Ain't No Rest for The Wicked

Admin Gal has determined that vacation is just another excuse for said employer to invent new and unusual ways to torment employees upon their return.

Upon her return, Admin Gal found:

1. 700 emails in her inbox - No, that is NOT an exaggeration.  She only wishes it were.  Oh, the horror, the horror! 
2. Numerous 'projects' assigned to her in her absence - After all, how could Admin Gal say 'NO' if she wasn't there to do so. GRRRRRR!
3. Two supply rooms to unpack - The dreaded office move occurred during her absence.
4. And one new Admin, who was close to making a break for it.

Was the vacation worth it? Absolutely!

Admin Gal loves her job!

You've got to Move it, Move it

Admin Gal has been movin' it all right.  The floor move is looming, her vacation is scheduled smack dab in the middle of the move (excellent timing one would say - ha!), she is training new admins, AND packing out her boss's office and her own.

Admin Gal is pretty sure that the company is conspiring against her to make sure she is too exhausted to enjoy her 10 days free of the corporate overlords.  

Never fear, where Admin Gal is going, she'll be beyond the reach of cell phones, email and/or smoke signals. If the office implodes before she gets back, she will dutifully put all the pieces back together.

Vacation Admonitions

In preparation for taking some well deserved down time, Admin Gal has prepared the following prep list for her executive team:

1. Communications - I have set up a back up Admin to assist you during my absence.  No, that does not mean you can email me, telephone me or contact me in any fashion for the aforementioned time.  The back-up Admin is there to assist you while I am out of the office taking a well deserved break from YOU, drinking Mai Tai's until I can't remember where I work.
2. Projects - Any actions that need to be addressed while I am gone should be directed to my associate.  She has been brief in any out-standing items and can render assistance.  DO NOT hoard your tasks until my return, demanding that I complete said tasks as an emergency of your making.
3. My Desk - DO NOT pile my desk with tasks, papers, files or assorted notes of things you might have forgotten to tell me before I left.  I am not there to read  or accomplish them.  (if they are time sensitive... well SOL)  The last thing I want to do is come back to a desk piled high of things that you no long want on your desk.  Or sticky-notes covering my monitor of things you deem too important for me to forget upon my return.

If these three simple guidelines can be met, your Admin will be returned to you in a relaxed and stress-free fashion, ready to take on the next gargantuan set of tasks set before her.

Alas, if you can not help yourselves and can not avail yourselves of the resources left to help you while your Admin is away...

May the PTB's (Powers That Be) rest your souls.

Summer Madness

A good Admin tracks calendars, meetings and the occasional UFO through out the course of her duties. During the summer months the added stress of tracking the dates of the executives vacation schedules can be enough to send one around the bend.

The purpose of a good calendar system is to use it to block out vacation days. Not to let everyone guess where you might be when you disappear. On top of that people feel it necessary to guard the contents of their calendars like they are national secrets, privy only to the President himself. REALLY?

Look, I don’t care if you are having lunch with the Dali Lama or your girlfriend. If the boss is asking where you are and I can see if you are on vacation or in a meeting there are problems.
Do me a favor, as your Admin and let me when you are out of the office.

A Day Away

When an Admin is away, be it for vacation, training, or whatever, strange thing happen to their desks.  Mountains of paper gravitate mysteriously to any flat surface forming precarious piles. Anything of questionable nature lands haphazardly on the desk chair, the desk or the floor around the desk.  Plants mysteriously sicken and are never the same again, this Admin thinks they've been traumatized by what strange things they've witnessed.  Needless to say, time off is a terrifying proposition.

While the time off is often needed and wanted, a small part of our brain way back in the back is ticking down the time to our return.  Doing our best to ignore it, we turn off our cell phones, promising our selves we will ignore all calls from the office. We approach all computers like they are live ordinance, fighting the urge to log on to our email client just to get a jump- start.

Sometimes the urge is to strong and we give in, only to be horrified by the sheer volume of people ignoring the Out Of Office (OOO) message.  The assumption that we will take care of them during our time off because they are special.

If the Admin is smart, they book  a cruise were cell phone reception or internet connectivity is non-existent and have a long cold drink.

While the Cat's Away

Well gentle reader, the cat is out of the office.  Does that mean that I, the mouse, have license to merrily play? To scamper about without a care in the world? To (gasp) slack off?

Only in my dreams!  When my boss is out of the office work related or on vacation, I find that my time is filled with people who perceive that I have a void in my life that they would like to fill.  For example:

Manager Minion (3 levels below my boss):  Oh look the boss’s admin is without guidance and leadership let me fill that void for her! (Placing a large amount of their workload on my desk for me to do)

Savvy Admin:  While I appreciate your attempt to make sure that I have enough to occupy myself while the boss is away, let me tell you what I have to do first before I can even consider your pile. (I proceed to educate them in my job)

Manager Minion (taking back the pile of work): Oh I did not realize that you did more than leap to his beck and call.

Savvy Admin (smiling benignly):  Yes, I do have a number of other responsibilities, but I would be happy to speak to your manager about your workload since you seem to need help with it.

Manager Minion (beating a hasty retreat): That won’t be necessary!

I find working with the boss remote strife with its own challenges.  It’s harder to judge moods and needs during the day. Knowing what meetings have been successfully completed is next to impossible. 

But, that being said, it is nice to have some down time.  So when the cat is away, this mouse will breath deep and catch up.