My four insights for new Social Sabbatical participants
Congratulation on being selected to participate in the SAP Social Sabbatical (SoSa) program!
You and eleven more of your SAP colleagues are about to embark on a life-changing experience. So, enjoy it and make the most out of your SoSa participation.
Having myself gone through this amazing opportunity, I thought in sharing with future participants four things I learned during my own Social Sabbatical engagement. I hope this helps you to have a better experience during your assignment.
1.- The scope of work (SOW) is a living, evolving document.
You might have received already your SOW. There are things that you might find confusing or unclear in it. Do not worry!
The SOW is not set in stone, it is just a starting point and direction that the customer has set-up before meeting you. Things will certainly change once you are there and meet with your host organisation. They will also have the chance to get to know you better and identify some skills and knowledge that they didn’t have in mind before.
Here are some thoughts:
When working and evolving your SOW, always have in mind the value proposition of it: why is the work you are doing valuable and important to the host organisation? In the end, what makes a difference is to be able to contribute to do something valuable.
Once on the ground and working, you and your customer might identify other priorities, requirements or steps not represented in the original SOW.
Be open and flexible, but also have some boundaries. It is OK to modify and evolve your SOW, but it should not be changing completely every two days or grow to an unrealistic state.
Be sure to have a clear SOW by end of week two. Small details can change, but make sure the overall direction of your deliverables is clear by then. This will give you enough time to complete your deliverables by week four.
If you find yourself struggling a bit with your SOW, here is my advice:
Identify what is more important to your customer. Do they need a strategic deliverable, something high level? Or do they need a tactic/operational deliverable, something actionable and quickly implementable?
Make sure to involve your local Project manager. He will have experience with the organisations you are working with and can even hint to some cultural issues you might have overlooked.
Just remember:
- Not all customers know what they want.
- What your customers might want is not necessarily what they need.
- Ask why at least 5 times, it will help you understand the core issue.
- Always try to understand the perspective and context of their requests, there might be a history or hidden context to the direction they want to pursue.
2.- Leverage the expertise and knowledge of your full team.
During your assignment, you will be working closely in smaller sub-teams, each one assigned to a host organisation. This means that you will spend a lot of time with your fellow sub-team colleagues on your particular topic.
But you should not feel limited by the skills and knowledge of your sub-team, especially when facing challenges that require expertise not available among the team members.
Look at the whole range of skills that your entire extended team has. Other members will certainly not be able to fully devote their time to your problem. But I am sure they will be happy to help you with advice and direction on how you might solve a problem.
Identify who in your team is strong in business development, who has strong communication skills, design skills or people with know-how on negotiations.
You will be working with a very diverse team, take advantage of it.
3.- Beware, initial excitement will wear off.
So you just landed in your assignment location, everything is new and exciting. You are getting to know your new colleagues and you are discovering all the interesting things that your particular deployment location has to offer. This is going to be the honeymoon period of your Social Sabbatical experience, embrace it, but be aware that the novelty and excitement will eventually wear off — probably by end of week two.
You will start missing your family and friends. Some nuisances you ignored during the first two weeks will begin to annoy you. All those commodities at home like your washing machine or even being able to communicate in your own language on a regular basis, will start to become more noticeable.
But this is normal! Just be aware of it, relax and carry on. You will be already halfway through your engagement and the last two weeks will be a dash to complete your assigned task. The Social Sabbatical is a great exercise in flexibility and adaptability. My advice to you:
- Rely on your team, they will be going through the same things.
- Embrace the full SoSa experience, including the challenges.
- Identify your happy places wherever you are based: that cozy bar you like, that joint with the good carrot cake and the nice staff, that quiet little corner where you can disconnect and recharge.
All of this should make things easier for your once the novelty wears off.
4.- Experience the culture
A big part of what makes the Social Sabbatical experience unique is the opportunity to get out of your desk and go make an impact directly with the people that need your help.
Experiencing the culture, context, and environment of your assigned SoSa location will be a big part of the adventure you are embarking on.
Four weeks is shorter than it sounds, and you will be busy with the work you are doing for your host organisation. Take the time to know the country and the region where you are deployed. Try out the food, visit some places, meet people, hang out where the locals do.
These will also serve as team building activities with your other colleagues and host organisation. You will notice that your hosts will be proud and eager to show you their country and culture.
Have fun, enjoy and go make a difference!
These are just four things I thought would be helpful for you. There will be many more challenges for sure, but I am confident that you will be able to sort them out. I wish you all the luck in your assignment!
