Week Two...

I seem to have officially entered a time warp... started to write this blog early Mon AM and am just now - Wed PM - able to get back to it.  I expected things to intensify as we got deeper into the project, but not quite so much.  We are operating in a constant state of adjustment and as hard or unexpected as it may seem in some moments, it's just what the CSC program promised!

Colon Street

On Monday we completed our planned HR Development Office (HRDO) interviews and are racing to complete the Definition, Structure and Data Gathering steps of the Issues Based Consulting model we are doing our best to follow.  It's quite rewarding.  The clock is ticking and we were delighted to have an opportunity today to review the engagement objective and priorities w/ our HRDO sponsor, and now are heads down looking to refine our hypothesis re: the real issues and barriers, so we could formulate meaningful recommendations.

In front of City Hall

The learning is non-stop and exhausting at times, again... just as promised. as without a stretch beyond what is known, expected and comfortable, there is no growth.   Tues was probably the most impactful single day so far. 

In the morning we had an audience with the City Mayor Michael "Mike" Rama at City Hall.  Many thanks for our clients for arranging the meeting and for the Mayor's generosity in sharing his time and insights with us.  We briefed the Mayor on our assignment and goals and got to hear about his principles, values and priorities.  We each got to ask questions and were rewarded with most attentive responses and interesting perspectives. 

Some of my favorite messages were the Mayor's drive to have the City / City Gov't staff  "Imagine, Create, and Implement," or "Dream, Design, Decide, and Implement," as well as his clear commitment and focus on Service to others, Passion, Discipline, Integrity, Simplicity, Honesty, Love, Patience... and Abundance of Smiles!  The official Cebu City Mayor Office slogan, from the 2010 campaign, is "Together We Can Make Things Happen!"

Audience with Mayor Mike Rama, May 17, 2011, Cebu City Hall (LtoR: Tati, Gaby, Garima, Nora, Janet)

The afternoon moves us in a whole different way.  Our Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) client took us on a tour of the Hospital and College of Nursing.

Santo Nino is the patron Saint of Cebu

It was heartbreaking to see the conditions, I didn't even think to take picture as if to not capture the memory any more permanently.  The staff is stretched to the limit with min coverage in each area of the hospital, and everyone was still kind, open and smiling.  The rooms are hot, stuffy and in some areas overcrowded, the waiting "room" is outside and there were at least another 100 patients awaiting their turn.  The hospital sees in the up's of 300 per day and operates with min staff and infrastructure challenges, including completely manual information processing (paper files piled high and carefully moved from registration through triage for proper assignment, to the attending doctor/nurse, to the supply room, billing, and so on... 

Our wonderful CCMC hosts - Sr RC and Maam Wena

The College of Nursing is housed on the top floor and we were honored to be shown around by the Dean - school resumes in mid-June, so we got to see some renovation, donated desks replacing old wooden ones, the faculty room, the neat library that serves the whole school, and even a summer class in session.

It was most impressive to see that the graduating nurses scored >92% in their results, compared to 41% national average. 

To wrap the day, we pushed our limits as a team and worked through some forming-norming-storming challenges and further growth opportunities.  We had our first cross-project team discussion to share our scope, engagement objectives, any help needed, and overall experience.  Our smaller project team then had a work session to further align our efforts and figure out how to best divide and conquer as we prepared for the first presentation to the client.  Very happy to report we're making excellent progress.  Go team!

Our wonderful HR and Training Center hosts

Today, we had an unique opportunity to visit the Mountain Training Center, nicknamed "Top Top," as it's located at probably 3000 ft or so above the city.  Gorgeous drive with mountain and tropical vegetation as far as the eye could see.  The Training Center served as the venue for our first recommendations preview and we had a wonderful experience, completely free of distractions, outstanding client interaction/input, all the while enjoying warm Filipino hospitality and cooler fresh mountain air.