Five Years and a Day

I always thought that five years was a good time to take stock of your life. It is long enough for you to be able to measure your achievements, identify your mistakes and make amendments to suit. It is no surprise that most long-term plans often have a review period at five years. I started work at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the morning of 1st February 2016 and five years later again in February I resigned to take up another job.

As I walked out of the Department and the Public Service to take on a new role I have nothing but appreciation for the job that I have done in the past five years. So personally what have I learnt in the past five years?

1. Document presentation and structure

This was one of the first lessons that I learnt when I started work. My letters would go back and forth not because of the content but because I forgot to align the paragraphs, bold the titles and addresses, capitalize the subject or an incorrect salutation. I found this very annoying at first but as time went by I learnt the importance of document presentation.

Whether it be briefs, talking points, presentations, letters, Note Verbales, etc. the first impression is always the presentation. People subconsciously are also more inclined to read a document that is well spaced, well outlined and clearly presented After five years, I always rate a Department or Agency’s professionalism on the presentation of their documents.

2. Writing short, yet long

It is said that a good speech is like a woman’s skirt, long enough to cover her, yet short enough to be interesting. The same can be said for a good piece of writing. When I first started doing talking points I struggled with trying to contain all the relevant information yet to ensure that they are well surmised to be preferably a page or two pages at most. I had to re-do one work up to five times after my Director and the Director-General’s inputs and correction. Mostly, it was on how to write and rewrite the same information in different ways so the main points are well captured.

I recall smiling like an idiot the first time a letter I did for the Prime Minister to sign got cleared right through and got signed without any amendments made. What's more fantastic is hearing talking points you wrote being used in the meetings and the meeting achieves its outcomes.

However, you can only achieve that after you have familiarized yourself with the subject, and have attended similar meetings in the past and know the style the person you are writing for likes. I have noted that being observant, reading prior work and learning from past work done has been very helpful in developing your own writing and being more confident in presenting your work.

3. Note-taking is important

When you are the official scribe in the room, responsible for producing the outcome report after the meeting, it is very important that you take written or typed notes throughout the meeting. This will ensure that when you are writing your report that you; capture all important points, present them well, write quickly and more efficiently.

What happens when you are taking audio notes? Well, your mind relaxes and you do not pay enough attention because obviously you know that you have the audio recording to listen to afterwards. This means that you will have to rely entirely on listening to the audio and writing that report. Your report may end up being too bulky as your mind cannot process and summarize at the same time and it also gives you twice as much work.

Being someone who is inherently lazy, I always thought that I had impeccable memory hence, I did not need to take notes during shorter meeting as I can always recall them later. Despite, being able to recall most of the discussions and writing the outcomes report, I always noted that reports that I wrote when I have actually taken short hand notes took less time to write, were better presented and always had a better feedback from my superiors.

4. Meetings

As a low ranking officer, I am always the person you see sitting on the side taking notes. But I am also the person who is responsible for the calling of this meeting and the one who is waiting for the Chair person to guide the meeting and ensuring that we get the outcomes we want. I have observed meetings that have becomes a total waste of time, effort and money because the Chair failed to guide the discussion or the members come unprepared and fail to provide the meeting with anything of substance. I have watched speakers read word for word the guiding notes provided and failed to stimulate any discussion further on the issue. I have also observed our priorities get tossed under the carpet because of our inability to communicate our position effectively.

The purpose for a meeting should be made clear at the outset and the Chair has to be well versed with the meeting agendas and what the meeting is trying to achieve. It is also important that the chair is able to guide the discussions in order to get the most of the contributions that the participants are providing. I find this quite challenging in PNG as there is the tendency to go around in circles before reaching the point. This may be due to the challenges in language or just the cultural aspect that we have brought on from our culture where we use parables and 'tok piksa' to address issues. Another challenge that the chair has to manage is getting people who may be talking for far too long to bring their point to a close. I have observed some skilled Chairs gently do this by reiterating their statement and then opening the floor for others to contribute thus allowing other participants to speak.

5. There is no end to learning

When I first joined the Department, I was in awe of people speaking about issues off the cuff, knowing all about the background, past achievements and future aspirations. Five years on, I have developed a considerable amount of knowledge on issues not only for the branch but on many other issues as well.

This is because I have a healthy interest in learning so whenever I am invited to sit in a meeting or work with other colleagues on projects I do so wholeheartedly because I know that I will be able to learn something new. There are actually so many well informed officers in the Department that just a thirty minute chat with them will provide you with vital information that you will not be able to get elsewhere. This is the same in every organization, consider it a blessing when you are invited to sit in meetings or are provided information as these are ways you'll learn. Being part of organizing a meeting whether you are responsible for logistics and lunch are all great ways to learn.

6. More work means more learning

I never complain about having too much to do because I look at work as a learning process. Whenever you are tasked with work that you think is too much too handle or you have colleagues who are slacking off and you have to do their part this actually enhances you and your capabilities as a person. I like looking back after I just did an insurmountable task and see it as a challenge conquered especially after you have seen it through.

I once had to take over work from a colleague who had to go on duty travel and that was to organize the Official Visit of the President of New Caledonia. I managed to get a brief done, secure all appointments, do talking points and then getting a Letter of Intent signed. In the following year they eventually signed a Joint Cooperation Plan at the Head of Government level. That for me, was the culmination of my efforts and I gave myself a little tap on the back for that.

So I guess, this goes to say that do not confine yourself to your job description. You learn more as you do more work and take on more responsibilities.

To conclude, for the past five years I have learnt more than I would have learnt had I worked elsewhere. I have been fortunate because I had supervisors who gave me more responsibilities and have allowed me the space to think and produce work. I also had the best guidance I could ask for from supervisors who were such excellent policy makers and strategic thinkers. My way of thinking has evolved over the five years just by listening to them talk and learning from the way they write.

It is my encouragement to others that work is not only getting the job done and ticking the boxes and getting paid. It is so much more than that. It is a learning process, a way of contributing to the progress of your organization or if you are in the public service, the country's development. Always see yourself in the structure and see how you can contribute better and continue to achieve that, all the while bettering yourself and your capabilities.