I think my blog will change a bit its nature. During the first year it was mostly about my thinking about Europe and the world at large. But time has come to come back to the basics of a weblog: to assist the author in his daily activities.
I have an important meeting today. Around 15 people from different services will discuss how to improve the usability and interface of an IT application that is being created by my Unit. And believe no matter how boring IT may sound this is really of huge importance. The only parallel I can find is with designing a factory. If you design it well people know how to work and where to find the tools and machines. If you fail, you will have to put instructions everywhere and organise trainings for all newcomers. So the long term implications are huge...
How do you manage stress link to an important meeting? I still have not figured it out. I always pay with waking up in the morning at some crazy hour... thoughts come to your mind and crowd the dreams away.
And gathering people together is a big responsibility altogether. I will gather around 15 for the whole day. Let's count how much money of lost opportunities is a stake. If an avarage salary in the institutions for Administrators is 4000 Euros it means that this day costs 60 000 Euros. This should be a motivating factor to make the most of it.
So I have mixed feelings: stress and enthusiasm for a creative workshop will people I appreciate. The results will be seen probably next year only. Wish me good luck! :)
I have an important meeting today. Around 15 people from different services will discuss how to improve the usability and interface of an IT application that is being created by my Unit. And believe no matter how boring IT may sound this is really of huge importance. The only parallel I can find is with designing a factory. If you design it well people know how to work and where to find the tools and machines. If you fail, you will have to put instructions everywhere and organise trainings for all newcomers. So the long term implications are huge...
How do you manage stress link to an important meeting? I still have not figured it out. I always pay with waking up in the morning at some crazy hour... thoughts come to your mind and crowd the dreams away.
And gathering people together is a big responsibility altogether. I will gather around 15 for the whole day. Let's count how much money of lost opportunities is a stake. If an avarage salary in the institutions for Administrators is 4000 Euros it means that this day costs 60 000 Euros. This should be a motivating factor to make the most of it.
So I have mixed feelings: stress and enthusiasm for a creative workshop will people I appreciate. The results will be seen probably next year only. Wish me good luck! :)
Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your streamlining the system, I think we could all benefit from such developments!
ReplyDeleteJust out of idle curiousity, how did you get to that 60,000 a day figure? You are not inviting an army of Commissioners over for a little tete-a-tete, are you?;)
No, I just multiply 15 person paid 4 000 Euro per day = 60 000 Euros/day.
ReplyDeleteBut this is not what I paid from any budget. This is just calculation how much commitment of experts costs to the institutions....
BTW the meeting went very well. We shall spend more time on the project but every minute spent thinking how to improve the IT systems is well spent. I hope at least :)
hmmm... actually I realised you are right. 60 000 is the monthly salary while I took one day only. So it boils down to 60 000/ 22 = 2700 :)
ReplyDeleteOk... my sense of responsibility overtook me. I go back to reality...