Hacking & Coughing

Admin Gal appreciates a firm work ethic.  In fact, she is a firm believer that very few things should prevent one from getting the job done.  

However...

Please do not come to the office hacking and coughing, spreading your germs under the guise of being a good little soldier.  Martyr doesn't look good on anyone.

Please do everyone a favor and follow these simple suggestions:

1. If you are feeling under the weather, stay home, sleep, give your body a fighting chance to get over whatever it is that has assaulted you.
2. Don't hack and wheeze your way around the office.  The office environment is worse than kindergarten when it comes to illnesses.  Give your co-workers a break. Don't bring it to the office.
3. Work from home if you aren't feeling well.  Technology is marvelous, use it.
4. Go to the Doctor if it doesn't go away.  

Help keep the work environment healthy.

Thank you!

Spell Check, People!

Admin Gal gets it, we are all in a hurry.  Our society has been destroyed by that 140 character monster Twitter and texting.  

If Admin Gal receives one more email that ends in kthxbai.  She will not be held responsible for her actions.  She KNOWS that Mrs. Grady of your first grade spelling class did not find that acceptable spelling. 

In middle school, still not acceptable.

No, high school term paper would have passed with such an atrocity.

What in the name of sanity, makes one think that kthxbai would be acceptable in business correspondence. Even the spell checker can't make head's or tails of it.

Do the world a favor, prove that your formative education actually made an impression and spell things correctly.  Future generations and your business associates will thank you for it.

Greasy Fingerprints of Guilt

Admin Gal has an issue with organizations that will not trust the committees to complete the tasks they are assigned.

Projects can not be group managed.  The failure rate is 99.99% when this happens.  An excellent example is a newsletter.  Yes, content can be produced from the organization at large.  When it comes to the actual assembly and coordination of said newsletter, let the assignee's do their job.

Who shoulders the blame when everything goes to pot?  The original group who was assigned the task, that's who.  But the greasy fingerprints of the guilty, meddlesome creatures who couldn't help themselves, will be emblazoned on the smoldering heap of the failure.

Admin Gal's conclusion is - if you can't let go, don't assign the job.

Phishing

It's bad enough Admin Gal has to deal with Sales people who give the profession a bad name.  She knows there are plenty of good ones in the sea.  But it chaps her behind when a company invokes the name of two other companies in order to phish for information.

Admin Gal just had the misfortune of a call from 'Jack', I didn't know that there were many 'Jack's' in India, who said he was from FEDEX who said he had a package for my boss.  It's one thing to confirm the address.  The tell is when the 'Jack' in question starts confirming rank and position with the company.  What does that have to do with the package?

Admin Gal detests liars.

The phishing expedition was very disappointing for 'Jack', but entertaining for us.

Sales Call Fail #1

Admin:   Good Afternoon, thank you for calling ABC Company, how may I help you?

Sales Person:  I'd like to speak with Mr. XXXX.

Admin: I'm sorry he is unavailable, may I take a message?

Sales Person: If he is unavailable, no. Click

Admin Gal as a few pithy remarks about this brief yet memorable conversation. 

Her boss is never available on first blush to a stranger.  If you don't leave a message, Admin Gal PROMISES he will never ever be available to you.  

The arrogance of assumption that you are able to speak to a ranking executive in a Fortune 500 company based on a cold call, tells Admin Gal that you have an elevated sense of importance.  She'll be happy to send you crashing back to earth.  Painfully or politely is entirely your choice.

Asking the best way to contact the executive WILL win points in Admin Gal's eyes and might get you in the door.  

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Admin Gal walked into the office yesterday morning to find that not a phone in the building worked, the software program that ran her business unit has been taken hostage by gremlins and Monday has officially crapped all over Tuesday.

Spending the entire day sending email after email as to why the telephone system has the attention span of a gnat, the internet is as loyal as a cat and various programs have become recalcitrant has become maddening.

Here is the plain and simple truth.  Admin Gal did not break any of the following:

1. The phone system.
2. The internet.
3. The software.

Yes, she has called all the appropriate agencies to fix the problems.  No, hovering will only annoy her.

If you ask Admin Gal again 'Is it fixed yet?', no court in the land will convict her for the wrath she will bring down upon your head.

Have a nice day.

Workplace Dance

How many times have we felt overwhelmed, over-worked and over-utilized by the people we are suppose to be supporting?  It's sad that we seem to be able to do their job and not get their pay.

An Administrative Professional is a special breed of employee.  We have a special ability to be able to see globally while managing the details that get the job done.  Unfortunately, there are co-workers that see this as an opportunity to pass on parts of their jobs to the Admin.  

This is where, we the Admins, must have clearly defined roles in our workplace.  I'm happy to help people out, but only my boss has the authority to add to my workload.

I'll be blunt, I'm not paid enough to do their job and mine.

Chemical Warfare

Over the weekend, an unfortunate accident happened to the coffee machine in the office kitchenette. The water supply became disconnected.  Someone came in Monday morning to a spectacular geyser of water.  Who knows how long it had been going on.

Frantic calls were made to get the water shut off and the carpet mopped up. The next day, the all important coffee maker was still off-line, repair people had been called in for its revival.

The building maintenance people were working on drying out the carpet. One bright soul decided, in the middle of the work day, to lay down a layer of the foulest smelling carpet cleaning chemical on the affected portion of the carpet.  Let's list the effects on the working populace:

• Headaches
• Nausea
• Sore Throats
• Irritability

When a complaint was filed, the response was to lay down a layer of aerosol fragrance to cover up the smell. 

Does anyone see a problem?  Anyone?

Admin Gal is currently on the building maintenance hit list. She is a witch of epic proportions for defending hers and others well-being.  She is waiting for the company facility rep to parlay with the building maintenance to fix the problem. 

Air filter masks have been purchased for the duration of the stand-off.