So, come on over and visit me at http://administrativemadness.blogspot.com/.

I’ll still be sharing  my irreverent view on my job and the world.  Come on over, I’ll leave the lights on!

I, Admin Gal, send a plea of epic proportions out to save my olfactory sense. Preserve this delicate sense of smell for the flowers that bloom beyond our concrete jungle, for the sweet smell of baby powder after a bath, for anything other than the malodorous offense of fish and some other indecipherable substance that has been heated up in the microwave.

Oftentimes our midday meal is the main meal of our day. But to bring something that will send a stank through the floor, ruining everyone else’s meal is just plain rude. Some businesses actually have rules as to what can be brought to work to be heated up, so not to offend the general populace.

I implore you to be considerate. If you must have your super spicy jambalaya (which I adore), your fabulous curry that your grandmother makes, the fish that only the cat should eat, please take into consideration the people you work with. Their stomachs and noses may not be as fortified as yours.

She realizes there is only so much she can do to encourage productivity.  What are their collective supervisors going to do? Fire them?

But there is a certain courtesy that needs to remain in play during this time.  Not everyone is leaving. Those who are staying still have to work.  Having a party in the cubicle next door is enough to send the normally polite and sensible Admin Gal over the edge.

While job-hunting tips are never a bad thing to know, Admin Gal draws the line at listening to murmuring and griping about the current situation her co-workers find themselves in.  They could have walked away at any given time.

All she asks is for some common courtesy in the cubicle environment.

In other words –

KEEP IT DOWN OVER THERE!

But I digress.

Oftentimes we, the admin, are asked to find forgotten passwords, give permissions to systems that we have no rights to, OR pose as the manager or executive in question to figure out a problem that they have described as “the computer is doing that thing that sounds like <<insert an unpleasant body sound>>.”

Seriously?

I know we have super powers and if you were to put the admins in the governing bodies of the world, we’d have the majority of the problems fixed before lunch. But I don’t know how to describe a problem to the help desk that sounds like a fart.

There are times when the management needs to suck it up and help themselves.

1. Communications – I have set up a back up Admin to assist you during my absence.  No, that does not mean you can email me, telephone me or contact me in any fashion for the aforementioned time.  The back-up Admin is there to assist you while I am out of the office taking a well deserved break from YOU, drinking Mai Tai’s until I can’t remember where I work.
2. Projects – Any actions that need to be addressed while I am gone should be directed to my associate.  She has been brief in any out-standing items and can render assistance.  DO NOT hoard your tasks until my return, demanding that I complete said tasks as an emergency of your making.
3. My Desk – DO NOT pile my desk with tasks, papers, files or assorted notes of things you might have forgotten to tell me before I left.  I am not there to read  or accomplish them.  (if they are time sensitive… well SOL)  The last thing I want to do is come back to a desk piled high of things that you no long want on your desk.  Or sticky-notes covering my monitor of things you deem too important for me to forget upon my return.

If these three simple guidelines can be met, your Admin will be returned to you in a relaxed and stress-free fashion, ready to take on the next gargantuan set of tasks set before her.

Alas, if you can not help yourselves and can not avail yourselves of the resources left to help you while your Admin is away…

May the PTB’s (Powers That Be) rest your souls.

I hate to break it to you folks … but there is no Paper Fairy! There I said it! There is no magical being who goes from printer to copier waving their magical wand, filling the paper trays as they skip merrily along.

NO – what you have is a very cranky, annoyed and pretty pissy Admin. Who can not fathom why her co-workers fingers are broken. Or why their brain-pans are so small that they can not perform a function that a chimpanzee could master in minutes. (Oh, and the monkey would be bored)

It doesn’t take any more time to put in a ream of paper than it does to to go back to your desk and print to another machine.

Do yourself and everyone else a favor – FILL THE PAPER TRAY. It won’t kill you, but the non-existent Paper Fairy might.

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!

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.

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.

The trick is to realize that you need to be in an environment where the average is good to great.

There will always be the people who are cranky. Apparently, for them their fuel tanks are running on fumes. And to be fair, there will always be the super perky people who you just want to strangle for being to cheerful.

But sometimes, you can’t help an environment that has trended to a poor morale due to the company circumstances. Layoffs, off-shoring, closures.

So, what can you do?

Work to stay out of the drama. Keep your own morale at an even keel. Stay as positive as you can. I know that these are difficult times. As an individual, I can control my reaction to adverse conditions.

I choose to trend upwards in my morale. I choose to be positive in the face of adversity.