Inside EUMETSAT - meet Anne-Marie
Get to know us a little better
We’re very pleased to introduce you to the wonderful Anne-Marie Andrieux, who helps out many of the staff at EUMETSAT in her Secretarial role within the Strategy, Communication and International Relations (SCIR) Division and brightens up everybody’s day with her positive attitude.
Anne-Marie was more than happy to talk to us about her varied role, her active social life and how things have changed since she first joined the organisation.
Can you talk a bit about your role at EUMETSAT
I work in an international team like most people here, which is really interesting when organising different types of events because each member of the team has very different approaches as to how they organise conferences, seminars, or small VIP meetings.
Sometimes we have to compromise in order to reach an agreement, but you can also appreciate and learn some new ways of doing things from each other.
We also have our preferences when it comes to the tasks involved with organising events, for example, I especially like discussing the catering options with the catering company and so that often becomes one of my tasks, whilst the other team members prefer to take care of the things that they like more, perhaps something a bit more logistical (which for me is less exciting!).
However, we all support each other so that we can replace one another in any situation, like for example, uploading our internal news, organising reviews of translations or taking care of printing jobs for the graphic designers.
The tasks are quite varied and so the role is never boring!
Do you share all of the tasks or do you have your own specific tasks?
Everybody has their own tasks but in case one of us is away, we’re supposed to be able to take over. This is important so that everything can be completed as scheduled. We have a shared account so that we can follow up all the requests coming in from both the division and everybody within the organisation as a whole.
We also have regular meetings to discuss the organisation of the many events we have here. Normally, two of us take care of one event so that way we can share the event load equally - because we are always changing the dynamic, you realise the end result is always different and you can find some good ways of working from each other. We also get feedback from the participants at the end of an event, which helps us improve further.
Are the events you organise always internal or do you organise some external events too?
We have some external events too. I’m really happy to take care of some of the visitor tours we get coming to EUMETSAT, which can be fun when it’s showing members of the public around.
I used to organise tours when working at other companies and also as a hobby in my spare time for French/German groups, so I’m used to being in contact with tourist agencies. I like the challenge of trying to figure out what might be interesting for a group but is also manageable for 150 people in two hours - you have to have some kind of feel for that.
How long have you been working here?
Oh, many years! In December it will be 16 years - the longest in my professional career.
And how has your role changed since joining the company?
Completely. I started in a division that does not exist any longer called the Quality Assurance Division and was the only woman working with male engineers. Our boss started recruiting women not long after and so progressively, it became more gender balanced.
As our topic can be quite… dry, I tried to make the life of these engineers a little bit happier and a bit more fluid by introducing some social activities. For example, when we had divisional meetings I would ask if anybody was having a birthday and suggested bringing some things to celebrate, so that we could have some kind of easy going meetings from time to time! The topics involved (like management review meetings or internal audits) could be a bit heavy.
In parallel to that, I was supporting the main translator (as my background is in translation) and so I was spending 40% of my time as a backup for them, as there was only one official translator at that time.
When the division eventually disappeared and since I had already experienced working for the Communications Division, I applied to the open vacancy, which at the time was this mixed position of administrative work and support to the graphic designers - the rest is history. Since then, there has been some reorganisation and today we have the current SCIR Division.
So you have had quite a varied background, including translation - is this what you studied?
Yes, I completed a masters in translation for English/German/French. When I arrived in Germany, I translated German-English and English-German or it was German-French, French-German but it was never English-French.
My first encounter with this combination was at EUMETSAT, which was quite tough at the beginning because your mind is used to one way of working and you have to reset it completely to change the way you think which was a bit challenging!
You’re from France originally - which part?
I’m from a suburb in the south of Paris but my roots are more in the centre of France, a place where there are not so many tourists called the Massif Central. It’s a remote area, very isolated with only good cheese, cows and nice walking tracks, but not many signs to follow so that’s why not many people visit.
What do you like about living in Germany and how does it compare to living in France?
I’ve been here so long now! I did try living back in France again but returned to Germany because I like the way German people work and found it hard to adapt again to the French way of working.
