The Art of the Smile

Some days a simple smile can go a long way in the office environment.  I'm not talking a flirty or suggestive smile. I'm talking about a genuine happy to see you, I'm glad you are here smile.

The smile is something so simple, yet so powerfully profound.  When the office environment is tough, someone is having a really bad day, a smile can make all the difference in the world.

Not to be too dramatic, but a smile can save a life.

When you smile at a person, it means you acknowledge them.  You've made an effort to notice them.  In an age where we are inundated by deadlines, buried in assignments, and overwhelmed by responsibilities, being acknowledged can truly make a difference in your day or someone else's.

So, Admin Gal's Challenge to the world at large is to smile at someone today.

Save someone's day, and maybe their life.

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.

What Defines You?

Everyone has a job to do.  That is a simple truth.  You can be a baker, butcher or a candle-stick maker. In the corporate world, a receptionist, a manager, or an executive.  Or anything in between.

What you do is not as important as how you do it.  Do you have a passion for your job or are you just watching the clock  to pick up he paycheck at the end of the pay period?

If you are the later, you are doing yourself and the people you work for and with a HUGE disservice.  My question to you is why do you bother?

I enjoy the challenge of being an Admin.  Without my particular skill set my current organization would suffer.  My job is to be the glue to hold my organization together.  I am a liason between management and the floor.  Keeping a pulse on the morale is an important part of what I do.  I am defined by my demeanor of professionalism that I maintain during stressful times.  By the genuine caring of the good people with whom I work with.

So, back to my original question. What defines you?

My actions in life define me.

Timeliness is Next to...

If a contractor says they are going to be doing work at 1:30 pm, knowing full well that the people they need to see are leaving at 2 pm.

DO NOT Show up 15 minutes past the deadline thinking that all will be well. It won't be.  You will have a very cranky, non-cooperative  individual on your hands.  Whose time has been wasted.

Just because as a corporation we choose to pay extreme amounts of money to be told how to manage ourselves, a little courtesy goes a long way.  Makes the sting of cutting those very large checks less painful.  So, respecting the various calendars, appointments and just the individuals time is a sign of respect.  When a consultant stops extending those common courtesies, well contracts can be broken.

If you set a time, stick to it.  It makes a better impression and the world a brighter place.

Melting the Myth

Admin Gal is irritated. Why do you ask, oh fabulous reader? I’ll tell you!

Admin Gal is irritated with the double standard of perfection. Yes, that nasty, unobtainable expectation that is set forth before us in our performance evaluations. Yet frankly, never achievable.

Perfection on the job is a high subjective thing. One person’s perception of perfection will be completely counter another person.

The dilemma Admin Gal faces is she can’t read minds. This automatically sets her up for failure in the eyes of the person expecting perfection.

Maybe Admin Gal is becoming Zen or numb. But she has come to the realization that perfection is as elusive as the frost on a window. Pretty to look at, but under scrutiny it melts into nothing.

So, Admin Gal ignores the unobtainable expectations of others dreams of perfections. She simply lives a life that is guided by integrity, diligence and the desire to always do ones best.

At the end of the day, those same people can seldom live up to their own expectations of perfection.

Why should Admin Gal?

Upon Your Actions

The hierarchy of the workplace is a fascinating thing.  For some, their rise is a result of steady, quality work that is rewarded by promotion through the ranks.  For others, hierarchy is viewed as a maniacal game of strategy.  The farther they are promoted, the better the 'parachute' is on the way out the door.  For the rest of us, it is truly only a mindset.  Work provides only a base for our lives outside of work.
 The reality is we all put our trousers on one leg at a time and bleed the same color, red.
 Whether we drive a Yugo or a Lamborghini, you are only as important as you are in your own mind.  Respect is earned through your actions, not through your paycheck or title.
 Businesses are only as good as the people who manage them.  If managers are always seeking the next nifty, shining business model that promises to save the company and put the profits through the roof the end result is nothing.  But when managers use common sense, respect and hard work, their employees can see and respect that no matter the out come.
Countries have been won or lost based on the respect or lack of due to the actions and behaviors of their respective hierarchies.  The same can be said about companies.

