Greetings internet, this is Bangkok!

After a staggering trainee-gathering in Norway, I’m back in Bangkok, Thailand, with a better understanding of both myself and the culture I’m currently living in. In other words; I feel more than ready to face the last 4 months of my period with dtac.

Learning to expect the unexpected
Having been in DTAC for 2 months already, I didn’t quite know what to expect, coming back after a good 2 weeks in Norway. DTAC is such a dynamic and rapidly changing organization that I’ve already learned to expect the unexpected. And surely, the organisation proved that it’s worthy of that reputation! Tired, happy and severely jet-legged I turned up at the office today, to realize that my team hadn’t only changed location in the building, but that it had been split up and reorganized as well. This might sound frightening for some, but I have to admit; I’ve grown to really like it!

Reflections of my learnings
So what makes DTAC so special? Well I can’t give you a precise organizational analysis on this question, but I have some observations and reflections that might be part of the explanation.

Most important, I think, is that DTAC consists of a bunch of employees that are really proud to work there, and is more than willing to lay down the extra 50% time and effort to achieve their targets and goals. And more important than the willingness; they all do it with a smile on their face!  There can be many reasons for this culture. The top-management deserves their part of the cake, both by encouraging change and innovation, and stepping up as very good examples. But quite frankly, I really don’t think they have a choice. DTAC is the second biggest operator in an extremely competitive and developing market, where they don’t stand a chance if they don’t have a keen, knowledgeable and motivated staff who is ready to face challenge after challenge. Remember, Telecom is almost all about managing people and knowledge, so I’m not a bit surprised that some consider DTAC as one of the best performing OpCo’s in the Telenor portfolio.

My place in the organization
And where do I fit into this picture? Well, as of today I fit perfectly well into the Foreign Segment department, where our main goal is to attract foreign customers to DTAC. For some strange reason, it kind of feels natural