Travel Day - 2

Another day in paradise (New Zealand - it was a lovely sunny day although with an early Spring bite) and another busy day trying to clear the decks before leaving for over four weeks.  As a people manager (amongst the things I do) I had make sure my team would be all be well looked after whilst I am away and also sort out some last minute matters.  All looking good and I know I can trust my colleagues to do a great job on my behalf - the acid test will be whether my direct reports want to come back to me when I return!

Our IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) team had hoped to have a call with our principal contact at the NGO (non-government organisation) last night but unfortunately something came up and he wasn't able to make it.  No problem, we'll very soon all be in Uberlândia together and able to work together. There are four of us in the team, one each from Germany, Viet Nam and China and me from NZ - a well mixed group with quite diverse technical and business skills as well, which is good as we bring a wide range of skills to the NGO and also will all learn from each other. We'll be working with the NGO to help them develop a business strategy to develop their services. This particular NGO was founded in the 80s as a neighbourhood community association, and has developed particular strengths in early education (nursery) and a complementary education centre for older children.

I've done a lot with various education Boards and Committees in New Zealand in a voluntary capacity - from primary schools through to industry advisory committees to a University - and I am excited at the thought of experiencing something that will be similar in some aspects but I expect will be very different as well.  I hope to return with new ideas on how we can improve in NZ as well as, I hope, contributing to the development of this particular NGO.

But for now I need to prepare for my final day at work for a few weeks, so that I don't end up spending some of my time in Brazil tidying up loose ends in NZ!

#ibmcsc brazil