Dress Code or How Not to Dress Like a Pop Tart

The summer has drawn to a close.  People have once more started covering their bodies with more layers of clothing in order to accommodate the wildly fluctuating temperatures of the fall.  HOWEVER...
That doesn't mean that some people do not try to keep summer alive.  The sad, sad truth is that companies need to put forth some sort of dress codes. If only to educate the clueless.
This summer my eyes have been assaulted with cleavage baring tops on people where more fabric is a necessity not a fashion statement.  Skirts that with a stiff wind or an inappropriate bend the world would be privy to their privates.  More knarly, sparkly flip-flops that were stinky bio-hazards that did not belong in a corporate environment.  All of the above a direct violation of the company's dress code.

People.  I am not the fashion police.  I'm sure that people look at me and say I could desperately use a make over.  But when I leave the house in the morning, I know that no fashion catastophe will happen.  All my bits and parts will stay properly covered and never see the light of day so that my co-workers will wish never had happened.

The advice of a good friend follows :   Folks – put a mirror in your foyer – one last look before you leave for work, doesn’t hurt.  If you have to question to yourself whether or not something is appropriate, it probably isn’t!

Responsibility

As I travel through the blogosphere, I encounter a bevy of different types of bloggers.  Each blogger trying to accomplish a different goal.  Some wish to document their lives, some vent their frustrations, some share knowledge, some start businesses.
The Blogosphere is a cornucopia of opportunity.
Lately, a debate about anonymous blogging has raged.  One camp has cried that taking away the anonymity is akin to taking our First Amendment Right of Free Speech.  The other camp states that you should take responsibility for what you write regardless of the consequences.  Yes, First Amendment Rights of Free Speech apply but those who are responsible are writing within that context and have nothing to fear.
I have to say that stand in the second camp.  I live by the rule 'If my mother can't read what I write, I don't publish it!' Trite I know.  I feel that too many people hide behind a mask to publish slanderous and defamatory materials about decent people.  All under the guise of Free Speech.


Free Speech does not protect against slander and libel.  Both of which are prosecutable.  Publishing anonymously doesn't give anyone the right to hurt another person.  PERIOD.

Not all Anonymous Bloggers publish with the intent to harm.  Some are worried about personal security.  There are plenty of opportunists that can do irreparable harm with just a little bit of seemingly harmless information.  That being said, I truly believe the majority of bloggers simply wish to express themselves, if asked they will reveal themselves.

I'll be honest.  While I might be pointed and tart in what I say, I stand by my opinion.  I am a private individual, who welcomes new friends and acquaintances. As the light of bloggers rights is being shined across the blogosphere, I know that I can stand in the light and fear no shadows.
I am a blogger.

Oh NO He Didn't

Gentle Reader, here is an authentic conversation had during Admin Gal’s very hectic busy day.  Admin Gal would like to point out the numerous egregious errors of this sales person.

Admin Gal: “Thank you for calling XXXXX.  How may I help you?”

India Sales Guy: "Hello, I'm looking for the CIO of your company XXXXXX? Can you direct me you him?"

Admin Gal: “I’m sorry we have no XXXXX in the company directory.”

India Sales Guy: “Can you tell me who the CIO is?” (Strike #1)

Admin Gal: “No”

India Sales Guy: “Why not?”

Admin Gal: “Did your even research my company?”

India Sales Guy: “No. Does that matter?” (Strike #2)

Admin Gal (completely flummoxed by the lack of preparedness and sheer lack of survival skills of this sales person): “Of course it matters, I’m not paid to do your job.  Please research my company.”

The intrepid Admin Gall then ends the call, annoyed but already on to other things.
15 minutes later, the phone rings.  Admin Gal is unable to answer the phone because she has someone at her cubicle.  She picks up the call she let go to voice mail after her visitors left.

India Sales Guy: “I’ve done my research, the CIO is XXXXX.” CLICK (Strike #3)

Admin Gal stares at her telephone in disbelief.
Another 15 minutes, the phone rings again.  Admin Gal picks up.

Admin Gal: “Thank you for calling XXXX. How may I help you?”

India Sales Guy: “I’ve done my research, the CIO is XXXXX.”CLICK

India Sales Guy STILL got the CIO name wrong, called Admin Gal back THREE times internationally in order to prove himself right.

Could India Sales Guy prove his childishness anymore.  All she needed was a face with  the fingers wiggling in the ears and the tongue sticking out.

However, Admin Gal did get his company name.

Who has the last laugh?