The 1 month from mid April to mid May, my heart weighed more than a thousand ton. Had never felt any worse before. Perhaps I don't know how to deal with stress.
Was given less than 2 months to organise a commercial mission in Singapore, Malaysia & Bangkok for our principal. What we had in the agenda for each country - press conference, individual meetings, port tours... in addition, a presentation & cocktail reception in KL & Bangkok which were the key events. 2 big bosses (Vice Chairman & Exec Dir from the Authority) were leading this mission & you know which level of management they would want to meet. Here's a very brief recap why it's a crazy 1.5 month.
Started with:
- proposing program
- research works in order to justify what I proposed
- reaching the top guys who're appropriate to meet & they want only BIG companies
- sourcing for hotels / secretarial assistance for disseminating invitation in that country / printers
After confirmation:
- allocating individual appointments
- liaising with hotels for all details concerning the events
- getting enough journalists for our press conference
The above was multiplied by 3 as we're having it in 3 countries! Atop that, there're the 2 cocktail receptions I needed to organise & have 100 attendees. So was working on the list of guests too.
Been telling myself it's impossible! In the past, we're given minimum 3 months or more & it's only to 1 or max 2 countries. It's the 1st time we're covering 3 countries in a row. To rub it in, Bangkok was having endless public holidays that month... Thai New Year, election, some religious days... the nation was off work for literally half a month! So how to get things done??
I wish I could die at that time. But I'm sure even if I were to die, my boss would drag me outta coffin to finish my work 1st. No joke, I'm dead serious. I couldn't imagine how I would survive.... I'd be dead meat for sure this time. 2 years back, the US Rep screwed it up when they had a similar mission in (only) US & our principal immediately axed them! My boss was fearful & of course the whole load of pressure & work fell onto me. So it's a make it or break it kinda situation. When I was near breaking down, instead of encouraging me he warned me that we DEFINITELY COULD NOT mess it up, full-stop... no reason to be given (not even when it's the principal's fault for the very late notice). Did I ever say I want to mess it up!?!? From then on, he was greeted by a charcoal face everyday - I was too stressed out & pissed. He better not step onto the land mine, my face warned him...
There're also whole lot of miscelleneous stuff that took up lotsa time. In particular the report consisting of updated portfolios of all companies we're going to meet which I had to get it done in a day. Within that particular month (end Apr - mid May), there're a total of 3 public holidays & we should be real happy. But not me. I worked in office till about 11pm the week before. The friday before my mission was a long weekend & Vince was on a company trip to HK. Never felt more depressed & claustrophobic before... I cooped up in my small room till near midnight & no air-con for the whole day... alone in the office, I felt like the whole world was enjoying except me!
Finally it's the eventful week. Had a good but truly hectic start. Individual meetings in Spore were smooth sailing... with big corporations like Temasek Holdings, the national shipping lines, stat boards... very fruitful meetings. Imagine we'd 7 meetings in only 1 day & as a result being late to almost all the appointments! The most awkward part was the lunch meeting @ Equinox & we kept 2 Chairmen waiting for nearly an hour. Was with them while the rest was still doing the press conference @ 1 of the meeting rooms downstairs... & I literally ran out of topics!
As the delegation was here for a week only... the itinerary was super super packed & a lil tough in scheduling taking into account the busy timetable of these big bosses we gonna meet. It went like tis:
Mon - Spore
Tue - Msia by road, stopover @ Malacca for an appointment then to Port Klang & KL
Wed pm to Fri - Bkk
And I had to fly to KL 1st on Mon evening. Put my luggage in the car on Mon morning & Vince supposed to whisk me to airport after work to catch the last flight. I was so caught up during the day that I barely managed to rush back to office to pick my remaining stuff. 1 of the colleagues later jokingly said when she walked past my room she thought I was still around as my drawers were wide opened & docs lying around but the recep told her I had already vroomed off!
The meetings in Port Klang, in KL including with the deputy minister & other organisations were very interesting. But what I worried most was the attendance for the 2 cocktails.
The 1st was in KL & to my relief, near to 100 guests turned up. The ambience & all other arrangements were excellent too (owing it to Hilton KL!). At the end of the event, my boss looking somber approached me & then suddenly turned into a broad smile, congratulated me for the hardwork! It's a success & the bosses were very happy! Alright I thought, 1 hurdle cleared but then it's only mid week... was very concern about our program in Bkk. Like said, due to the limited no. of working days that month, things were not yet finalised especially the evening function & the press conference... it didn't look optimistic at all. If the mission in Bangkok were to flop, it'd ruin everything because the last impression literally lasts. Was still working hard even on the move with the all-men group (except on board, no choice) & upon arrival in Bkk, worked till midnight before I had my dinner while the rest were enjoying some traditional Thai cultural dance over dinner.
And problems didn't just come in a single episode. It had been raining heavily on that particular day & evening. We're all worried as bad weather would make the already congested roads in Bkk to be even worse. It'd affect attendance for sure. But guess what eventually? The total turn-out @ our function was 130+! The function room was fully packed. Amazing! At the end of the function, all of us were completely beat but in the jolliest mood. It's the 1st time that I had some bantering moments with the big bosses... in the past was solely serious work discussions. Received praises of "well done" from my boss in front of the whole delegation & he even jokingly pleaded with me not to ask for any increment. Ha! Besides, the press conference & various individual meetings went on very well too. Particularly the unexpected good response from the Thai journalists!
Like in the past, had a review session on the last evening before their departure & all of them gave a "thumbs up". They said we did very well throughout & it's a very tiring but fruitful trip.
Yep.. I totally agree. The daily program would start as early as 7am (setting off) & stretched till the night, without any breather in between except the travelling time. We'd to split into 2 teams to attend the meetings, so you've an idea how many meetings I'd painstakingly arranged?? It's the 1st time we heard them complaining about being so hectic. Hee!
The bosses even said they'd been involved in so many of such mission (by their different Reps) all over the world before & this the 1st time they'd used up most of the business cards they brought along. Hey it's really God's deliverance!
Now that the mission was well accomplished, I would say what I hated most was the stress when things are beyond my control, eg. how to guarantee attendance for the press conference & the cocktail? I can't possibly force them to be there with a gun!? I don't mind at all doing research works & I love interacting with people from all levels. And it was my good relationship with the business associates in Msia & Bkk that contributed a big part to the success. Or I should say God helped me through my friends there.
No comments:
Post a Comment