Creating a team strategy and event planning - week 41

Dear readers,

I am writing this post with a lot of excitement as I have a few things to share with you. Over the past couple of weeks, I have actually been taking some time off as my best friend visited me in Boston. This time off was really great to have as it gave me a chance to re-energized and feel ready to embrace my last two months at Northeastern. With my friend visiting it was perfect to walk around Boston and discover the city at the start of a new season. We were really lucky as the weather was really warm and nice while she was staying over. Having my best friend visiting gave me the opportunity to further reflect on my time in Boston and how much things have changed in such a small amount of time.

 

Talking with her gave me the chance to further be critical and discuss what the future was going to bring my way after this amazing experience. I have to admit that the future is really exciting but scary at the same time. I don't know what the future will look like but I am ready to take on any challenges that life will bring my way and embrace them to design and achieve the life I envision to have.

After taking this time off, I felt empowered to achieve things at work and get ahead with my workload. One of the first things I did when I got back at work was to attend a monthly training about critical thinking and getting things done. What I gathered from this training was that I need to capture /collect things that are out of place, then clarify and make a decision to then organize your thoughts, allocate resources and finally make it happen. Another training that I have attended is the Human Resources SMART goal course. This course is divided into two parts, an online module I took this week and an in-person session I will attend next week. So far I have been able to think about the following questions: 1. Why do goals have to be aligned? What are SMART goals? and What is the difference between a development goal and a performance goal?
Having structured goals and objectives will help me to track them, create transparency between me and the rest of the team, and further clarifies criteria for success and completion.  Having such defined goals will help me to build upon strengths, expand my expertise for future projects and help me to fill gaps where I could benefit from expanding my knowledge.

Another of the task I fulfilled this fortnight was assisting the team with designing support and analytical point of views. I was able to help my team formulate and design their strategy to present to higher management. This was a stressful time however really rewarding as the team used my ideas and that they were aligned with the end goal.

My final words, for this week entry, is that outdoor event planning can really go both ways, running the event from start to finish, or not run the event due to unforeseen weather conditions. Since February I had organized a Sunset cruise for 40 international students in Boston harbor. However, the weather on Friday led me to cancel the event as the visibility was really low and that we wouldn't have been able to see the city's skyline nor be able to take any pictures. I am hoping that the weather will settle and give us the opportunity to reschedule the cruise before I head back to Europe in just 72 days.

But for now, it is time to focus on the last couple weeks in Boston and make the most of them!

I want to finish this entry with the following quote "Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present." 

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, see you soon!

Alexandra

Practicing interview skills, leadership classes, HR training's, 3rd quarter review and 4th quarter overview

Dear readers,

I am writing to you from a still fairly cold and humid Boston. It is with excitement but apprehension that I am writing this blog as in just under three months my internship at Northeastern University will be over. I am excited to embrace the last three months of this life building and changing experience. I am, as most of you already know, really delighted to head back to Europe to my friends and family, but at the same time, I am starting to realize that I will miss friends that I made over the course of this unbelievable experience. But enough about my feelings, for now, I will keep them for later...

Over the course of the past fortnight, I have been really engaged with my work as well as being proactive about my future and getting myself equipped with all the necessary tools to research employment opportunities. To do the later, I have met with a career counselor I previously worked with and sat with her to discuss my CV and current experience to see how I could best present myself in future interviews. After this first process, we met again for interview practice. Both those sessions were really useful as I was able to somewhat determine a logic into the reply I could give in interviews and work on how to best present my skills and qualifications. I was further able to specify in my answers specific examples of experiences I could use to answer the common questions that are usually asked in an interview. I was further able to identify weaknesses that I could discuss and not risk to talk myself down while talking about them. This appointment further allowed me to solidify questions I could ask at the end of any interview after making them more specific depending on the job interview.

I have further been engaged with the organization Human Resources training. I attended a session on Diversity in the 21st century. The questions that were touched upon were the following:
- What is happening?
- How ate labels used to described?
- How often does stereotypes, micro-aggression, micro-inequity, discrimination and prejudice happen?
To answer the later we were put into groups and had to assume the answer to some questions that we could only answer if you knew the person you were sitting with. This was just a reminder of what is happening the society nowadays. We further discussed a definition of diversity as well as the concept, saving-face. That discussion was a reminder that we are living in a changing world and that we shouldn't take anything for granted anything for granted.

I have also attended leadership classes, one of crisis leadership and the other on Culture and Climate in the context of Cross-Cultural leadership. The leadership classes have allowed me to grow and to further put into perspective some of the responsibilities I might have in the future and how the latter will impact my decision-making process when I get into a leadership position. The goal of crisis leadership session explored a new leadership paradigm and to understanding the critically of powerful, honest and caring leadership in a workplace crisis. The later lead into a session where we were creating an evacuation plan for a chemical organisation. The team created a plan that will require command, authority, integrity, caring and stamina. Most importantly, if a leader is exposed to a situation crisis, he must confirm, clear, confirm, cordon, contain and control.
Attending those leadership classes since September have allowed me to grow as a professional and expand my leadership knowledge.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been further involved in marketing creation and research. I have been updating and making some of our presentation more specific and more engaging for students by adapting the layout and content. I will over the next quarter get more involved with some marketing strategy research and creation.

As I am currently writing this entry, I am thinking of my remaining time at NU and looking at my goals and what I am left to achieve. I thought I would share with you some of my goals, they include  strengthening job development and employer outreach skills; Enhancing research skills for site visit preparations and assist Director and Coordinators with upcoming trips; managing annual reporting projects for Global ER and monitor updates; building on marketing skills; participating in employer visits and information session on campus and continue to participate in professional development training. 

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Until next time,

Alexandra