Morale

Sometimes morale is a tough sell in the workplace. With budget cuts, lay offs, increased productivity in the form of more to do with less people.  Everyone is under the gun at work.  It gets really tiring, and frankly demoralizing.

At the end of the day we should be able to walk out the door each day and leave the job behind, satisfied we've done our best.  And that should be enough.

But it's not.

How do we take control of our work environment, making it healthy?  The answers are simple, the implementation, not so much:

1. Say 'NO'.  If people have a habit of dumping part of their job on you, enforce your boundaries and push back.  
2. Prioritize what comes across your desk. - When there are conflicting priorities, communicate with the parties involved and find a solution that won't send you over the edge.
3. Don't take work home.  
4. Just Breathe.  Take a moment and breathe.  Don't let the stress build.  A little stress is normal, it comes and goes.  Stress that doesn't go away is deadly.  Take the time to breathe, work through stress.

When you are happier and in a healthier place, your morale is good.  Morale is a virus that is contagious, good morale will spread as easily as bad.

Shark vs. the Guppy

There are some days this admin feels like a guppy surrounded by a bunch of sharks.  Small, without a lot of merit.

Those days tend to be few an far between. Why, faithful reader, do you ask?  It's simple.  As I dart in and out of the different sharks swimming along their various paths, I realize a have a mobility and an ability to change direction in a blink of an eye. Staying out of the way of the serrated teeth that might look at me as an appetizer.

And if I get really annoyed, I'll give the shark a firm punch on the nose. Sending them off to sulk in the depths of the sea to think about what they might have done.

A good admin, swims among the sharks with finesse and savvy, biting back when necessary.

Am I Risk Adverse?

I’m currently blessed to be employed.  Due to the circumstances of my employment I am surrounded by people who are in the process of losing their jobs due to a decision to off-shore their jobs.  Needless to say the environment is a little hostile.

This is proving to be a fascinating study in human nature.  Some people sit and moan about the tragedy about to befall them.  They wander the halls weeping and wailing, mourning their loss. 

Some are confused with the situation.  They know that opportunities are out there, but have no idea how to take advantage of them.

Then there are those who are taking the opportunity to reinvent themselves.  Stepping outside of their comfort zone.  Looking at jobs that the little voice in their head would normally be saying no to.  Taking that risk. 

I’ve learned that without risk, there is no reward. 

So, to answer my own question am I risk adverse? No.