Chatter Much?

As an Admin, I’m all for communication, camaraderie, and corporate cohesion.  But when in a cubicle environment, over chatter is tantamount to TMI (too much information).

I’ve heard stories about children, pets, relationships,  and love lives that would curl your hair.  Apparently, people feel that the laws of acoustical physics do not apply in cubical land.  We all know that fabric and styrofoam are impervious sound barriers – NOT!

It’s hard to turn a deaf ear to complaining and moaning about their lot in life about how miserable their jobs are.  We all know that times are tough.

To quote a sign I recently saw, “IF YOU’RE UNHAPPY WHERE YOU ARE – MOVE!“

We all chatter amongst ourselves, it’s human nature.  It’s our jobs to make our environment uplifting an positive.  The negative chatter and mind sets only make things miserable, sowing seeds of destruction and strife.

If you can’t say something positive – please don’t say anything at all!

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.

Meeting Hierarchy

As an admin, I find myself juggling calendars to arrange meetings of varying importance.  When arranging them, I have to take into account the attendees and their rank within the corporation.  I support a CIO, president of a business unit, a couple of Vice Presidents and various Directors.  Often my meeting notices include managers and other people whose presences are required but whose schedules are in conflict with my executives.

So here is a lesson to be learned.  When in the hierarchy of the business world, if your boss tells you that you are required to attend a meeting and the only time HE or SHE can hold it (according to their schedule) is at a specific time that does not jibe with your schedule -- you need to be there.  So please don't call me, telling me to reschedule a meeting that has people who rank higher than you in the company.  You won't win.

In the grand scheme of things, you need to move your schedule to accommodate their schedule.  As an admin, I have done everything in my power to find a time that will work for everyone.  Failing that, the executives schedule win every time.