Seeing progress

I had a really great moment here last Friday. I think I wrote about how a few weeks back, I worked with the department Admin Clerk, Phamela, and taught her how to create folders and a file structure on her computer. Her computer is the main repository for department docs, and it really was about 600 unorganized files all in My Documents. So I taught her to create a folder, how to drag a document into it, etc. And then I asked her if she felt comfortable enough to do it on her own, she said yes, and I let her be to finish it on her own. Over the next week, I'd ask her how the the filing was going, and she'd say "Good, good, I'm learning Brian." But as I've experienced all too often here, they say they've learned or they say they've done something, but then when you go back to get a finished product, there is no progress.

So last Friday I walked into her office... and she and I have a great relationship, always laughing and joking... and I say to her "Hey P! How's the project going? You file all of your documents?" and she said yes and asked me if I wanted to see. And so easily, she navigated through her folders and wouldn't you know it, 20 neatly organized and appropriately named folders - for all the different types of docs she has. It put a huge smile on my face, and I just told her how great of a job she'd done, and now could better manage all the department files. I know this all sounds so easy and basic, but you should have seen the smile it put on her face and the confidence it built in her.

So this morning was my final training session - we reviewed all the templates we've created so that they have a refresher in how to use them - project concept template, detailed project plan template, meeting minutes template. As a way to end it, I put together a slide show of photos I've taken here in the Municipality with them, at each of the events, and even a few of the videos I've taken. As many of them don't have cameras, they LOVE seeing photos. And I'm going to burn a CD of the photos for each of them before I leave tomorrow.

Then after the photos of them and us, I showed some photos of me and my life back home - family, friends, Boston, what 3 feet of snow in a blizzard looks like, Fenway Park, and all my other favorite things. They also loved that and got a kick out of it! Some of you out there reading this definitely made the slide show too!