Happy Show, Happy Hearts

Last week, my friends (back from our Chula years at the Faculty of Education) and I put up a show to celebrate our dear friend's sister on her 80th birthday ka.....so happy we did ka!

As a group of 18, 12 of us managed to be therein Rayong to perform the show ka.

A friend helped comment on the first poem for the show which was planned to be a funny one. In fact, our chats ignited a new idea to compose 2 poems with some similar words but different tones, coming up with an official one for the lunch ka! For each poem, we managed for three of us to read out and I called them all to get their agreement.

For the show, the script I wrote was revised a little further after talking with several who were uncomfortable to act. After some time, everyone seemed to go along with what was required of them.....reading poems, dancing to the song, 'ใจเธอใจฉัน' from แฟนฉัน, and other performances in the 4 Acts ka.

My lessons learned from this teamwork activity are:

1. The shared objective to bring happiness to our friend's sister was the core for all of us to do the show!

2. Actions followed when they were expressed from our hearts. It was amazing how my friends practiced the dance on their own and we only had like a few hours to rehearse the full show. Some sure know how to act real well too.

3. When we all were open and ready to adjust to changes, from the added dialogues and roles to the change of venue, the show was even more fun and meaningful!

Even when we didn't have much chance to work on any big project together for years, I noticed that we had really very little argument about the comments and suggestions.

4. Teamwork proved to our friend's sister how loved she has been ka. She was teary and touched by all the efforts out of love, definitely including ours!

5. As a by-product, this event has cemented our own group's bond even further. I can't be more proud of my friends for their efforts and their love for one another. 

We are still talking about it with joy! For me in particular, sharing this story with you adds to my own inner joy kaa! Thanks for reading na ka.

Cheers.

analog elderly behaviors

 The subject is all about me ka!

Hi everyone! I have two little stories to share kaa!

The first one was from a hospital visit ka.

I had a little accident hurting my thumb and was advised to see the doctor to be sure.

At the hospital, I was told by a receptionist to go to another building. Well! I was kind of lost because there wasn't any service counter to let me know which floor to go to.

While I was thinking of what best to do, there was a cleaning lady walking by. I saw one guy asking her something so I tried as well.

She told me exactly what I needed to do!!!!!!

I learned several things ka:

- I sure admire the cleaning lady who was able to answer questions and could respond willingly without delay. 

This is what we as individuals should be. Know the broad picture of one's own organization, be prompt to help even when it isn’t his/her scope of responsibility, and stay proud to be one of the members of the organization who has added value, with or without the knowing of peers and bosses!

- I also think that the one who was directly responsible, telling me to the other building with no further information. Younger ones may simply googled while the reaction of  this analogue woman was different, looking for someone to ask for the info ka 5555!

Another little story is my second I'd like to share ka!

I had a phone conversation with a hotel reservation staff late last week and we were talking about using a ‘voucher’  ka.

You may have heard how some Thais pronounce it as ‘voi-cher’. This time I heard it and had an urge to tell her how to pronounce it correctly ka.

I put it this way ka: 'Please excuse me na ka. May I make a little remark about the way to pronounce ‘voucher’. It should be ‘vow-cher’ …. vow that is similar to Thai เว้า ๆ โค้ง ๆ. I apologetically said it ka. Was relieved she thanked me without saying much! Whew!

Any comments mai ka?

Listen!

 ...'Listen to the sound from deep within...'

Hello all! I changed my greeting using Beyonce's song, 'Listen' kaaa!

These days, I happen to read and be in several situations that urge me to focus on this topic ka!

I got several points from these two Harvard Business Review links written by Amy Gallo, one on LinkedIn Jan 2, 2024 ka. Read a bit further to find her longer article. 

Let me share what I get and think ka. 

1. Key points I like are:

-  Reflect to know for sure if we’re a good listener…. Not just ‘put away distractions, stay quiet, and nod ……. or repeat back …….. main points….’ We need to learn how to identify subtle cues for our own emotional response as well.

- The author asks us a few questions to decide on the appropriate listening mode. For me, this statement is best ka: ‘…listening with a clear intention in mind.’

I also like one comment from a reader who said, ‘Start by being quiet more than you think.’

Personally, though I tend to think the advice could seem to be kind of mechanical, the article sure stops me to look back to myself and I think reflection is great and the comment from the reader got more attention from me ka. What we think may not be what’s actually happening ka.

More for me to practice listening ka.

2. I had a chance to zoom with a few others discussing Thailand’s overall situation with one highly respected professor. As always, we listened to her wisdom with keen interest and enjoyment.

I noticed her listening style ka.

- She’d mention our names and obviously in our context, we started to participate in one way or another.

- When anyone began to say something even with half a word, she stopped what she was about to say or even stopped talking almost right away to ask the person to share his/her views ka.

 

I like it a lot as she's a true learner by listening to others, valuing every view and comment regardless who the persons are ka. 

 

In case you wish to read in full, the links are as follows ka:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/develop-your-active-listening-skills-harvard-business-review-lqlee/

https://hbr.org/2024/01/what-is-active-listening?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedinnewsletter&tpcc=linkedinnewsletter

Wise use of core competency

Hello all! It's so strange my life seems to be quite hectic from the start of 2024 (but my best friend says it's always like this ka! errrrrrrrrr! 5555!

This year, we continue to promote the use of EdPEx (Education Criteria for Performance Excellence) to ensure that universities have better understanding about why, what and how. We see higher education institutions think hard and long about their core competency and so I have one good case from the Oriental Hotel....credit to my niece who attended one of the courses ka.

Back to 1990,  following the market situation demanding more operational and mid-level staff from increasing numbers of hotels and the hotel's survey results showing low retention rate, its General Manager set up the School of the Oriental Hotel Apprenticeship Program (OHAP) as a training ground that emphasized on practical experiences over theories which were commonly offered.

Key messages are: aware of the market change and requirements, know one's own brand value and expertise, learn of its internal situations, and know the competitors ka.

OHAP focused then on actual hands-on experiences based upon the Oriental Hotel standards to serve the purposes, starting from courses on its areas of expertise like cooking and service-related issues.

Today, it's grown to provide many more courses, e.g. Service Excellence, Effective Communications & Presentations, Table Manner for Kids, etc. 

I like these current ones, which are: 'People Strategy' to offer planning and team building techniques on analysis and strategy principles. Another is 'The Power of Intuition' to open one's perspective for inner joy along the path to 'happiness and success' My niece will attend this one soon. They also offer 'eMOtional Detox' for participants to feel good and to love their own selves

Key messages are: KM system is essential. As services are about people, they've acquired their skills and experiences to the point that they're able to turn them into training courses. Again, what emotional stress issues are taken into consideration as well. Their own people grow and benefit in many ways ka.

Some courses run only for half a day and the participants will have a buffet lunch in its popular restaurant.....making the training a productive and yummy one while the hotel adds on their clients to the restaurant ka.

The fee for half a day is around 8,000 baht ka. Some may say it's too expensive but my point is 'once we know our core competency, we can do many more meaningful programs while wisely integrating them into our overall missions, people, facilities' ka.