GORDON LIGHTFOOT | Culture
BUILDING RAPPORT
A 30 year old project coordinator from the Ministry of Financially Understandable Decisions (MFUD) put on an absolute clinic this afternoon.
After sitting through two hours of project updates from “subject matter experts” saying that an IT project that was two months overdue was definitely going to be delivered next week, Laura Dermott was in a less than happy mood.
“They haven’t been able to make the software work in testing, and yet somehow they think it’s going to suddenly start working next week. Incredible. To be honest, after that meeting I was in no state to be sending emails to anyone,” she told reporters.
Despite her condition however, Laura somehow mustered up the strength to write an email to another subject matter expert that same afternoon. It would be fair to say that this display of whanaungatanga (relationship building) would go down in public service history.
“Kia ora Carolyn, hope you’re well. Good weekend?” she began her email to 44 year old Carolyn Jonnassen, who had been on sick leave four out of five days last week.
And while this may seem normal on the surface, the important thing to remember is that Laura does not care about this woman’s wellbeing in the slightest.
“I wrote it without even thinking. I don’t care if this person had a good weekend or if they’re well or not. I just need her to read the bloody comms plan I sent to her and give feedback on it,” she said later after the mask had completely slipped.
“Will it make a difference? Will she send me what I need? I don’t know, and at this stage I don’t know if I even care.
“All that matters is that I did my best, followed up, and it’s all recorded in this email paper trail.
“And let me be really honest, I couldn’t give a fuck about this person – but if you read my emails, it looks like I do. And that’s all that matters.”
More to come.
