1 day left before holiday. I'm so happy at the prospect of having a break, I've already packed my bags tonight. At work it's been a very busy week. The client has been very good about rearranging meetings for when I have been in Gloucester. However as a result I have had 3.5 days of back to back meetings. I'm exhausted. I do however feel that I am within striking distance of having a clean inbox before I head off for 3 weeks. Bliss.
The other good news is that my project team continues to take shape. Earlier this afternoon I got the green light to bring in two Frenchies from the AIMS group in Paris as of next Monday. They've both worked for me in the past so I am really beginning to get the team I want....no excuses for failure then. There's still a handful of people I've got my eye on and with a bit of luck most of them will be staffed or confirmed on the project whilst I am away.
The other good news is that we have finally got the AIMS bench in the UK down to zero - I'm no longer a believer in frictional unemployment for those economists amongst you! Although in reality it's nice to have a few options up your sleeve when new requests come in, getting everyone out on a job during the summer period just before I leave for holidays....I can't really ask for much more!
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Hannibal
From the 'A' Team rather than Hannibal Lecter. The phrase "I love it when a plan comes together" reminds me of my childhood when I used to be an avid follower of the capers of Hannibal, Faceman, BA and Murdoch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team). No guesses for who I associate with most.
This catchphrase has been springing back to mind quite a lot this week as the new guys start to turn up on my project in Gloucester. Darren, Angela and Stijn all arrived last night. We had dinner together with Nick and Ayan and it was very enjoyable - I am feeling very positive about the future and this project. It seems many of them have made contact with each other even before arriving on the project, so I think we're set for a great team atmosphere. The other good news is that I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable about going on holiday - my fear that everything will freeze during the month of August is diminishing as these guys arrive. All we need now is a bit of the French Connection - hopefully that should be addressed with a few new arrivals next week.....
This catchphrase has been springing back to mind quite a lot this week as the new guys start to turn up on my project in Gloucester. Darren, Angela and Stijn all arrived last night. We had dinner together with Nick and Ayan and it was very enjoyable - I am feeling very positive about the future and this project. It seems many of them have made contact with each other even before arriving on the project, so I think we're set for a great team atmosphere. The other good news is that I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable about going on holiday - my fear that everything will freeze during the month of August is diminishing as these guys arrive. All we need now is a bit of the French Connection - hopefully that should be addressed with a few new arrivals next week.....
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Swerve Ball
Today's been a roller coaster ride. The high and the low point of the week. The high point was definitely managing to have dinner with one of my oldest school friends who now lives in Stockholm. He works for a wonderfully interesting company called Spotify http://www.spotify.com/en/. It's nice to see an old friend doing well and doing something really exciting. On top of that he has a wonderful family who really liked my "walking walrus" present.
The low point was ringing the other guys in the RFP team after dinner only to hear that one of the Senior Executives had thrown us a swerve ball 24 hours before we're meant to finish the response document. Not good. My experience over the last 7 months is that you always get something out of the blue in the last week. We had got until 8PM on Thursday night and I thought we'd escaped. Unfortunately not. A new Senior Executive was thrown into the fray and he decided that everything had to be re-done. I'm here with the other guys in the bid team (Adrian Hillary and Thierry Grima). We've got on really well over the course of the last month, but the final throes promise to be gruesome.......oh, and on top of that I've still got my banking project and opportunity, my transportation client and a new pharma client....I haven't had time to follow my own advice this week unfortunately. Roll on 3 weeks of vacation!
The low point was ringing the other guys in the RFP team after dinner only to hear that one of the Senior Executives had thrown us a swerve ball 24 hours before we're meant to finish the response document. Not good. My experience over the last 7 months is that you always get something out of the blue in the last week. We had got until 8PM on Thursday night and I thought we'd escaped. Unfortunately not. A new Senior Executive was thrown into the fray and he decided that everything had to be re-done. I'm here with the other guys in the bid team (Adrian Hillary and Thierry Grima). We've got on really well over the course of the last month, but the final throes promise to be gruesome.......oh, and on top of that I've still got my banking project and opportunity, my transportation client and a new pharma client....I haven't had time to follow my own advice this week unfortunately. Roll on 3 weeks of vacation!
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Saying Thank You
I was thinking about how busy I am and how it's nice to be appreciated. I hope my efforts will be recognised properly by the people who I work for. August in Accenture is when we have "Tell Day" - i.e. when we formally communicate peoples' annual rating. Although I am not eligible for promotion, I am certainly hoping that my supervisors make enough of a fuss to make me feel they are genuinely appreciative of the stupid hours and huge numbers of tasks I am doing. We'll see....
