Silent rebellion against me brews in the office

Can you believe it that it is 10 pm and I am still in the office? I wonder if this is a sign of how things are going to be like this year. Today morning, I called for a staff meeting to discuss the business plan for 2010. I have received some ‘intelligence’ that most of my staff think that I am passing cloud and there are a few managers who claim that they are the bosses-in-waiting and I am just an errand boy from Nairobi. What they do not know is that I have resolved to make Mombasa my home. In fact for 2010, I will be seeking opportunities to get into business or to own some property here.

Therefore, I called a meeting at 10am today morning. To show you how I have settled in, I did not require a translator to help me through the sessions.

All I had done is taken the PowerPoint presentations from the head office and customised them for my use. I spent quite a bit of time telling the staff that times are very hard and they would have to pull up their socks and get the business back on track. I even went ahead and showed them what strategies and hard plans that have been put in place.

I went to great lengths to sound smart and entertaining and was looking forward to some great questions at the end of the session. Imagine my shock at the calibre of the questions from my audience.

Most of them wanted to know whether they would get advances since they had over-spent during the holidays.

Another bunch wanted to know if they would get laid off and how much money I would pay them.

I hadn’t anticipated this line of questioning so I had to come up with crafty answers to deal with that. It didn’t help that I had to think in English, then translate into Swahili with my mother tongue getting in the way. I told them that I would contact the head office and revert to them regarding the pay issues.

This did not satisfy them because one of the folks told me, “ but the guy who was here used to give us money without complaining.” My initial reaction was to retort, “ but do I look like that guy?”

Somehow wisdom prevailed and so I said that, “ it is a new and tough year and so we have to make choices and do things differently”. I had to conclude the meeting for I realised that I was not going to get substantive questions.

Goose is cooked

So I went to my office and buried myself in New Year reports. Even without being a rocket scientist, I can tell that my team is not ‘feeling’ me. They must see me like an imposter despite having been here for six months.

I could not help wondering if I was paying for my past especially when I was mean to Mr Tumbo. Perhaps they do not take me seriously because I appear to be so young, or may be also because I am from the head office.

I must find a way of re-connecting with my staff and find a way of making this work.

The first thing to do is to write a business case justification for the advance to staff-because if do not get that for my people my goose is very very cooked.

I spent most of the day working and re-working my PowerPoint presentation to HR in head office. I have realised that those guys have an obsession with PowerPoints - even when you send comprehensive word documents; they turn around and say they want it changed.