of colleagues in past entries - it is but fair that I continue the tradition whenever I can.

Rex:

He's been teaching technical related courses (mostly Object-oriented conducts) in the morning, and then runs to his application support job at the latter part of the day. This leaves him with roughly around 4 hours of sleep per day on the average.

If there is anyone who epitomizes being a workaholic, I'd say that Rex fits the bill to a 'T'. Yet despite this hectic schedule, Rex has proven to be a very amicable personality. We've become fast friends, and have on occasion, shared some brown bottles after our training conducts - though this does happen less oten these days due to his work schedule.

If Rex has shown any passion for anything, its obviously towards cars. I think its a family thing, but even then, it rubs off on Rex, whether he knows it or not. That said, if you've got any queries about cars or stocking up / dressing up your car - Rex sould be a good resource person.

Lovern:

She partners with Fiel, Gina, Tess, Rex, Ariel and me occasionally, proving that she is able to handle technical training - though there are times she still adjusts due ot the audience, Lovern can usually hack any challenge that comes her way.

But that isn't what is the only interesting anecdote about Lovern, not be a long shot. For starters, she's certified First Aid and Rescue resource person - thanks in pert to her boyfriend, who is a certified Rescue instructor. She has, as an exercise, been involved with the Dragon Boat rowing (although, having said that, she just recently informed me that she finds the team's new schedule difficult to commit to).

Lovern is a good soul. At times, she may get into misunderstandings... but if there is any misunderstanding on her part, rest assured... she isn't doing it on purpose. You see, I can honestly say that Lovern does not have a malicious bone - at least, not one visible, or easily discernible.

Biboy:

I've only partnered with Biboy on two occasions - one is at Component Detailed Design, and the other is on Application Testing School. During both conducts, he proved to be able to handle most technical (object-oriented) training, heck... as I took this picture, he was in the middle of conducting a Java bootcamp for Accenture.

Biboy is liked by his PhoenixOne family, which goes to show that he is an amicable person. His only challenge is to convince some of my other colleague of his professionalism - this due to his having missed some training sessions and leaving his partners hanging. I do not know the entire story, but I can surmise that he was in the middle of contract negotiations, and had to prioritize those over conducts... a sad sitiation - but who's to say I wpuldn't do the same?

But, as I said, Biboy is amiable, easy to talk to... very respective in addressing others, and I wouldn't mind working with him again. I guess he feels a bit uneasy with others... but again, that is mere conjecture.

As I get to take some pictures of other facilitators, I shall place another entry of my colleagues.

On Sharpening the Saw:

When I typed out that statement, little did I know that Brainbench - that old online testing certification body, announced that for the week of March 5-9 (Mon to Fri) all their tests would be for free. I mean... Wow! Free!!!

Last time I took these tests were in the '90s - I think, when they were still in their introductory phase (in other words, for free). I mean, lets face it... I wasn't in any mood or situation to get certifications that I would have to pay for. But... for free? Well, that changes everything.

So as I perused the topics I would like to consider for certification, I wondered what I would like to be known for... and naturally, what skills did I consider having. After all, even if they're for free, these certifications come with a transcript - and it won't look too good to have passed on, say, the 5th try on something. Plus the fact that I was not entirely free to take these tests the entire day, so I had to maximize my free time (usually evenings).

Well... take these tests I did - and I'm glad to say that will just stock knowledge backing me up, I was able to pass all the exams I took. What exactly were these exams? Below is a screen-shot of the exams I took.

If you look at the list, its a combination of core skills (Coaching, Business Communication, Managing People in the U.S. setting, Presentation Skills, Listening, Problem Solving - Qualitative)and technical skills (Disaster Recovery and Planning, Project Management, Customer Requirements Analysis, Software Business Analysis, RDBMS concepts)... skills that I feel, a consultant of my background should be familiar with.

The nice thing about this? I proved to myself that I did know enough of certain topics - granted, I'd need to review more, but I had the basics (and in one case, the advanced concepts - and not the basics) covered. Yup... I sharpened the saw in taking exams - and by taking the exams, I know I still 'know' some topics - for example, the RDBMS concepts were last taught by me some decades ago.

Since Brainbench loves to say that these certificates come with a three-year coverage, well... lets just say that I can peddle these (if need be) until the end of 2014.

So once again, thank you Brainbench... hope this promo and game repeats itself some time.

First Things First: Training for others... reminder for me.

