Hi, Ya’ll!
(I’ve been told that I ‘m too abrupt when sending emails and such because I tend to jump right in, and it has been suggested I always start off with a greeting, so there you have it.)
This work week was not as maniacally stressful as some of the prior ones. I managed to close a bunch of real estate sales, and quite a few of my clients (and their realtors) are very pleased with me at the moment. Some have even relayed their appreciation to The Boss, which is always helpful.
Am I starting to acclimate to the New Job? Maybe, maybe not. But what I have come to realize is that my biggest obstacle is dealing with the structure of the new firm. There are rules for everything. There are even rules for bathroom use!
And everything (well, except bathroom use) must be documented not only in the physical, paper file but also on the electronic file. Each electronic entry takes only a few seconds – but during a day, those seconds add up, so that making those entries takes up a good chunk of my work time. Chunks of time that could be used for reviewing files, chatting with clients, following up on post-closing matters.
No wonder I’m having a hard time keeping up.
On my last job, I had my files, dealt with my files, made the clients happy – mostly without ever having to kowtow to anyone, electronically or otherwise. On this job, even the slightest misstep is noted, and documented.
It took me 20 minutes to respond to The Boss’ email? Not acceptable.
I didn’t immediately log that delay into the electronic file? Also not acceptable.
I took time in between to have a sip out of my water bottle? You get the drift.
Recently, a co-worker nearly went apoplectic when I let slip that I never look at a calendar. Sure, I keep track of all those necessary deadlines – and yes, they are on the one calendar I do occasionally look at – and yes, I care about the deadlines, to the point that they become a part of that ongoing inner dialog in my brain and to the point that I dream about missing a deadline and having to deal with the aftermath. Maybe that’s why I never actually miss a deadline – it’s seared into my brain until after matter has been finished.
But the calendar? Do I care that Betty had to leave at 3:00 pm to watch little Tiffany’s ballet performance, or that Peter is going to be in late because he had to see his proctologist? No, I don’t – not unless those events somehow affect my own files. If I need a check for a closing, I might care that the bookkeeper isn’t going to be in on a particular day, but beyond that, I just come in, do my work and go home – and try not to dream about potential missed deadlines.
It all comes down to mindset.
There are those of us with scientific, technical minds – people like that tend to become engineers, lawyers, architects. People like that keep their personal agenda books always at hand with every second of every day scheduled and documented. Heaven forbid there be any sudden changes affecting that agenda!
Then there are those of us with creative, artistic minds. We tend to take the day step-by-step. We may have a general timeline in our heads, but if something comes up (like Mrs. Smith is crying on the phone because her closing got delayed by her lender – again), we are perfectly capable of chucking the schedule to deal with the current situation. And maybe we get the schedule back on track afterwards, or maybe not. No one is likely to die because the schedule has been tweaked.
Those of you in the medical fields fall somewhere in between the two mindsets I’ve described. You need time to listen to your patients and to create solutions to their problems, but someone might actually die if a deadline missed or an error made. That makes me very glad that I opted out of medicine as a young woman.
But everyone else? Lighten up. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. The mighty schedule can be broken. And life goes on.
TGI the Weekend!
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
Ugh…Tracking is also my kryptonite. No, I am not saving lives.
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Not everyone is meant to save lives. Some of us are just meant to live it.
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Rules and bollocks!!Interesting read though !
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Thanks, Willow. Glad you enjoyed it.
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I did 😊
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Sure glad I’m no longer in the rat race.
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I can hardly wait until I no longer am. I recently set up a new account and one of the security questions I picked was, “What is your dream job?” My answer: “Retired.”
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That’s a highly respectable ambition, in my view.
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We have to bill time in 15 min. increments, but other than that, and showing up for meetings, everything is unscheduled. It sounds like these little electronic notices take up a huge portion of what would otherwise be usefully spent time! Silly!
We have a staff schedule, and I am notoriously absent minded. I always forget when my staff is off until the day of — and then occasionally I’m stuck with a task I needed them for. But we all survive. And the deadlines, which like you say are the important part, always get met.
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Thank you, Elyse. This is the only place I’ve ever worked that is so anal about everything. The Boss is a nice, caring person, but she has her quirks, as they all do.
