You never really know who you are talking to - the past week at work

Monday

My boss, Communications Director Tom D, was expected to come into the office today but despite several phone calls of "I'm just on my way" he never actually arrived.

I set myself several deadlines, and spent the whole morning writing drafts of campaign plans.

My deputy Meryl has begun a "Positive Thinking" class at lunchtimes in the boardroom - I sent the Rev Caleb H (one of the NGO's "partners and stakeholders") to gatecrash and see what it was all about, but he was forced to withdraw ("they all glared at me").

Mid-afternoon I drove to a lovely Tudor mansion on a hilltop just outside the city. It is now occupied by an institute. I lingered in the great hall, wanting to look around ("it was restored in the nineteenth-century" said the receptionist, "the family plundered half the churches in the surrounding district for medieval carvings").

I was shown into the institute's Library, which was in a modern utilitarian block at the back. Round a long table were about twenty people, including Tom D and the NGO's Operations Director Ryan M. The meeting was already underway, so I had to quietly walk round the table to the only free chair, which was next to Ryan M (he was wearing a bit too much aftershave, but this did not completely mask an unpleasant hint of body odour).

Opposite were the three old biddies, a trio I had heard about but never met before. They are senior members of the institute who are opposed to working with the NGO. Most of the meeting consisted of listening to their complaints, and I realised why I had been asked to the meeting - Tom D and Ryan M want to delegate onto me "liaison" between the NGO and the institute.

"Bung the documents through to me and I'll grab Andrew and get him to go through them" said Ryan M. "We'll be blue-skying and all that stuff." He smiled engagingly at the three old biddies but they remained impervious to his charm (which can be considerable when he wants something).

I left the meeting early, going out through a fire door which was open to let some fresh air into the room. I walked round to the car park, and as I fumbled for my keys I found that Ryan M had followed me out. He wanted to praise some work done by PR Officer Josie S (one of my marketing team) and told me oddly that she reminded him of Avril Lavigne (I can see the resemblance, but it stills seems an odd thing to say).

Tuesday

I attended a very alarming training course.

Wednesday

Because the launch event for Special Projects is under-subscribed the NGO has decided to use a sales company to recruit more "partners". The organisations we need to attract are quite specialised, so the sales operation needs to be sophisticated. Most of the morning I sat on a panel that included CEO Alec Pressberg and Special Projects manager Carmel as we interviewed three sales agencies (one of them run by a former actress).

Thursday

A day spent writing a report, interrupted by: more complaints about my deputy Meryl (the International Women's Day debacle); Carmel ranting about the distribution of tickets for a concert with private buffet the NGO is sponsoring (the NGO has twenty free tickets which I allocated randomly); a status meeting to discuss the directory project (thank goodness something is going well).

Friday

A debrief following the training course I attended on Tuesday (the course had been disturbing, although I kept these thoughts to myself - I have begun to realise that you never really know who you are talking to in the NGO).

A review meeting to tell Tom D how things are going in the department - also in this meeting was Felix S who heads Research. Gerson P, manger of the Training & Direction department joined the meeting to request a big campaign - Tom D just said yes to everything without any thought as to whether we have the resources to deliver it. At the end of the meeting Tom D told me he was not happy about the standard of work produced by department junior Leo, so I will have to give him a warning on Monday.

Big full moon.