Today I conducted (for the first time in a long time - and I' not sure if it was the very first time) a training based on Covey's Habit 3 (of his 7 Habits fame) - First Things First. Let me say that I was glad I am familiar with Covey's ideas - even if its been years since I read his books (Seven Habits and First Things First... not to mention The 8th Habit as well). But really, one other reason I know od his work is because I tried creating a Mission Statement all those years ago.

Problem is, somewhere along the way - although I still subconsciously practice some of his ideas - I've sort of misplaced the needed practice or follow through. I guess it was because of not using the tools on a regular basis... after all, the tools are supposed to be easy and more importantly, easily accessible.

Unfortunately, the latter was not the case, so that is what happened. I lost track of Habit 7 (Sharpen the Saw), although as I said earlier, I do practice a lot of the suggestions and ideas in an almost automatic manner (a compass paradigm if you will), but at the same time, I am mot taking full advantage of how things should be with my QII activities. Damn...

So my conducting this training IS a good reminder for me. A reminder that I should refocus... plan and set goals again. In that sense, I would like to thank God and the people who made me do this conduct today. Yes, its March... not exactly the start of a new year. But better late than never, right?

So First Things First... I need to revisit my Mission Statement... wee if it needs tweaking. I also need to rededicate some 'me' time to plan and review. Sunday mornings still seem to be the best time for me and my reflections. So be it. Sunday, 8am... I'm setting this part of the day for a Mission Review, and I will write it down in my planner to remind me.

Tomorrow, I will also try to sharpen the saw by taking a few Brainbench exams (specially while its free)

Estimating class:

This consists of three days of learning hos to use an internally-created tool for helping people come up with project estimates for different scenarios, differing platforms given the client's many possible needs.

To say that this is an intense training squeezed into three days is to sell it short. You see, its very intense, and the only thing going for most participants is the fact that they are familiar (or should be) with the client business and the Accenture way of doing projects.

When it comes to teaching this course in an ideal setting, one requires mastery of the tools - or at the very least, familiarity and understanding of how to use them, and why they need to be used.

I actually belong to the latter group of facilitator because I find it superfluous to study the tools further, specially since 1) I won't really be using these tool outside of Accenture, 2) I find no reason to use the tool, as I am not assigned to Accenture projects and 3) quality in the training is not really a necessity - these days its just a statistic. This is not to say that quality totally goes out the window, rather, its not a priority... hence my not putting the needed effort to master the tool. I'd say that this may be the root to my having a cavalier attitude to training in Accenture - thus just giving the minimum requirement.

That said, I get by... and still learn more of the tool whenever I conduct it one more time. Eventually, by sheer repetitive use or 'number of conducts' - I will get to be an expert with said tools given minimal preparation effort in learning it. But to really be an expert in its use? I'd have to use it in the environment it was designed for - and I don't see that happening. Maybe I should just decline teaching this. I don't see any reason (hence lack the passion) to really do learn it.

To add to the contents of this site, I shall take more pictures of my class - try to get action shots of both the facilitator(s) and the participants. Hope this allows for greater dynamics - which in turn will rebound to more frequent conducts. As I take more pictures, it will allow for more interesting and diverse contents (or at least, that is the general idea), and hopefully leading to creating a more interesting site.

Here's to luck and great pictures.

2012 trainings.

Its a new year - and with it comes new challenges; albeit the same old training conducts - at least, for now anyway. Yup, this picture, for example shows my first class for 2012 - namely a Packaged Application Design School (a.k.a. PADS), which is all about General Design concepts geared more for the packaged application solutions type of project (which basically covers platforms like SAP, Peoplesoft, Oracle, and other similar ERP solutions.

Funny thing is, I only started teaching Packaged-solutions related training this year - more so, after the U2K2 project. Ironic since the other way around - meaning conducting the training, then becoming part of the SAP project (which would really have helped me). Still, I was already starting to conduct such training in the past - but my exposure to U2K2 really helped galvanize my learning and appreciating how packaged applications are done, and why.

I only wish that the frequency of my training conducts get more frequent - I mean, there used to be times in the past that I would have 4 full weeks of conducts. It was tiring, but it allowed me to get the needed money for my usual expenses - including tuition. I do hope it becomes more frequent soon, as I do need to have more earnings to cover for my and my family's needs (expenses). Granted that I'm sure I can trim the fat in some aspects - but if I can maintain the comfort level (which isn't really that fat or totally leisurely comfortable), that would be better.

With respect to not being able to get what I need from the training, then I will really have to reconsider my career. It may be a sad day for training - as this will not be the first time I've heard of a really good trainer (no bias intended here) from retiring form training to pursue 'greener' pastures.