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ALEXANDRA: Excuse me, Dr Thompson. May I speak to you for a minute?
MR THOMPSON: Of course. Please come in.
ALEXANDRA: I’m Alexandra Jones. I’m studying Business here at the university and for my assignment I have to carry out a survey of people who own their own organisations. I heard that you are the founder of your own company, and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about it.
MR THOMPSON: Yes, of course, please fire away.
ALEXANDRA: OK great, we’ll get started! Did you encounter any problems whilst you were starting your company?
MR THOMPSON: Actually it was not as hard as I anticipated. I started out with very clear objectives, so I knew exactly what I wanted my corporate identity to be. It was very difficult to find the correct premises as the property market in London is so competitive, but eventually I found the perfect site. The hardest part was structuring the business, as I had no formal template so I had to create it myself.
ALEXANDRA: Yes, that is very impressive. Was it difficult dealing with staff?
MR THOMPSON: It’s always tricky trying to satisfy a group of people with varying interests, however, I didn’t encounter many problems. I found it very important to make the staff feel appreciated, so I hosted a staff day where we could all introduce ourselves and get to know each other as individuals. I was also able to talk to them about the type of work that they would be doing and gave them the opportunity to share with me the issues they had with the allocation of the work.
ALEXANDRA: OK. Did you hire a management team or did you take on the role of the manager?
MR THOMPSON: Oh no, I already had enough tasks to take care of. I employed someone else to take on the role of the manager, however, he never consulted me before making decisions so I was forced to let him go and hire someone else.
ALEXANDRA: And what did the other staff think of the new manager?
MR THOMPSON: They had a great deal of respect for him. It definitely helped that I consulted with them before hiring him. They were surprised that he has been so successful in his role at the company, despite the longer meeting hours.
ALEXANDRA: Since the company opened, has it had any great achievements?
MR THOMSON: There are many aspects of the company that I am pleased with, however, there is one achievement of which I am particularly proud. I wanted a mural painted to brighten up our entrance area, so I decided it would be a great idea to invite the local primary school to create one for us. The youngsters had a great time and I know they were thrilled to be included.
ALEXANDRA: Oh, that’s lovely.
ALEXANDR: Have you encountered any major problems since you opened the company?
MR THOMPSON: Yes, we are always encountering issues with employment because it is very hard to find people who are qualified for the roles that we were offering, but unfortunately there is no solution to this. One of our administrators also recently left to go on maternity leave, which put us in a tricky situation, however, we have managed to find a temporary replacement for her. It’s also now approaching the period when we must carry out our financial training so I need to find a venue with enough space to hold everyone. It will be interesting trying to organise that event!
ALEXANDRA: Oh gosh, I can imagine. I find it hard enough to organize myself!
MR THOMPSON: Organisation is a difficult thing to master, but it is also essential for success! Whilst I was learning how to stay organised, I realised that the role of motivation is essential.
ALEXANDRA: OK, that’s great!
MR THOMPSON: I also suggest that you visit the library, as there is a section on culture that will have some very valuable material on how to develop your organisation skills.
ALEXANDRA: OK, I’ll head to the library when we’re finished.
MR THOMPSON: I think you will find it very useful. They also have a collection of documentaries on the subject of personal organisation and I suggest that you look up the literature on management of change. I personally found these sources incredibly useful. Articles are also a valuable resource and we have a whole collection of them in our university library. I advise that you look at Section 2 where you will find articles on the nature of volunteering.
ALEXANDRA: That’s great, thank you so much for your help.
MR THOMPSON: No problem.