Working Through Change

Change is good. At least that’s what they tell us. Maybe if we were more open to the idea of change, and not be so resistant, we may be able to embrace whatever new and exciting thing was coming our way.

Today we sat through a three hour Professional Development session about “working through change” it was interesting, and really a lot of the principles apply to every aspect of life not just necessarily work.

The company I work for has recently gone through a merger, and although we are now over 6 months into the process the impact of the merger is only now starting to be felt in the organisation.

The recent budget has really hit hard and funding in many key areas has been cut, this no doubt will mean some restructure, possible contract renegotiation and even retrenchment.

I think we all realised this PD was a way of preparing us for the unsettling times ahead.

What I took away from this PD, something I have been telling my husband a lot lately, as he too struggles to adjust to a new position at work, is that work is only one part of our life, it is not our whole life. As long as we can focus on the fact that work is merely a means to an end we should be able to get through this merger relatively unscathed, well that’s my plan anyway.

Advertisement

CNAV 8th Annual Conference and Awards

Yesterday I attended the CNAV (Community Newspaper Association Victoria) annual conference and awards. It was my first time and as such I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Aside from the Mayor of Frankstons awkward opening, the rest of the day was a fantastic experience one I would recommend without hesitation to anyone.

I met so many amazing people who like me all play a small but important part in serving their community through the production of a community newspaper. We were lucky enough to share a table with the amazing girls from The Foothill newspaper, they were fun and friendly and helped to make the day as good as it was.

The guest speakers were awesome and very informative as were the workshops. Of course the highlight of the night was the awards ceremony even if the Bayswater Buzz didn’t win any awards this year. On the plus side the Ferntree Gully News that I also write for, won best editorial so I was very happy about that it was much deserved Anne Boyd the editor of The Ferntree Gully News is an amazing woman and an exceptional writer.

I met people from places I’d never heard of before, areas so remote that the paper run was less than 100. Every paper was unique, informative and of an impressively high standard. Although the need of a community paper is obvious and some would say even critical the lack of volunteers to help produce it continues to be a problem.

If you have been looking for something fun and rewarding to do, why not look towards your community newspaper they are always in need of dedicated people to help in anyway they can, be it through contributing stories, helping to distribute the paper or recruiting sponsor or advertisers, every little bit helps and will be greatly appreciated.

Short staffed again

It is a sign of the times that we are short staffed at work again!! I know that it is not just us, this seems to be the norm these days more and more businesses are having cut backs to staffing numbers, this is greatly to do with the global financial situation which does not appear to be easing up anytime soon.

As an employee though it is quite disheartening when four people are expected to do the work of six or seven. After an extended period of time when one has been over compensating like this, it starts to wear you down.

We try our best to remain upbeat and hopeful, hopeful that better times are just around the corner but the longer this situation goes on the harder it becomes to see that oh so coveted light at the end of the tunnel.

Like most people I try as hard as I can to keep on top of things, but if it continue to be as busy as we are and no relief is forthcoming then the pile of things that has been set aside in the “it can wait” basket will continue to grow and grow and grow and then the time will come when what’s in that basket can no longer wait, what will happen then? Does it really have to get to that point before management realises that we have a problem?