Maintaining Work Life Accomplishments

Our client, George*, worked in management at a large company analyzing project and materials budgets many years. He has been retired for many years, yet his identity is closely tied to his work life and accomplishments.  He understands the processes of project planning and review very well.  In an effort to connect him to feelings of competence and capability despite significant cognitive changes, our Hummingbird activity specialist created an outing to Plan a Company Meeting.

The activity specialist started the “Planning a company meeting” project by arranging for a site visit at a community park auditorium that would be a nice setting for the meeting. As part of the planning process, they did the following:

• Surveyed the facility to see if it was appropriate for a company meeting.

• Counted the number of chairs per table to estimate the capacity, and greeted the manager of the space.

• Noticed that it was cold so they checked to see if heat was available. The manager of the space advised enjoying the brisk coolness to save money by not turning on the heat. Never-the-less, they were satisfied learning that heat was available.

• Noted the large parking garage nearby.

In this case, the event was fictional, but it’s possible to use this useful information gathered to plan an upcoming event.

Adaptation: Planning a company picnic

In the car on the way home, George continued to think about the event and asked when it was. They reviewed their findings from the site visit, which highlighted the value of the excursion, reinforcing the client’s feeling of being productive.

* Name changed to protect client confidentiality. Photos published with permission.