Analyst at work
This week, although officially retired, I am actively supporting the mission of the United Nations to reach out, educate, communicate and build bridges.
Toastmasters
At the VIC Toastmasters meeting on Tuesday, the club made another effort at a hybrid meeting. Despite my insistence that the future must be hybrid, apparently the Corona work from home pandemic, seems to have etched a reluctance to return to the office ethic. Many upper-level bureaucrats are seeking to force on-site presence.
Toastmasters is a public speaking club which fosters communication and leadership skills in a safe, supportive environment. At the UN in Vienna, many members join to hone their English speaking and presentation skills.
The United Nations
The UN has a mandate to establish conditions to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom; to practice tolerance and live together in peace; to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights… and to strengthen universal peace.
I loved working at the United Nations because I really felt incredible opportunities to develop friendly relations among colleagues of many nations.
Civil Society
Before and after I was able to contribute to Non-Governmental Organizations working to advance the work of the United Nations.
This week we celebrated UN Day. It was the seventy-ninth anniversary of the founding of the UN.
• The VIC Toastmasters Club, took the opportunity to thematize unity, unification and UNited. https://www.toastmasters.org/
• My NGO, Women’s Federation for World Peace also hosted a meeting entitled “The UN Vision”. https://www.wfwp.org/about-us#our-vision
I was happy to support both these meetings technically.
UN Day
The vision of the UN is for people of all nations, without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion to maintain peace and security, to develop friendly relations, to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
So, too is my vision, to support my colleagues, working at the United Nations to do what I can and to appreciate what others do.
Communication
When it comes to effective communication, it is so easy to focus on the deficits, on what goes wrong, on what is missing, on what didn’t suit me.
How many times do we complain about the weather? What for? Year after year we experience the four seasons. Time after time we hear of broken records: the hottest, the driest, the wettest, the coldest.
In our relationships, how easy to point out what doesn’t suit us about the other person, the other political party, the other nation, the other religions.
That’s exactly what I faced while supporting these side events at the UN this week.
Analyst at work
So now I have learned to redefine myself as an analyst. I am a retired data assistant. I am passionate about data and information. I love organizing photos and videos chronologically, to make them available easily and logically.
When I attend a meeting and make a recording, I want to share the whole recording. I am not the one to summarize and edit. I want to be an honest correspondent (librarian, archivist, reporter, recorder) faithfully reporting all the details which all seem so important to me. I am fully aware that some people do not want any of the details, and yet others will want just that exact detail which has been left out.
Such is the challenge of a united world. How do we cater for all the differences?
Universal values
Interdependence is the key. I’ve often quoted the bible verse in I Corinthians:
As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
So now I am still learning that it’s okay to be fussy about details. You just have to be prepared to take responsibility for what you know, think, feel and do.
A few years ago, it must have been at the beginning of the pandemic, I invested in a premium zoom account. I love the opportunities available to host meetings, to record, to live-stream, to share videos. I recognize that the technological developments these past few years have been gigantic. I also do not claim to have kept up with them all. However, I am very grateful and proud to be quite on the ball.
Technical support
So, this week, when the one meeting was hosted by somebody else, I was reminded why I decided to invest in myself and pay for my own zoom account. Finally, I got out my smartphone and began recording the end of the meeting with my phone. So easy to complain, compare and bitch about what’s going on. My current challenge is how to turn this into a “learning-by-doing” thing. Everyone has their own challenges, and I respect the fact that my club turned to Teams when I left the Agency. (I didn’t really like it because as an “outsider” it was harder and often complicated and time-consuming to join an on-site hybrid meeting at the VIC.)
Empty Nester
However, like a mother whose children have left home, I surveyed my club going through new challenges when I left, and tried to keep my distance without interfering too much. Perhaps my colleagues were like the little child who will not let Mummy go to work when they are dropped off at kindergarten. The clubs management at the VIC provides that current club presidents must be current staff members. So even though retirees may have the time resources, they are not permitted to be the key contact for VICREC clubs.
I made many educational video recordings and occasionally even attended either on-line or in-person.
This week, five years after retiring I felt like I was back at work. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the comfortable feeling of professional competence as I discovered the current version of multimedia equipment in the conference room.
Last week, at our side-event, when I expected to do the technical support, I sat beside the technician and just told her when to do what.
Learning by doing
This week, due to differing circumstances, I was unexpectedly left with the meeting reins in my hands.
And happy to report, I just love learning by doing. It’s my thing. Not only that I learn new things. I can teach them too.
UN Day
So, on the tail-end of UN Day this year, think about how we can each contribute to connection. Communication. Unity. Unification. Yes, I’m different. And so are you. And I love technical support for zoom meetings. No, I am not expert with all the AI and whiteboards. But I’m pretty good with spotlighting and recording and live streaming. All this should be planned in advance.
That’s my tip for this week. When you want to hold an important meeting at the UN and share with those outside the premises, be sure to prepare in advance and get the technical support you need.