Turning that around.....I must make sure that all the guys who are joining my project team in the UK have the same feeling of gratitude from me over the next few months, because I think we've got a spell of real hard work coming up between now and December. It seems this blog is becoming my personal to do list! :-)
Turning that around.....I must make sure that all the guys who are joining my project team in the UK have the same feeling of gratitude from me over the next few months, because I think we've got a spell of real hard work coming up between now and December. It seems this blog is becoming my personal to do list! :-)
Not enough hours in the day
Whisper it quietly, but despite the macho culture that can be witnessed at Accenture, I have to admit that at the minute it's just too busy; a Swedish RFP, a UK banking project to run remotely, organisation of a group of 50 people including their staffing and transfer requests, internal bureaucracy such as organising travel plans and doing time reports, an opportunity at a Dutch bank and another one at a transportation company in the UK. It's not very sensible and my days are starting too early and finishing too late. Apart from the physical tiredness, what really frustrates me is that you can't give things the attention they deserve. As a result you risk disappointing people. In my opinion disappointing people is worse than annoying them by telling them you can't do something up front......in fact the mere process of writing this is proving somewhat therapeutic. Maybe I should listen to my own advice - I think I am going to try and work out what I can hand over or refuse to do to try to make life a bit simpler.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Will you still love me when I'm 32?
I'm not even thinking about getting to 64 yet! It's been a tiring week. 3 days in Gloucester, 1 in Paris, and a final one working from home that's just about to finish once I've completed this posting.
Ever since I was a young lad I always had my work and my sport. Even after I stopped playing football seriously I needed to do some other form of physical activity - hence the dull as ditch water running, and the more enjoyable horse riding. This has always helped me remain more or less healthy - e.g. I typically tend to avoid winter colds and sniffles, have never had any adverse reaction to any foodstuffs etc. However I now wonder if I'm beginning to show my age....on Tuesday night I managed to have an allergic reaction after having had, wait for it, a glass of chilled water. I also have to make a conscious effort to ensure I don't confuse the solutions for my Swedish Telco RFP, my Gloucester banking client and my UK based transport opportunity. Maybe I just need to take fewer planes and more holidays.
The over-riding memory of the week however is definitely the fact that I've started to secure all the people I want for my new project team. I've not managed to get everyone, but I'm managing to dig out some really good guys. I think we'll be up and running at full speed by mid-September once I'm back from my holidays. Let the games begin!
On a completely unrelated note, I forgot to mention that last week I went running one morning and stumbled across the central train station in Stockholm. For regular followers of the blog, you'll know about my fascination with such places. Just for the record, I would say that a Swedish railway station is in between that of a Finnish one (quiet as a morgue) and a London one (deafening cacophony).
Ever since I was a young lad I always had my work and my sport. Even after I stopped playing football seriously I needed to do some other form of physical activity - hence the dull as ditch water running, and the more enjoyable horse riding. This has always helped me remain more or less healthy - e.g. I typically tend to avoid winter colds and sniffles, have never had any adverse reaction to any foodstuffs etc. However I now wonder if I'm beginning to show my age....on Tuesday night I managed to have an allergic reaction after having had, wait for it, a glass of chilled water. I also have to make a conscious effort to ensure I don't confuse the solutions for my Swedish Telco RFP, my Gloucester banking client and my UK based transport opportunity. Maybe I just need to take fewer planes and more holidays.
The over-riding memory of the week however is definitely the fact that I've started to secure all the people I want for my new project team. I've not managed to get everyone, but I'm managing to dig out some really good guys. I think we'll be up and running at full speed by mid-September once I'm back from my holidays. Let the games begin!
On a completely unrelated note, I forgot to mention that last week I went running one morning and stumbled across the central train station in Stockholm. For regular followers of the blog, you'll know about my fascination with such places. Just for the record, I would say that a Swedish railway station is in between that of a Finnish one (quiet as a morgue) and a London one (deafening cacophony).
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Status Update
Day 3 on my new project completed. The overall message is positive. Day one was meeting some key clients. Day two was an all day planning day (I was extremely happy to have arrived before they did this exercise because I have to deliver it), and day 3 was, "right let's get the team mobilised". It's going to be a big team - between 10 and 12 Accenture guys and up to around 20 client people. It is the biggest thing that I have ever led, but there are a number of things that are making me feel excited and confident. The first is the fact that it looks like I can get my dream team in - I've secured the first one today and hopefully there are more to come - I never thought that being like Mark Hughes could be so much fun. The second reason is that the client recognises how little they know, and they are very open about their need to be guided in this initiative. I think the omens are good.
Now I need to try and maintain momentum (because deadlines are tight of course) whilst working on the Swedish RFP for the next 7 days. It wouldn't be Accenture if life was simple.....
Now I need to try and maintain momentum (because deadlines are tight of course) whilst working on the Swedish RFP for the next 7 days. It wouldn't be Accenture if life was simple.....
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