Friday.... An important day in Australia...

You would tell me that friday is important everywhere in the world!.... However, the way it is valued and celebrated in Australia merits consideration! In Perth, I have the privilege of staying on Murray Street located in the Central Business District. There is a lot of restaurants and most importantly, pubs... This is where people gather on friday afternoons around many glasses of beer!

I am just amazed when I see many people sitting around a table, talking, smiling, laughing... being just friendly and happy!

Beer in Australia, more than anywhere else in the world, is a strong socialization incentive. It has a strong gathering power.

However, this should not skip the fact alcohol should be consumed moderately especially for health and safety purposes. In the mining sector for instance, being fit for work is binding for our own safety as well as others.

On the work side, I am learning a lot. While moving my project forward, I am also going through some online safety modules to understand deeper the Health and Safety auditing framework of Rio Tinto.

I have gone through many Health and Safety audits  in Simandou as far as training is concerned. Providing evidence of competencies held by staff, showing compliance against element 6 of the HSEQ Management System etc.

This time, while discussing with a specialist of HSE auditing in Iron Ore, he offered me the possibility to go through these online modules that will kind of give me the big picture view I am seeking to have when it comes to auditing.

I must admit that it is very interesting and I now figure out much better the logic behind what I used to experience in Simandou. This is what taking one or two steps back to have a look at the bigger picture is all about...

I am also going through my self paced "managers essentials" programme learning. I am on the first module named "feedback skills for leaders"

Interesting! On the introduction page of the first module, I have enjoyed learning that in providing feedback the leader is like the steersman, sitting behind the boat, with a hand on the rudder and corrects the direction of the ship. He actually constantly compares the actual direction with the intended direction and applies a negative correction.

To sum up, leaders use feedback as a communication tool much as they would if steering a boat. Leaders set the direction or goal and then use feedback to correct (critical feedback) or praise (positive feedback) progress towards the goal.
                                                                  ...