When my boss confirmed he would be away for a week to settle business at an out station, I was gleeful inside. He’s a good boss, no doubt, but who doesn’t chunli over a workday without da boss? What’s more, a week without da boss?
The first 2 days went by rather peacefully, and I had time for strategic thinking like understanding the workings of 2 complex systems, and working on the contents of an eCourseware.
And then…
There was an urgent deadline to report to bigger boss, rush to settle work for next week, and then I had my onboarding for my new facilitation endeavour.
My first onboarding session took place on Thursday night, so I was already on the tail end of my attention span and my contact lenses were drying up; I was basically half-blind throughout the session. Luckily for me, I was just supposed to observe, so my physical incapacity was not that much of a hindrance.
My next session was on Saturday morning, which was great, if not for me misreading the timing. I was 10 minutes late for setup and was given a earful by my mentor. I felt bad, yes, but I must also say I deserved to be reprimanded for my carelessness.
I was grateful my mentor was professional and he continued to guide me and give me tips throughout the session. After the session, I also got to engage other facilitators on a less formal level, which was great, because making more friends was what I aimed for when I decided to embark on this lifelong learning journey.
My next session takes place 2 weeks later. I will be on my next stage of onboarding, so I hope I can be more prepared!
