The trouble with being small

I always get tongue-tied when people ask about what I do at work. What comes out of my mouth are usually a mumbo-jumbo of words which so often leave people even more perplexed. The conversation usually goes like this;

"So where are you working? Putrajaya. Which Ministry/Department? Oh, no. I work in the private sector. (Surprised look) Really, which company are you working with? It's a small company, we do management consulting and seminar/conference planning. (Feigned interest) Ah, so what kind of work/projects are you doing right now? Oh, um, I'm involved in this non-profit government-to-government initiative to promote the biomass industry. But you said you're not working with government. You're correct, I'm not, but we're engaged by the government to do this project. (Vigorous nodding followed by awkward silence)"

When I was in the university, I never thought of myself working with a small/medium-sized business. Partly because I think I'd always end up doing research and studying all my life, and eventually when I got the scholarship from the government - I thought my path is set in the public sector.

But I should've known, growing up and watching my father managed one of his companies he's working for with my mother and eldest brother, and few years of sleepover in his office whenever we come down to KL when I was younger, it is only natural I gravitate towards the same environment when I start my working life.

So I learned, no matter what your position is titled - when you're working for small-sized business - your job description is almost indefinable. Of course, you know what is your core skills and responsibilities (and eventually, you learn to maintain these as something only you can do in the organisation), but at the same time you need to be prepared to go beyond what is required of you. Because the truth is, there is no one else to do it.

There is also no clear hierarchy in small business. When your superior is present, then you normally assume your given role. But in small business we do not have the pleasure of time and space (let alone, budget) - so when (and often) your superior has to be elsewhere for a different project and you have to replace him or her for an equally essential task - you assume their role. Take charge and own the project as if it's your own.

My work today spanned from answering e-mails to one of our project's stakeholders, maintaining an updated list of participants for the upcoming seminar on renewable energy hosted by our partner, digging out statistics on the availability of oil palm waste in the country, rooting for information on latest government's incentives offered to small and medium businesses in green technology sector, participating in a short discussion about another conference in October, and organising (and attending) meetings for my boss with one of our member companies before I go home. Along the day, I had to figure out what I need to do to finalise the agreements between our project members and their consultants for eco-labelling and clean development exercises which we're funding.

Title-wise, I performed the tasks of a personal assistant, an event executive and a industry/market researcher.

The trouble with being small is you may end up doing three jobs but being paid for one, and the trouble with being small is you have to learn fast and be as agile with your roles as you are in relating to your colleagues or clients at work. The trouble with being small is you have to be prepared to take or leave what you're asked to do - because with the limited resources, there is little room for trying, and because honest to god, if you fail, there is no one else there to blame.

A year and more spent being in small business, and a couple of years to come (my project will not end until 2013) - I find that I have no trouble at all with being small.