Squatters have no Rights!

Admin Gal has friends in many organizations across the land.  A common hew and cry is the presumptive use of conference rooms.

Conference rooms are a carefully scheduled resource designed to be used for the entire organization.  When one person decides to coop one without a care to the schedule or the others who have reserved the resource, well things can get ugly.

It takes an Admin of exception constitution to wade in and sort through this matter.  Sometimes we are dealing with people way beyond our pay grade.  But rules are rules.  Often times they are rules they set.  People can't just set aside rules willy-nilly because it suits.  Anarchy would reign!

Admin Gal will not have anarchy in her office that she does not cause herself!

So, conference room squatters beware.  Should you choose to lay claim to a resource that is not yours, hoping to invoke the 'possession is 9/10' and all that.  Just know that you will be summarily shuffled out of your room so that the original meeting may be held at its scheduled time.

If you choose to protest...might I remind you that as a squatter, you have no rights.

Pick Up the Phone!

We all do it.  Take a call on speaker phone because we don't have a headset, or need to multi-task.  When we live in cubicle land for a full third of our lives, it is not a full experience to hear everyones conversations.

It gets even worse when people put their own families on speaker phone, letting the whole world know their business.  Frankly, the world doesn't want to know.  I don't want to know about Aunt Martha's hemorrhoid surgery or Daddy's colitis or Sally-Jo's dating travails.  Everyone has enough drama in their lives, why do we want yours?

So, here are a few simple rules by which to keep your cubicle mates from finding creative ways of disrupting your calls:

1. Pick up the handset of the telephone!  It won't kill you and you might even have some privacy.
2. Ask IT for a headset if your neck hurts from bracing the handset between your ear and your shoulder.
3. Reserve a conference room if the call will be long or have an engaged discussion.

If your cubicle mates won't take the hints or outright requests to pick up the phone, here are a few things that might encourage them to change their ways:

1. Interrupt and participate in their conversation.  After all, if it's on speaker phone it's public consumption.
2. Have a coughing attack every time they are on the phone. The more disgusting the better. Who wants to be talking to someone who works in a germ factory.
3. Record the conversation at your desk and play if for their manager.  After all, managers really do not want their employees discussing company or personal business in a way that will disrupt everyone else's ability to do there job.

Honestly, if you don't want your personal life or your work life talked about, PICK UP THE PHONE!

Confessionals & Morale Meters

As an Admin, we are a combination of confessionals, morale meters, undercover cops and good people trying to make their work environment better.  This can be a heavy load to bear.  We are a clearing house for information good and bad for our managers on the emotional and environmental health of our areas.  Sometimes it can be overwhelming or inspiring.

We can stop trouble before issues arise with a word of well placed advice in the ear of someone who can make a difference.  At times, we have to make the difficult choices that will impact personal relationships for the greater good of the company.

While we reflect our managers in our jobs, a good Admin also manages their environment.  Providing the best work place they can for they people they work with.

Everyone deserves to work in a healthy community.

Don't You Know Who I Am?

Admin Gal must give a shout out to a friend in the west.  She is faced with many of the same dilemma's, and handles them with much grace.  In particular, her latest post is a delight with Things You Say That Will Make Me Doubt You.


Her last point in particular struck a nerve, “You don’t understand, you are going to do what I tell you.  Don’t you know who I am?”  


Unfortunately, I could relate to that poorly worded demand.  My response is pretty standard, "Actually, no, I don’t know who you are. I know all the important people by name and sight."  All the while smiling sweetly or having a sweet tone in my voice if the person is on the phone uttering such an unfortunate statement.


My internal meter for lying is pretty accurate.  When someone is pushing the 'Don't you know who I am?' card, it generally means they have absolutely nothing to back themselves up with and are blow hards. 


Now, if said individuals had asked politely for assistance.  Explaining the situation and the urgency to them, allowing for some give and take, nine times out of ten they would find that the aid/information/meetings they were trying to bully themselves into would be given freely or opportunities for other options would be opened up to them.


Instead - they are dead in the water.  Shark bait.

It must be hard for people to be important in the small land of their imagination.

Horrible Sales People Hall of Fame

Dear Sales People of the Business-verse,

I recognize that you have a job to do.  Really, I do.  But lying to the admin is a poor way to start any business relationship. We always remember the first impression and are not afraid to share our view point with our bosses.

