Just in case you are waxing nostalgic about work...

[laurence]

So my day starts bad, and goes worse. Two meetings, two conference calls, I get back from one to find my outlook has twelve, TWELVE reminders open! Everybody is out, and half of them listed me as their backup. And then it occurred to me I had to get my expense report in for my trip or else I wouldn't get reimbursed by next paycheck. Well, since last time, they've implemented a new system to assist you.....AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!

After an hour, I give up and beg the surly admin assistant to help me, upon which I get a look like, "did you just evolve to walking on two feet this morning?" and suffer through a humiliating, abusive session on the difference between company card transactions, fixed per diem, allowable this, non-allowable that....why do they want me to itemize a personal expense I don't want them to reimburse? Why do they need reciepts for things like airfare that they purchased? Why have a computerized system if I have to then take all my reciepts and staple them to a hard copy report and mail it in anyway? Why does it have to be mailed when we have the department on the 4th floor?

Oh, and they lost my last reimbursement for my CISSP exam....megacorp sucks....

 

[Nords]

Bummer.

I wonder if you coulda brought all that up with the big boss between the filet mignon and the Pinot... yeah, I bet they'd be very receptive to that feedback.

Don't you think it's about time for another trip to Hawaii?

 

[laurence]

All I could think of during that session was:

Wazowski! You forgot your paperwork!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

After an hour, I give up and beg the surly admin assistant to help me, upon which I get a look like, "did you just evolve to walking on two feet this morning?"

We had plenty of those at my old company. Their boss wrote their review with little input from anyone else they were supposed to support. I had one tell me she was too busy to help me find a form, as she went back to playing solitaire.

A couple of years before I left, I got appointed to run the group review sessions for admins, which is the second most toxic assignment one could get.

Payback was a mother-----...

 

[laurence]

You hit it on the head, she was arguing with a contractor about what kind of windows she had ordered, or some such. The phone is always attached to her ear. Every good admin. has been quickly snatched up in HR or accounting, congrats for them, woe to us...

 

[2B]

My wife was an "admin assistant" before we moved for my "more lucrative job" that isn't more lucrative if she isn't working. She has been finding all sorts of reasons why it's too early to look for another job. I've pointed out that her self determined ER is deferring mine about a year.

I will say that she talked like she was working her butt off before we moved.

I will also say the admin assistants where I work have a much better work ethic than I do. I really don't think that is saying much but I've been discovering my output is significantly greater than most of my peers. I've got to slow up.

 

[ESRBob]

Laurance,
I'd be trying to figure out how not to be someone's backup on Outlook.

As the years go on, I value more and more the ability to set my own schedule and not be at someone's beck and call. (except 'she who must be obeyed' -- no way around that really)

Seriously -- you're working hard and doing your stuff in your job, but is there not a way to get people to list someone else as their backup? I think you'll paint yourself as even more valuable to the company, not less, if people don't see you as their backup. And you'll have more clarity and time to get your own priorities handled.

I don't know -- maybe there is a culture at your company and I'm all wet. Are you backups for your own staff, or for your superiors? Tricky one...

 

[laurence]

Superiors, and I don't enjoy that, since I'm only 4 months old in this department - "Did we incorporate that in rev. 1.3 or 1.4?" "Uh.....?"

 

[Canadian FIRE]

So my day starts bad, and goes worse. Two meetings, two conference calls, I get back from one to find my outlook has twelve, TWELVE reminders open! Everybody is out, and half of them listed me as their backup. And then it occurred to me I had to get my expense report in for my trip or else I wouldn't get reimbursed by next paycheck. Well, since last time, they've implemented a new system to assist you.....AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!

After an hour, I give up and beg the surly admin assistant to help me, upon which I get a look like, "did you just evolve to walking on two feet this morning?" and suffer through a humiliating, abusive session on the difference between company card transactions, fixed per diem, allowable this, non-allowable that....why do they want me to itemize a personal expense I don't want them to reimburse? Why do they need reciepts for things like airfare that they purchased? Why have a computerized system if I have to then take all my reciepts and staple them to a hard copy report and mail it in anyway? Why does it have to be mailed when we have the department on the 4th floor?

Oh, and they lost my last reimbursement for my CISSP exam....megacorp sucks....

Well I have to agree all Megacorps suck somewhere. My has a great staff and helpful admin people. (No you can't have them! MINE!) But then my corp has the habit of being 10 years out of date on some things. For example, they have just discovered databases in the last two years. Suddenly there creating a new one ever week. It's now to the point that we have too many of them. *sigh*

CF

 

[Maximillion]

Most major Corporations, especially US Ones , suffer from People managing their Careers rather than their job, and using "the nail that sticks up' analogy to pass on responsibilities and accountabilities to others.

Managers, Superiors, archaic terms from the 60's. don't listen to your customers, you have them, listen to those who aren't your customers and find out why?

I would have my sales people do their own budgets, discuss them, and then leave them accountable for attaining the goals they said they would.

Worked except for one guy, kept budgeting for less sales next year than current one, so I asked him why did I need a rep to sell less, he agreed, I fired him, hired a new person, things went well.

Everyone wanted a promotion, so I would ask what they thought they might get from another job that they wern't getting from theirs, and try to put that into their current job.

Tyco bought us, slashed and burned, time to leave.