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YOur right about health care..everything has a time limit, especially in home care. We lose money if we miss certification periods. This in a reason on my list of “I cannot wait to retire-List” No time lines. !
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That’s definitely a big draw in retirement, just knowing you don’t have to be anywhere or do anything at any particular time or in any particular way.
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AND. There are companies which have too many stupid rules that lower productivity and make people very unhappy.
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Wish my boss understood that. I waste more time inputting stupid stuff like “talked with called about status”. Duh. Trust me, if clients are concerned about the status of their deals, they will call, it’s not really necessary to document that, and if something unusual comes up, we get in touch with each other asap.
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yes yes yes yes
Lighten up.
Lighten up.
Lighten up.
and CM, I loved your voice in this piece and really like getting to know you more and more my friend and I want to reblog this on my work blog, ok?
it is not in WP so I have to figure out the best way – but keep keeping notes because you have some good books in you with your experiences and how you see the world….
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You may re-blog it wherever you like, and I would truly appreciate the attention!
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Right on!
Xxoo
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My job also suffers from similar micro-micromanaging problems. I and my colleagues spend more time documenting the job than used to just a few years ago. That, of course, takes away from actually DOING the job!
I think we tend to suffer from the MBA’s who spend too much time learning spreadsheets and time studies and not business, which is person to person. Increased pressure, like poop, flows down the org chart. To protect themselves, managers tend to manage by checklist: “But boss! I’ve done everything I can. It’s those darn workers!”
Trust is ultimately what’s lacking any more. With God being shoved farther and farther out of our lives, we become less honest as a culture. I think this problem is symptomatic that people expect employees to be wasteful, careless, cheating, etc. because that’s the way the world is going.
You don’t micro-manage people you trust. You don’t expect to be able to trust people when you know you and/or others don’t deserve to be trusted.
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Thank you, Jeffrey! You took the words right out of my mouth (uh, pen). I was hired because of my extensive experience in the field, and I’m paid fairly well because of that experience, but I go home feeling like I’m the stupidest, most worthless employee ever. This job is taking a tremendous toll on my self-confidence.
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My wife is in a similar situation, and I’ll tell you the same thing I tell her – keep applying for something else where you’ll be valued!!
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So YES, Jeffrey! The micro-managing of the world is what has brought us to this place, where so many folks are so unhappy about so much.
Companies spend so much time and money hiring people who “can do the job” and neglect to consider “can I trust this person?”.
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I used to teach management classes for Dana Corporation. My favorite hiring theory was to go after people who fit your company’s culture. Skill sets can be taught to anyone with reasonable intelligence. My managers there hired me, got me trained in, showed me my desk, and set me loose. Period. “Call me if you need something. Otherwise, you don’t have to keep checking in on me.”
Ah, memories!
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I relate.
We use a system that logs everything, and I always think when I’m prepping a demand or researching, “OMG, my boss thinks I’ve been idle for how long now?” lol
Email is not my thing, either. I check it when I go in, and I check it about 15 minutes before I leave. Otherwise, uh, no, I got work to do. But I guess I’m lucky, no one’s said anything about that being a problem.
And I’ll be honest with you, I don’t look at the calendar unless I’m scheduling something or someone asks me if so-and-so will be in at X time.
By the by, it was cool to read your part in Dr Dolore’s piece 🙂
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Sounds like your office is very similar to mine, Joey, and your personality is a lot like mine.
I just saw the post over at Victo’s place, and I’m feel very special right now. She made me sound so nice. Little does she know ….
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😉
Ah, we have to wait and see how the story goes…
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Cats hate rules. I can’t stand those scientific, technical minds. NBC, (≚ᄌ≚)ƶƵ
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There’s nothing wrong with scientific, technical minds. Those people tend to see the details that I miss and help me avoid mistakes. I’m sure I drive them crazy, too.
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Love, CM!
They are an embarrassment to the ‘good’ companies out there, treating their professionals like that!
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Yeah. The day after writing that post, The Boss had a major blow-up over something that was totally fixable. I can’t tell you how close I came to simply walking out. The next morning, I learned that everyone else in the office is going through the same thing, so we all commiserated with each other. That actually made it a little easier, just knowing I’m not being singled out.
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