After the relaxation of Darjeeling I spent this week gently easing myself back into work. I'll be honest with you and admit that I wasn't exactly flat out, but the end result is very satisfying though also problematic.

Regular readers of this journal will remember me mentioning a workshop I was organising to get the project staff to share their ideas and problems about the organisation in general. Well, that workshop went off without any major hitches on Saturday afternoon, and as I type there is a young Bangladeshi lad sitting in front of me translating the 58 different idea cards into English so I can actually understand what was said. If we're going to get picky about it he should have been translating them for me during the workshop itself, but seeing as he didn't turn up due to a communication cock-up I'm letting him get on with it now.

While it took the participants a while to get going, partly due to the relative complexity of what was asked of them, once they were off they were throwing up ideas like popcorn jumping out of an uncovered saucepan. It was great to watch, and Rabi said it was the first time he'd seen the staff really sharing their problems with each other, including with those who were "to blame". The key moment though was when I asked Habib, BRIF's Executive Director, to join us so that the group could share their work and ideas with him. Place anyone in front of a board full of 58 cards saying what's wrong with his or her organisation and they're bound to feel a tad uncomfortable. I'm sure I'd have felt the same way in Habib's shoes.

What this experience made clear to me though was that it is from now on that, professionally speaking, things start to get really tricky and challenging. Up until now I've been getting Habib's view on his organisation, it's troubles and ambitions, as well as helping him with neutral items like the web site. This was all quite nice and in no way threatening to anyone. The workshop changed that as now I have ideas and problems being aired that will directly or indirectly affect someone in the organisation and how they work. Saturday's workshop was mostly aimed at "Management" i.e. the boss, but when I start looking at the Accounts department, or operations management, the workshop participants will in turn start to feel uncomfortable about the questions I ask and their answers. Hopefully, and here's the challenge, I can develop and maintain trusting relationships so people stay open and allow me to help them rather than seeing me as the Police.

A variation on the above theme of relationships was provided by a Bangladeshi friend who shall remain nameless. After coming back from my 2 week holiday I found that he had all but got himself engaged to a girl he met just before my departure! Seriously, he's talking marriage and so is she. She was a participant at a national training course held at BRIF while he was there at the same time. The tricky bit is that he has not yet been formerly presented to her parents, nor will he be in the near future if they can at all avoid it, as they don't think he will be viewed as an ideal suitor. Indeed, her parents may well already have someone else in mind for their attractive 20-year old daughter.

I found it doubly interesting and amazing as I've just finished reading "Pride and Prejudice" which talks of the same sorts of suitability issues. The difference of course is that the novel is set in England in the 18th century. It is also worth pointing out that my friend's story has not been made into a major BBC drama series staring Colin Firth, nor does it feature a scene with him emerging from a lake but it's still early days...