WP41 - Professional Inquiry Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences

Workshop - Narrative Inquiry

Name: Sanduni Pamuditha

Context: Helping others in teamwork (work or university)

Individual: Consider how you envision help, write your definition of help.

What I think that help is being there for someone in need. When someone is facing a
challenge or going though a difficult time in life, being there for them assisting them in needs
and guiding them to stand up in life to live a normal life can be defined as help according to
what I feel.

Individual: Immerse yourself in that definition and identify an instance where you provided
help to your colleague(s). Write a story about a situation that shows what happened.

Since I’ve been working in the customer service industry, I have helped so many individuals,
both colleagues and customers, my entire professional life. I believe I was a very helpful
person during the pandemic time when I was working at Qatar Airways. My entire team was
positive with Covid-19 virus and my colleagues were taken away to different locations to
undergo quarantine measures. The entire workload of seven other agents was on me and I
had to ensure that the Colombo city office was running its operations smoothly. When the
entire world was facing its own challenges due to the virus, I managed to help thousands to
passengers to arrive back at their home safe. When my colleagues they were happy and
surprised that there were no complains even during this difficult time, but appreciation e-mails
from Head Office thanking and valuing my efforts to keep the promise by Qatar Airways,
“Going Places Together”

Individual: Think of a time when you received help. Write a story about a situation that shows
what happened.

Two years ago, I lost one of my closest friends in life due to a road traffic accident. We had
been best friends since our small days and losing him was a traumatic event in my life. I was
depressed and I hardly saw a purpose in life, because he passed away at a very young age.
But my mother helped me with my hardships. My mother was talking to me all the time and
guiding me to understand the basics of life, if we are born, we will die someday. But until then
it is our purpose to live our lives in the best way possible. Her guidance and words did
encourage me not to give up but to live a happy life. She was there for me like my shadow
WP41 - Professional Inquiry Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences

taking care of me in my difficult times and she did not let me down. My mother is my greatest
pillar in life where she has helped me many times in need and when I was lost.

Individual: Read your two stories to identify commonalities and differences.

One commonality I figured out by doing this activity was that I am trying to share my emotions,
such as happiness, sadness, pride etc. I have taken two different scenarios where I offered
help at a professional environment and to where I received help at a personal situation in my
personal life. Also another difference that I observed was in the 1st case help was offered to a
work colleague and in the case where help received was from my mother, a significant person
in my personal life.

Pairs: Share the two stories with another person; Identify common elements of help between
the two persons (i.e. the 4 stories). Where are they the same and where are they different?

Where are they the same?

After going through my colleague’s story in help I found out that we both had five similarities in
our stories. Both of us participated or we offered help during work and at our workplace in the
first scenario. We both offered our help without request from the other party. We both took the
duties of another person and acted responsibly and accurately without causing mistakes and
harming or tarnishing the name of our colleagues. After offering help both of us were
appreciated by our colleagues. Both of us expressed our emotions in terms of providing and
offering help.

Where are they different?

By referring and after comparing the for stories I found out that we do have some differences
as well in the way we received and offered help. The situations, the places, the time, by whom
and to whom the hep was offered were the major differences that I figured. In the second
scenario, I selected a personal story and my friend discussed about case where whe received
help during work. Furthermore, in the first scenario I am taking the whole responsibility of the
tam and by colleague takes partial ownership by sharing help with her colleague. But, despite
the differences both of us was expressing our emotions while being courteous to where we
received help.