For me, living and working in Germany is much more organised and there’s less wasting time. That being said, sometimes I do miss the spontaneous side of other countries but generally speaking it’s very straightforward here and there are not too many surprises!
I used to live in Marburg, which is close to the north of Frankfurt, and I came across (for the first time) an organic market which, coming from Paris, was very progressive for a small town and I really enjoyed that. I also love the nature here.
What would you say are the main things you enjoy about the role and the main challenges you face?
It can be a challenge to work in a multicultural environment sometimes, as you work with so many different backgrounds and personalities. I do like being able to talk in a foreign language each day though, and I have no problem if I don’t talk French during the day.
I also enjoy the variety of tasks a lot and there can be some surprises each time there’s a new event to organise, for example, if the organisers want something new that we haven’t done before. I like to learn new things, so even if I’m a bit “technically challenged” sometimes, I get to try out new ways of working and learn new skills.
What do you like about working at EUMETSAT in general, what has kept you here for 16 years?
I have always enjoyed working in an international company, which I always managed but on a smaller scale than now. I’m happy to be working in an environment that is a part of important world issues, for example, climate change, which is becoming the focus of a lot of politicians and so I’m now getting more involved with the topic.
On top of this, working with such a diverse group of people can compensate a bit for the heavy procedures and bureaucratic manner we have here - it’s nice to have this lighter side to balance it out.
What do you like to do when you’re not at EUMETSAT?
Oh many things, I am never bored! I do some local radio in French for Radio Darmstadt and interview people for that.
What kind of topics do you discuss - is it just local news?
It’s mostly topics such as culture, sport and politics but really anything interesting that I can pick up because now I have quite a large network around the Rhine-Main area.
I also interview people from other French-speaking countries like Africa, as sometimes there are African concerts held in Darmstadt so I might interview the musicians to help them promote it.
I also give a French class once a week, I like dancing and I am an outdoor person so I like to do a bit of sport outside or pick fruit to make marmalade.
Are you a member of any of the EUMETSAT clubs?
Yes, I was immediately thrilled by this organisation of social activities so I very quickly became the chair of the fitness club years ago. I stopped for a few years but now I’m back at it.
I’m also a member of the cycling and “Better World” club which encourages staff to take positive action for a better world. I am a passive member for a few other clubs to try to support them, for example, I support the dancing club as I have quite a few contacts and so I like to help people connect.
Now there are more and more younger people joining EUMETSAT so you also need to be open to trying new things.
Aren’t you singing sometimes too?
Yes, we have a French choir and we’re hoping that next year we will have a small performance. For this, we need to get a bit more organised but we’re lucky we’re able to use the facilities here to practise. You can train on the things you enjoy which is fantastic - if you do something during your lunch break for example, you come back to work having released a lot of things and start the afternoon with a fresh, positive mind.
Do you have any favourite memories so far at EUMETSAT?
Oh yes! For many years we performed in a carnival or “Fasching” on the premises. One of the staff members would organise the whole thing plus write the storyline, noting down everything that had happened during the whole year and we would then act this out.
The Fasching parties always took place in February and would involve strong British humour (as the scriptwriter was British) and re-written songs that would be performed at the end. We were quite a big group so a lot of people would come and watch for the fun of listening to us. After more than 10 years it was a bit tiring and a lot of work for the writer, so he eventually decided to stop.
We performed one last time for the 30th anniversary and we had so much fun. The Fasching after-parties were also great as we would get to watch each other on a recording and there were a lot of laughs when somebody forgot the words and improvised - everybody that was a part of this Fasching misses it a lot and we really want him to organise them again!
You don’t want to take care of it?
No, I like to be a part of it and support the organisation as much as I can but I already take care of a lot of things for the other clubs, including distributing warm clothes to the community, plus my other hobbies, so I don’t have the time to organise something so big - I have enough on my plate! However, if somebody decides to start things up again then I will of course support this with a lot of heart and enthusiasm!
Thanks a lot to Anne-Marie for taking time out of her VERY busy schedule to talk to us!
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