Monday
I was expecting a slow sort of day, but when Director Vijay Singh arrived he immediately called a meeting of all managers in his office (which is a long room almost the length of the building). He told us he wanted to launch a new campaign and have it in operation by next week. It was obviously something he had thought up on the drive to the office this morning, especially as the theme chimed with a lead item on the Today programme.
I have learned that Vijay Singh is someone who mainly responds to things you tell him, rather than communications that are written down. This places me at a disadvantage as I prefer to marshall arguments in a document with all the points referenced and supported. Whereas someone like Callum Smith (Campaign Manager) can just spout any old guff off the top of his head and it gets accepted.
Back at my desk I tried to get to grips with my list of things to do in an effort to control the heaps of paper.
Rather esoteric discussion over whether we need to hire an interpreter for a public seminar (the idea has come from Alec Nussbaum's office). We decided not to bother. Callum Smith took the decision.
In the afternoon a review meeting with Vijay Singh to discuss communications. As I expected, his enthusiasm of this morning had subdued, and he looked a bit sheepish when I raised the subject of the new campaign. I wondered if it could be quietly shelved.
Gary (assistant librarian in the Reading Room downstairs) told me about his money problems (he has recently become a father although he no longer lives with his partner). He fritters his money away on silly items (tattoos for instance). Then complains about poverty.
In the afternoon I made telephone call, sent e-mails, took many small steps across a wide range of projects (always with the sense that progress is too slow).
Tuesday
When I arrived this morning I noticed that my computer had been opened - I always leave it completely switched off, never on standby.
Transport as an abstract subject is so boring - does anyone really understand the San Fran Rapid Transit System?
As a coping strategy I have put a huge heap of papers into the second drawer of my desk, intending only to get out the ones I am actually working on at the time. But I soon found that the papers in the drawer took on an existential life and began to worry me. And the worry made me feel stressed.
In the afternoon Cathy Q (a New Zealander) and Gerta arrived from Head Office to talk about the social services conference. They are both very easy to get on with, and we were able to generate a lot of ideas. Campaign Manager Simon C in the meeting, very shy about asking what budget I controlled.
Wednesday
A card passed around the office for Lois Cooper who is back in hospital (she has stomach cancer).
Someone from a magazine came to see me, out of the blue. I wondered how she had tracked me down since I had never told her our actual address. The conversation was harmless enough.
A meeting with Tim Watts about innovation - he hardly has anything new to say. Effectively we seem to have given up on innovating. Perhaps we are trying to do too much anyway.
Most of the afternoon taken up with discussions about the new website. Two people came down from Head Office to talk through the project, and Deputy Director Marcia Walsh joined the meeting. Later we moved into Vijay Singh's office to update him on progress and Surveys Manager Abi Reed joined the meeting - there seems to be no end to the planning, with new aspects continually being added.
Thursday
Arriving this morning I spent some time just drinking coffee and looking out of the window. My view is of a road on the business park, lined with young trees. No-one ever walks along the road, and there is so little traffic that the view has a still, almost lifeless quality.
One by one we were called into Vijay Singh's office to be told the results of the salary review. Gary from the Reading Room, perhaps the lowest paid of all the staff, went in looking glum (perhaps expecting another reprimand for him juvenile behaviour) and came out grinning. I went in just after 11 o'clock and was told I had got a ten per cent increase, which was unexpected (I suppose I must be doing something right).
Almost all the afternoon taken up with a meeting of the Management Team including Peter Whitgift from the Birmingham office and Carol Reynolds from our base at Head Office (she is supposed to be liaison with Alec Nussbaum). New office manager Gladys Y (overweight and rather pushy) also sat in on the meeting - she was just there to take the minutes but often chipped in with her opinions. I had not done any real preparation for the meeting so I had to bluff my way through (not for the first time). I was on the meeting from 1pm until 4pm when I was released. The others had to stay to give their departmental reports.
Friday
I was in London for a training course at Head Office, but as I arrived an hour early I walked idly around the streets looking at the architecture (stripped classical, full-blown classical, debased classical with swags).
The course was moderately interesting. During the lunch break I talked to Dominic from fundraising and we went to a sandwich bar called Wilds. He told me he was interested in joining the Institute if it moved back to London (he lives in Crouch End).
