Settling into a new job is always a tricky process as you get used to new people, new systems and new ways of working, you tend to end up outside of your comfort zone (which I suppose is part of the reason for wanting a new job in the first place) and are left feeling a little out of place. Of course, as the weeks go by and you settle into your role the “out of place” feeling vanishes, usually to be replaced by a feeling of having been there for a long time. If course, it helps if like me you are fortunate enough to join a company such as BHS where I have been made to feel really welcome and very much part of the team.
The single thing that has proved the biggest challenge to me has been switching from train travel to getting everywhere by car as it’s obviously much easier to work on a train than in a car! At this point I have to confess that I tend to prefer emails to phone conversations, not because I don’t like speaking to people! It’s because I tend to have lots of plates spinning at any one time and an email provides me with a record of the conversation that I can refer back to. I am learning to make my time in the car more productive and on this front have been given some sound advice by an ex colleague, this is along the lines of save your phone calls for when you are in the car (I have to point out that I have an excellent hands free kit in the car and never tempt fate by picking up my handset to make calls, it’s just too risky as well as illegal) which is what I have been doing recently. I have also started to travel around with my dictaphone which I use to make notes on my calls when I have arrived at my destination and am no longer driving as obviously there is no point being safety conscious and using a hands free kit and then picking up a dictaphone!
It’s taken me a while to get used to this new way of working but I have learnt from the experience and I feel that this has made me more versatile.
Finally, my hands free kit is a Parrot, which if your car is not Bluetooth enabled is an excellent piece of kit! it’s not cheap and needs to be professionally installed but it’s been worth every penny as it connects instantly with you phone regardless of where it is in the car (mine tends to get left in my jacket pocket in the back seat) the microphone works really well as does the speaker which is wired into your car stereo which it mutes when a call comes through.
random outpourings 