Hi again,
Though I had only been with my placement company for a week, I was invited to attend the External Affairs team-building day. I was a little nervous as the day was to include a Master Chef challenge where three random teams competed for the title. My cooking skills are pretty much non-existent and I was hoping not to let my team down - especially being the new work experience guy trying to make a good impression.
As it turns out, everyone bar a couple where in the same boat and there was a qualified Chef there to help anyone that needed it. Our team decided it best to create a chilli mussel main, with a fancy French pear tart for desert.
All teams were given $100 each to shop for the ingredients and table decorations. This was more than enough for us, even leaving a little money for a cheap bottle of red. We then had 65 minutes to prepare, cook and serve our meal to the judges and the rest of the team for lunch.
My role was to create the desert. Upon reading the recipe in a little more detail I discovered our fancy French pear tart would need three hours to prepare and serve. This is a problem when allowed only 65 minutes! Luckily the Chef came to the rescue and suggested adding flour, sugar, eggs and pears into the mix, shoving it in the oven for 30 minutes, then hope for the best. By some miracle the end result was actually very edible and ended up being the joke of the day (in a good way), as well as being named after me - The Poire Jimmy (said with a French accent).
Following the challenge, in which we came third (out of three), there was a team workshop in which my personality colours were revealed to me – Yellow, Blue. This colour combination is otherwise known as the Socialising Relater or the Harmoniser and includes the following tendencies:
- Empathising and projecting concern
- Becoming overly subjective about people you care about
- Avoiding tension and conflict with others
- Being dependable caring and responsible
- Listening to people’s feelings and sharing your own
- Showing confidence and trust in people
- Preferring people orientated positive work environments.
By knowing your colours, and those of your team members, you are able to interact with them more effectively and understand why they react to certain situations in the way they do.
Overall the day was fun and I was grateful to have been invited. The General Manager of External Affairs and Joint Venture remarked that he thought I felt like part of the team already, which was really nice and a definite confidence boost. It was great to see all those group assignments at Uni were actually for a reason. Working in teams is hugely important in the world of PR.
Cheers,
James Clothier
14300639
2 comments:
That's a heaps good opportunity! That would have been an experience an a half I imagine.
In my placement I wasn't working in a team of PR professionals or marketers but I still learnt the value of team work. What you said about PR being really important is so true. Even though I was on my own as the PR lady, I was so reliant on the other staff members (maybe also because I was in an IT company).
Really sounds like you've got a great company you're working for. Feeling valued and a part of the team is so important.
Hey James,
That honestly sounds awesome! What a way to start your prac! It is so good to hear about a company that obviously cares about it's employees and their interation between one another, and is working towards forging stronger/better relationships between employees.
A few weeks ago I was able to go to one of the staff meetings that my company regularly holds. And at the meeting, employees were being congratulated and awarded for various triumphs and it was so good to see that management was recognising people for their hard work.
Qualities like the ability to recognise employee acheivements as well as organising fun team-building days are things that management should work towards because it all helps in builing a positive work environment.
It is great you got the opportunity to participate in something like this!
All the best,
- Kate :)
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