THE EVOLUTION

After the presentation of November 18, 2010 at the Troyka Management Conference at Western Hotel, Opebi the whole place (and Team Beta members) was buzzing. The presentation was a bomb and we were getting commendations from everywhere except those who gave us the brief. I wonder why that is so!!! When the brief was reeled out we got an official notification, but we didn't get an official commendation for work well done....or otherwise. Well, it is the way of things.

On November 29, 2010 I alongside Femi Ogunrotimi and Omosalewa Afolabi(in absential) were called into the boardroom by the management of Optimum Exposures Limited and given a charge to analyze the companies' activities and see how to reposition it as a major player in the international market and re-engineer its processes to withstand the challenges of the future market. We were given a carte blanche and three weeks (again!) to present our proposal.

At the time it seemed a pretty simple assignment. However, we soon found out it wasn't...lol.

We had to juggle the special assignment with a number of other things. Femi, the engineer had to run a lot of things out of the office. He was involved with our latest mega project at Ijora. He also was still involved with the the one he supervised at Adeniji...so, combining all of that with the new task was challenging. Salewa, the finance prima donna also had so much on her hands. Apart from the perennial demands for invoices, payslips etc. she was also on the gift committee- that also had a short deadline.

As for myself. I had to still do my clients service duties, be active on the gift committee and also juggle this new assignment....then there is the small matter of the marketing research commissioned by our new marketing director.

It seems we all had our work cut out for us.

Nonetheless, we determined we were going to have a good go at it, try and sample as many views from members of staff as possible  and come out with a report that will help the management feel the pulse of the staff better. The report should itself be a working tool for the management in future engagements.

Thankfully, we had financial and moral support to embark on this herculean task.

Bringing all the content together was an issue. Tight on schedule as we were, we all had to prioritize some things...but, how well can you that considering the quantum of deliverable expected from you on the departmental and management level? We tried though, spent many late evenings in the office and even sacrificed one Saturday and one Sunday to ensuring all was ready for December 13, 2010.

The guys at AVF (Audio Visual First) were fantastic with helping us put our commentary together (I met my old school colleague Mathew Ogunola there. He was there content manager).

Also, Kola Olarewaju sacrificed a lot to ensure that the 3D presentation was ready for the day...although, my heart skipped a bit because we were going to run late. However, we were ready before the management was ready for us. But, the presentation had to be shifted because the new Marketing Director, Mr. Dele Anifowoshe was not around.

D-day! December 14, 2010.

We presented our report. But, it didn't seem to go down well in some quarters. We knew it wouldn't anyways. But, we were given a charge to help the management see into the 'heart' of the organization, diagnose problems and potential problems and help prescribe solutions. All of that we thought we did, with the active help and contribution of members of staff...so, we have no fears.
 
Nevertheless, the management agreed there was a need to pursue some new lines of action and an implementation committee was set up for that purpose. Once again name popped up from the hat.

We wait and see what comes out of all the deliberations and recommendations.

THE CREED PROJECT

On Friday October 8, 2010 at about 2 p.m I received a mail I wouldn't have ever imagined I would receive.

The group-Troyka Holdings Limited is looking to re-invent and re-position itself. I was nominated to be part of one of the two teams that would develop (and pitch) a new set of communication materials and corporate identity for the group. It is a huge challenge and the shock was we had less than three weeks to develop our materials. Date to present our pitch was November 18, 2010.

Three weeks and we need to fly out of the blocks already. No easy means, considering we would need to source funds and other resources on our own.

On Monday October 11, 2010 the five members of my team (Team Beta) agreed to meet after work to see how we can crack the 'brief' . It wasn't convenient for me, but I made it down. Surprisingly though only three of us got together eventually.

At the end of the day, we were able to reach a consensus on the direction for our presentation. It was agreed we were going to do an animated presentation rather than the PowerPoint slide show which is the norm.

Also, duties and deliverable for individual members of the team were assigned and it was agreed we meet on Tuesday for the next meet.

The meeting on Tuesday had a fuller house. All members were in attendance and we were all able to agree and flesh out our ideas and thought flow. The key was to be different and give the presentation a medieval flow. The content development and the script, a creative director and scriptwriter to work with, and modalities for embarking on interviews and data gathering were all agreed upon.

Our presentation almost didn't get finished. However, we did get to the venue and presented. The presentation was a bomb. From the views and observations made by the participants, it was a no-contest that our presentation was the preferred choice. However, the chairman vetoed the voting and instead suggested that both presentations be merged to make it whole.