It has been a fortnight since my internship started, and what an incredible two weeks it has been! During this time, I have been assigned three main tasks, and these have called for some seriously out-of the box thinking and time management skills. One of the tasks required that I draft a proposal to the media. And so, I did. Many hours later, I presented my “labour-of-love" to my supervisor.
He worked his magic all over my original draft by re-wording and re-packaging it in sheer brilliance that when the final document finally emerged, it just blew me away. This episode reminds me that I still have a long way to go before I can get a handle on this skill.
Another thing that I have observed at AICC is the value of team work. When someone is handling a project and there are deadlines to beat, it is amazing the swiftness with which the staff rally around each other. Terms like ‘organisational fit’ and ‘team-player’ begin to make sense when you are part of a small outfit (less than 10 members of staff on board) like ours (did I say ours?).
But, it is not all desk work at the AICC (yup!) We had a two-day breather when we hosted a multi-stakeholder round table meeting (that is NGO-speak for you. I picked up another term as well, ‘beneficiation’). These people! Anyway, this event was held at the South African Human Rights Commission where I met a whole range of these NGO-types who are involved in tailoring a South African self-assessment tool on human rights for businesses. I actually got the opportunity to witness some high level brain-storming session in action... Yo, I tell you, there are some seriously brilliant minds out there.
Whether it is contagious or not, I am determined to catch (or learn) as many skills as I can from these skills-crammed individuals.
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6 comments:
Good stuff. And you wrote your blog on the French national holiday, Vive la France! Indeed, real team work can make a difference. And the work you guys do sounds pretty interesting. Keep us posted...
The work sounds great. Would love to hear more... I'm sure on the walk next week we'll all have lots of time for a good old catch up!
I think it's nice to be in a small organisation... more learning and more hands on work.
Susan M,
I feel so excited when I read everyone's blog. All of you are involved in very interesting internships with possibilities and opportunities. I hope the lessons learnt on team work will encourage us particularly with regards to the book project. All the best.
I am glad you've been enjoying yourself at AICC!
Keep it up!
Hi lady,
Let me confess. When reading your post I did totally lose my mind and thought that it was Beauty's blog in front of me. I was blowed by the writing style and wanted to say "beauty..what a shift?". Far from me an attempt to devaluate Beauty's writing skill. But I should say one more time that you write so well, with fun and expression.
Bravo
Adam
You may want to feed your shark from time to time.
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