Thursday 13 - Cranky Edition
Posted: Thursday, January 25, 2007 by Travis Cody in |
1. Being given a project, specifications, and a deadline, and then being asked about my progress three or four times a day. I know what was asked, I know how to do the project, and I know when the project is due. Leave me alone and you'll get it on time. 2. Working through lunch. I don't mind it every so often. But I've been doing it every day for six months now. 3. People who use speaker phone in a cubicle environment. There are great headsets available these days - get one! Speaker phones are fine in an office or conference room when you can close the door. But they shouldn't be used when there are others around you trying to work. 4. People who don't respect deadlines. In my business, timing is everything. Shipments have to be on schedule, and the only way to ensure that is if every deadline is hit from conception to finished good. I can't deliver to distribution on time if I don't get product in my warehouse when it's due. 5. Stupid mistakes. My own are intolerable to me. 6. Mixed messages. Let's get on the same page gang - from the top of the organization down to the interns. 7. Wonky systems. Most of the time it's my order processing system. Sometimes it's the accounting software. Every once in awhile the network crashes. Whatever it is, it's something every dang day. Today it was a wonky mouse that had to be replaced. 8. Sales guys. They want what they want when they want it. Problem is, what they want changes every time they ask for it. 9. When the copier/printer starts pulling from the bottom tray, fill the top tray. You can tell the paper is pulling from the bottom tray because it prints out in the opposite direction. When the paper pulls from the bottom tray, the copier/printer jams. To prevent jamming, fill the dang top tray. 10. Don't walk away from a paper jam. Either fix it or tell somebody about it. 11. People who find it necessary to repeat an instruction from an email on which I was copied, copying all the original addressees so they get the impression that you are managing your business and taking control of the situation. You know what? I read the same email you did and I understood what was being asked of me. I don't need your "reminder". 12. Legacy processes. "Because that's the way we've always done it" is no valid reason to perpetuate a process that didn't work then, and doesn't work any better now. 13. Let's face it - sometimes the customer is NOT right. Sometimes the customer is just stupid. I had a customer send a very cranky email wondering snarkily why his shipment had been sitting on hold for two days. Two whole days!! I very professionally replied that I would be pleased to ship his order as soon as he provided a credit card that had not been expired for nearly six months. You may infer from this list that I am unhappy in my work. Not so. I love my job and my company. I get a real kick out of what I do. And I enjoy the people with whom I work and interact every day. But even the best jobs have these little annoyances. Update: I wrote my list a couple of days ago. Now today I find out that I may have an opportunity to transition from logistics to project management. YAY ME!! I'll keep y'all posted. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) |
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I remember the days when I worked in an office environment sorta like that.
Hated it.
Spent most of the time reminding myself that it is not good professional etiquette to strangle one's boss.
Good luck; hang in there.