I was expecting a slow sort of day, but when Director Vijay Singh arrived he immediately called a meeting of all managers in his office (which is a long room almost the length of the building). He told us he wanted to launch a new campaign and have it in operation by next week. It was obviously something he had thought up on the drive to the office this morning, especially as the theme chimed with a lead item on the Today programme.
I have learned that Vijay Singh is someone who mainly responds to things you tell him, rather than communications that are written down. This places me at a disadvantage as I prefer to marshall arguments in a document with all the points referenced and supported. Whereas someone like Callum Smith (Campaign Manager) can just spout any old guff off the top of his head and it gets accepted.
Back at my desk I tried to get to grips with my list of things to do in an effort to control the heaps of paper.
Rather esoteric discussion over whether we need to hire an interpreter for a public seminar (the idea has come from Alec Nussbaum's office). We decided not to bother. Callum Smith took the decision.
In the afternoon a review meeting with Vijay Singh to discuss communications. As I expected, his enthusiasm of this morning had subdued, and he looked a bit sheepish when I raised the subject of the new campaign. I wondered if it could be quietly shelved.
Gary (assistant librarian in the Reading Room downstairs) told me about his money problems (he has recently become a father although he no longer lives with his partner). He fritters his money away on silly items (tattoos for instance). Then complains about poverty.
In the afternoon I made telephone call, sent e-mails, took many small steps across a wide range of projects (always with the sense that progress is too slow).
Tuesday
When I arrived this morning I noticed that my computer had been opened - I always leave it completely switched off, never on standby.
Transport as an abstract subject is so boring - does anyone really understand the San Fran Rapid Transit System?
As a coping strategy I have put a huge heap of papers into the second drawer of my desk, intending only to get out the ones I am actually working on at the time. But I soon found that the papers in the drawer took on an existential life and began to worry me. And the worry made me feel stressed.
In the afternoon Cathy Q (a New Zealander) and Gerta arrived from Head Office to talk about the social services conference. They are both very easy to get on with, and we were able to generate a lot of ideas. Campaign Manager Simon C in the meeting, very shy about asking what budget I controlled.
Wednesday
A card passed around the office for Lois Cooper who is back in hospital (she has stomach cancer).
Someone from a magazine came to see me, out of the blue. I wondered how she had tracked me down since I had never told her our actual address. The conversation was harmless enough.
A meeting with Tim Watts about innovation - he hardly has anything new to say. Effectively we seem to have given up on innovating. Perhaps we are trying to do too much anyway.
Most of the afternoon taken up with discussions about the new website. Two people came down from Head Office to talk through the project, and Deputy Director Marcia Walsh joined the meeting. Later we moved into Vijay Singh's office to update him on progress and Surveys Manager Abi Reed joined the meeting - there seems to be no end to the planning, with new aspects continually being added.
Thursday
Arriving this morning I spent some time just drinking coffee and looking out of the window. My view is of a road on the business park, lined with young trees. No-one ever walks along the road, and there is so little traffic that the view has a still, almost lifeless quality.
One by one we were called into Vijay Singh's office to be told the results of the salary review. Gary from the Reading Room, perhaps the lowest paid of all the staff, went in looking glum (perhaps expecting another reprimand for him juvenile behaviour) and came out grinning. I went in just after 11 o'clock and was told I had got a ten per cent increase, which was unexpected (I suppose I must be doing something right).
Almost all the afternoon taken up with a meeting of the Management Team including Peter Whitgift from the Birmingham office and Carol Reynolds from our base at Head Office (she is supposed to be liaison with Alec Nussbaum). New office manager Gladys Y (overweight and rather pushy) also sat in on the meeting - she was just there to take the minutes but often chipped in with her opinions. I had not done any real preparation for the meeting so I had to bluff my way through (not for the first time). I was on the meeting from 1pm until 4pm when I was released. The others had to stay to give their departmental reports.
Friday
I was in London for a training course at Head Office, but as I arrived an hour early I walked idly around the streets looking at the architecture (stripped classical, full-blown classical, debased classical with swags).
The course was moderately interesting. During the lunch break I talked to Dominic from fundraising and we went to a sandwich bar called Wilds. He told me he was interested in joining the Institute if it moved back to London (he lives in Crouch End).
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