Wildflower Park – Part Three. Bella Osborne

he trying to get something up?’ asked Karl, and they all began sniggering. There was something infectious about trying not to laugh in serious situations.

      The presentation that followed could have told them they were closing the company down at lunchtime and they would have still had smiles on their faces. As it was, the main focus was on a total process overhaul, with the application of Lean methodologies at both the UK offices and in New York. There was a restructure but as everyone scanned it quickly to find their name, they were reassured nobody was missing from their team. Basically Liam had seized the merger as an opportunity to improve the current processes, which delayed things a bit but made ultimate sense. However, there were predicted reductions in the call centre and processing areas following the implementation of the suggested changes. The big impact for Anna was their programme was getting bigger but Anna saw this as a positive. Liam had taken the approach of ‘while we’ve got the bonnet up, let’s see what other improvements we can make’. Yes, there would be plenty of rework but this would definitely be a sizeable deliverable on her CV and excellent experience too.

      Roberta gave what was probably meant to be a rousing speech and ended with a quote in large letters on the big screen that read – The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work. ‘And do you know who said that?’ she asked.

      ‘Minnie Mouse?’ whispered Karl.

      ‘Tiana from The Princess and the Frog,’ said Roberta solemnly.

      ‘So close,’ said Karl with feeling.

      Anna caught Liam looking at her and he gave a tentative smile before explaining the timescales.

      ‘Timescales are tight,’ whispered Anna to Hudson.

      ‘Not as tight as his ballet leotard,’ chipped in Karl. Anna was starting to feel bad about sharing the photograph and she snatched back her phone. Liam hadn’t stitched her up, which was what she had feared he would do. He had done a good job. In fact he could have recommended a separate project for these changes and left Anna and Hudson to finish the merger but what he’d actually done was give them a significant programme of work and enhanced their current project. He’d also stuck to his word and not said anything about her and Hudson because if he had that would have spread as quickly as only office gossip can. She almost felt like she should thank him.

      ‘Scope now includes New York,’ said Hudson, with a broad smile. He’d said he was missing New York – was this his opportunity to go home? There was a natural split for the two of them with Hudson managing the changes in New York and her managing the UK project. In one simple slide she could see logically how things should be managed and it meant them going their separate ways. It would no longer be shared responsibilities; there would be clear deliverables for both of them, which was exactly what she’d wanted from the very beginning, but now it didn’t seem such an issue.