dianaschnuth

Just got done with my day and a half of corporate training: the Circle of Care. I could tell you all about it, but then I’d have to kill you, being that all my supplementary books and materials clearly state that the contents thereof are property of my employer, et cetera.

Instead, I’ll give you a brief synopsis, which is all you really wanted, anyway:

1. Videos. Well-produced videos, at least. The characters in the vignettes remained constant throughout the various exercises (calming an upset customer, apologizing, et al.), and the scripts were written and executed well enough that we actually felt emotionally vested in the characters therein. When the clip about Saying Goodbye came up (we do have hospices in our business line), I was one of a few people in the room who got a little misty, but didn’t want to admit it.
2. Singing and dancing. Seriously. I have a DVD with the music videos for the Original Version, Ballad, Pop, and Dance Mixes (of the Circle of Care song, that is). We were encouraged to sing along, and we danced in the center of the room — usually to the Dance version. Luckily, one of the more outgoing fellows that was in my Orientation group four months ago was also in my Circle of Care sessions, and he did the awesomest college-guy dances EVAR.
3. People Skills Review. Actually, some was review, and some was new ways of looking at the situations, and new acronyms to apply. I think we all know that, in order to sufficiently answer and soothe a seriously annoyed customer, you need to be calm yourself, and determine the problem, and paraphrase, and reassure, and all that sort of thing. I just got more and different ways to do that in this program.
4. Holy crap, there’s a lot of people from Sky at my work! There were two in my training group these past two days, and we discussed others, and I went to lunch with a couple of them. I also learned some awesomely juicy news about the Huntington post-merger period.

And that’s about all I’ve got for now. Except a bunch of booklets, two DVDs, a new mug, a teddy bear, a certificate of completion, a couple of new friends, a funky hat, a clown nose, and a new appreciation for my IT skills as a bringer of a more substantial salary than before.

Edit: The Hugging. OMG, how could I leave out the hugging? I may possibly have hugged more people today than I did at my own wedding. We learned all about different kinds of hugs, and I am now officially “Licensed to Hug.”

Yup.

I’m carpooling with a co-worker to Chicago tomorrow for more software training. We’re taking off in the early afternoon to battle the inclement weather, and so we don’t have to drive too far in the dark. I haven’t spent much quality time with this co-worker, so this will be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other. Hopefully, we’ll still like each other by the time the week is over…

I’m really looking forward to the content of these classes, as my job really hinges on the subject: creating dashboards for business intelligence applications. Once I learn some of the finer points of creating dashboards with this software, I hope I’ll be able to hit the ground running when I return to work next week. We’ll see how that works out.

The Best Western where we’re staying claims to have a 24-hour fitness center with treadmills and stationary bikes; I have every intention of taking advantage of that fitness center, especially since I didn’t get to do so on my last trip (and in light of my underwhelming weight loss of late). Apart from that, I’m expecting less of the Best Western than I did of the Hampton Inn, just by virtue of the difference between franchises. I hope I’ll be pleasantly surprised, but I’m not counting on it.

My travel buddy will be checking out a laptop from work, plus there’s supposedly a Business Center at the hotel, so I may or may not end up blogging while I’m away. I’m honestly hoping to spend a good part of my evening free time on a treadmill, when I’m not eating or reading or (hopefully) hanging out with Timmay.

We’re going to be staying one extra night so we won’t have to drive four hours home on a Friday night after class. Saturday morning will be spent seeing the sights of Chicago, and we’ll head home after lunch, arriving back in town around dinnertime.

This is shaping up to be a much different business trip than my last. Whether that’s good, bad, or indifferent remains to be seen…

There may be few or no updates for the remainder of the week, as I will be in Columbus (Dublin) for MicroStrategy training. I’m sure the Hampton has a business center where I can check my e-mail and whatnot, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll be able to spend on e-mail and keeping up with my RSS feeds, much less actually blogging.

Even though I’ll be missing out on a grand total of 45 minutes (that’s three days’ worth) of Aaron time, I’ll be hanging out with some old friends in the evenings, which is awesome. I know there are some people in the area that I’m not getting to meet up with, and I do apologize for that. Maybe next time… (And there probably WILL be a next time, with all the training I could potentially sign up for.)

I’m looking forward to learning more about the Business Intelligence software I’ve been using at work; I’m also looking forward to seeing old friends, and having a change of scenery. I’m not looking forward to being away from my Honey-Muffin on the Hallmark Holiday Valentine’s Day, or really being away from him at all; and I’m not sure about making the 2½ hour drive to Columbus alone for the first time.

I’m a big girl. I can go on a big bad business trip by myself.

Right?

Everyone keeps asking me how I like my new job so far. Honestly, I think I’m still too new in the position to really have an opinion of the job yet. The novelty of some of the new changes has begun to wear off: I’m growing accustomed to a half-hour drive to work again; parking in the parking garage is no big deal; I’m becoming more familiar with everyone’s different accents, and can understand people’s speech more easily; not clocking in and out every day doesn’t seem so weird; and the glass-walled elevator ride isn’t quite so spectacular as it once seemed.

That said, there are some things that are still cool, and there are some things I’ve come to miss. I’m still taken by the view from the 12th floor, especially when I find myself in one of the conference rooms, staring out across the Maumee River (currently frozen and snow-covered) into the distance beyond. I still feel like I hit the lottery every time I get a paycheck; Aaron and I are working on evening out our bill-paying habits, now that I make more, but I still feel mighty WTF at my checking account balance most of the time (especially since we’ve paid off the Kia! w00t!). I still enjoy my daily walks down the Maumee, although I do miss walking in a more wooded setting, under a canopy of leaves (or at least branches) and on a dirt trail instead of pavement.

At the top of the list of things I miss, though, are my work friends. I miss them individually — James, Heather, Rob, Scott, and others — but I also miss just *having* work friends. Finally, after almost three months, I’m starting to get a little more than a “How are you?” from people in the pantry/kitchen area, but I still don’t feel like there’s anyone I really connect with. It’ll take time.

Other things I miss: Having a window right by my cube. Squirrel-watching. Being ten or fifteen minutes from home. Being five minutes from my OB-GYN’s office. Doing a slightly different job every two weeks. Having a grasp on my job and knowing just about everything I need to know to do it properly and efficiently. Generally knowing what I’m doing.

One thing I’m not sure if I’ll like or not is business travel. I’ll be traveling for software training twice in February, and probably more in the second quarter and beyond. I usually only get fifteen minutes of quality time with my husband every evening, between the time I get home and the time he leaves, and I’m not too keen on giving up those precious few minutes. I also don’t have a wifi laptop (OK, I don’t have a laptop at all), so unless I hang out in the hotel’s Business Center for an hour or more every evening, I am *so* going to have internet withdrawal. I’m also just generally not cool with traveling solo; I prefer to have a partner in crime, just in case I lose my way or don’t know what I’m doing or whatever. However… I might like it, especially since it’ll be relatively infrequent. Change of scenery. Learn some stuff. See some friends (Columbus and Chicago in February! Locals, touch base with me and we’ll meet up). We’ll see.

So, that’s a relatively neutral view on how the job is going so far. In a nutshell, I’m pretty ambivalent about it right now, but it has potential. I need time and knowledge in order to grow into the job, I think. It’ll come. It’ll click. I just need time, and the right attitude.