The Countdown to the Holiday Party Starts!

Life in a BPO = Toxic

 

Working for a BPO company has its hardships and rewards. Not everyday is easy, and sometimes the pressure just gets to you. Your patience will be stretched to its limits and giving up sometimes crosses my mind. Nothing in life is easy and you have to earn every buck so that you will be able to live a comfortable life. Everyday, I come to the office full of hope that the deadlines and goals daily are met. The expectations of both the bosses and the clients are high because I'm a consultant. So when problems come our way, they do not want to hear about how the problem came to be, but the solutions for the problem.

But then... It's Also Fun!

Well, the holidays are just a few months away and everyone is always excited when Christmas is fast approaching. By the way, I am currently assigned in our Thailand Delivery Center, so I am here until further notice. 

Everyone is so anxious to know what the company has in stored for us this coming holiday season because they always seem to throw great parties. Our past parties were a blast and everyone always seem to have a great time, so this year the expectations are quite high.

The overall performance of the Thailand Delivery Center has been really good and this is evidenced by the tons of incentives that the agents have acquired. But last week, the news of the Christmas party is finally out. Of course, besides from the usual party which included everyone, there is a party which is for the upper management only. Everyone who's part of the management team were called for a meeting to discuss about the party. It is only then that our director for this site informed us that we will be spending our party on a boat in Phuket!

We'll Be Partying in Style!

"Because of very good team effort, the management team deserves V.I.P. treatment" -- quoting our site director. Then, he announced that the management's holiday party will be on board the ever famous Ladyandaman. 

I have personally heard a lot of great things about the Ladyandaman but never have imagined that we would get it all to ourselves this December. I surely can't wait to enjoy the company, the drinks, the party, as we cruise along the Andaman Sea!

I Love the Travel, But HATE the Email Trouble

Traveling around Asia actually comes with my job. Well, who doesn't love to travel, I'm pretty sure that most people would love to hop from place to place and get paid while doing so. Then again, although traveling while working is a whole lot of fun, it actually comes with some down sides. 

What do I love about my "life on the road"? Here's a couple of thins that I enjoy:

• Free travel obviously. I get to visit different places and countries.
• Higher benefits because of travel allowance which lets me enjoy all of my trips.
• I get to meet new people all the time -- new friends, new colleagues.
• I'm the master of my time! Meaning, I could always balance work with leisure. Which of course, works pretty well especially when you're in a very beautiful place that you can't resist the sights!

But like what I've said a while ago, frequently traveling for work also comes with some disadvantages:

• For one, I rarely stay at home. So yeah I get homesick too from time to time.
• Jet lag - I hate the jet lag. No, I don't believe that a person can ever be used to jet lag. 
• FRUSTRATION - A LOT OF FRUSTRATION.

You're probably wondering why I said I get a lot of frustration whenever I travel. For starters, I'm pretty sure you'd agree that language barrier is a huge frustration. hen of course, there's the part when I'm not a fan of the food in that certain place. But I guess those two things I could still handle but when I run into email trouble, now that's a different story!

Unbelievable but some hotels actually block outgoing mails and I'm left with no choice but to use webmail! It frustrates me because all of my important stuff are in my PC's inbox and I couldn't use it. Nonetheless, I'm thankful that I have already found a solution around my smtp error issues.So far, I'm not getting any email trouble anymore!

First Stop: Thailand

Ah -- Thailand! Enjoying the sunny weather, the sights, and yes, the food. But I can't say much about the email issues I've encountered here.

As they say, some parts of Asia aren't as technologically advanced as other parts of the world. Then again, I don't sending out emails or the very least, a stable internet connection, is something that's pretty hard to provide your tourists.

Yes, I am obviously frustrated. I've hopping around places here in Thailand and it is such a headache to find out that some hotels actual block outgoing emails! I'm forced to resort to webmail but I can't settle for that since most of my very important work-related mails are stored on my computer.

Quite honestly, I guess it must be the language barrier here too because it seems like no one can understand my concerns with the email issues I'm faced with. But thankfully, the World Wide Web didn't fail me! I was able to figure out why Outlook won't send email, and it's working pretty fine. Phew!

Travel To Asia As Part Of My Job

Hi  I work as a BPO outsourcing consultant and travel to Asian on a regular basis. Next week I am traveling to Thailand and Philippines and will mix business and pleasure.  Planning a week in Phuket then on to Manila and Cebu to visit the offices we have setup and expand the operation.  I decided to start blogging my trips as I always have a number of interesting experiences