A few words of wisdom if you want to speak with my boss:

1. Just because you get the Admin doesn't mean you need to hang up.  I write the number down and remember the rudeness.
2. My job is to screen calls, directing you to the RIGHT person.  More than likely, my boss is not the person you need to speak with. If you would give me a moment of your time, I could get you to someone you'd have a chance with.
3. Breathing heavily and hanging up will only get you mocked. Really, you have no idea the amusement you provide when you do that.
4. Implying that I'm lying, lazy, stupid, or deficient in anyway WILL get you blacklisted with in my company.  I make lists and make sure they are published.  I also make calls to your company and talk to your managers, expressing my unhappiness with your conduct.
5. Politeness will open doors, kindness will get you a conversation.

I have met some genuinely delightful sales people who have listened to me, therefore getting a coveted conversation with the appropriate person in my organization.

I have also met some truly despicable people who will forever reside in the Horrible Sales People Hall of Fame.  Not a place anyone wants to be.

Sincerely,

The Admin

Beneath Who?

Breaking News! Team members have delusions of managerial rights! News at 10!

When a team has an admin as a part of their group.  The purpose of the admin is not to get coffee, take lunch orders or other menial tasks.  Often, said admin is in the trenches with the team members contributing valuable skills to the success of the group.  Providing support for projects, even (gasp) running projects in their own right.

Sending a document to an admin to print, when the sender is perfectly capable of printing said document - well, that is beyond the pale.  You see, that is sending the message to the admin that the sender feels the admin has nothing better to do with their time but to cater to their needs.  Never mind, there might be ten to twenty other people on the team with higher priority requests.

To be perfectly frank, only the admin's direct boss has the right to ask such a task. The admin is aware their boss often is under a time crunch and needs help. For a team member to send a document, then walk out the door for lunch - that is an unacceptable use of resources.  

An admin's job is not about doing someone's tasks that they feel are beneath them.  An admin's job is to enhance the overall work of the team.

Grazers Beware!

They wait outside a catered meeting, hovering around the door like moths to a flame.  The subtle smell of food slips out from underneath the closed door.  As the appointed end time approaches, the jockeying around the door takes on a frenzied pitch as people try to figure out how to get into the room while not running down the exiting participants.


The meeting is over.  The door opens.  The first person out the door is met by a crazed crowd of food poachers. They throw up their padfolios in a defensive posture, bulldozing their way through the stampeding throng.  The chaos in the doorway between the entrants and exitants is tense.


A hew and cry of torment is given when the poachers realize that the much anticipated free meal has been eaten by the intended party.  Not a crumb to spare.  The hapless  meeting attendees have already scurried back to their various desks, safe.


For the moment.


You can't tell me it doesn't exist in your company the professional grazer, that goes from event to event. Uninvited, ever poaching what is not theirs.  The really bold ones, actually walk into the meeting helping themselves to food that hasn't included them in the count.

The ever vigilant admin has to watch the food like a hawk for the catered meeting.  Making sure that the intended audience received the meal.  Catered meals do not come cheap.  There are budgets and head counts involved.  When people start poaching, they start wreaking havoc on carefully laid plans.

Thus, invoking the wrath of the Admin!  And frankly? It can't end well.

Feeling Judged

Mid-Year Reviews time has hit.  I have to admit that this time of year always feels like a crap shoot. 

I know that I've done a good job during the year. I've listened to any coaching I've received and applied it. Working to create a better environment for myself and those around me.  

But, actually sitting in the review is nerve-wracking. How I perceive my work is going through the lens of another's perception. It can go either way.

I am proud to say that I was spot on with my assessment of my work so far this year.

Half a year down, half a year to go.

Go Team!

Food is in the Air

To the office staff in general:

I, Admin Gal, send a plea of epic proportions out to save my olfactory sense. Preserve this delicate sense of smell for the flowers that bloom beyond our concrete jungle, for the sweet smell of baby powder after a bath, for anything other than the malodorous offense of fish and some other indecipherable substance that has been heated up in the microwave.

Oftentimes our midday meal is the main meal of our day. But to bring something that will send a stank through the floor, ruining everyone else's meal is just plain rude. Some businesses actually have rules as to what can be brought to work to be heated up, so not to offend the general populace.

I implore you to be considerate. If you must have your super spicy jambalaya (which I adore), your fabulous curry that your grandmother makes, the fish that only the cat should eat, please take into consideration the people you work with. Their stomachs and noses may not be as fortified as yours.