I walked into a tiny corner office. There were two desks, but only one of them was occupied. There were no extra chairs for me to sit in, so I waited patiently while the young lady on the phone had a moment to greet me.
While I waited I took in the rest of the scene. This shared office attached to another office more regal and grander by comparison. But it was obvious that this was where the majority of actual work took place. It was obvious that the other desk typically was the home of a fastidious person who was also quite astute at their job. Post-it notes were on the calendar reminding of appointments and various other important dates. A professional woman of about 25 was on the phone, and talking with her hands at the same time. She motioned for me to sit in the seat that went with this other desk. So I did, and waited for her to close up her conversation.
When she finally ended her conversation, she turned to me, and greeted me by name. She knew who I was and had been expecting me. Not waiting for me to muddle the air with information that we had already discussed on the phone. She went on to remind me that her schedule was very tight, and that it shouldn’t take long for her to fill me in on the intricacies of her job.
She explained that basically, her entire job could be summed up in one task, making the boss look good. It was her job to screen calls that would waste his time, and to keep him focused on doing his job. She explained that all of the office computers were networked together on site, and that they were also networked with other offices in Tennessee, Texas, England and Africa. It was obvious that time was very important to her business, as the desk top on her computer had five different clocks, each one denoting the time at one of the other offices.
She quickly explained the nature of how this network system worked. “It’s like a huge, massive filing cabinet.” She explained. “I can file something in my ‘drawer’ and someone in England can pick it up, and work on it there. And if we need to, I can have real life conferences with those other workers.” She said that this really did help to allay confusion in language and interpretation when working on a project together. The only thing is that you have to be aware of the time.
“Often, we’ll run out of time, just because a lack of awareness of where the other person is on the clock.” There phones are internet linked, so that these remote offices can have the same local number as her office and so that customers can reach these other offices without really knowing. “This gives us a much longer work day here, without having to pay for it.” She explains with satisfaction. This had been her idea, and was the most recent reason for a bonus that she received.
Her job among all of the other organizational and communication related tasks really is to keep her boss on task. Her boss learned a long time ago, that he is easily distracted and that he does most of his best work when surrounded by others working also.
So he set up his office right next to his assistants, and it is her job every morning to come in early and to lay out his day. He is able to make better use of his time, by simply relying on her to schedule his time for him, and to keep focused on one task at a time.
Before I knew it, I was gathering my things, and saying goodbye. As I glanced at the local time on her desk top, I learned that all of this had been completed in just over five minutes. As I saw myself out the door, I could hear her on the phone already scheduling a meeting and getting all of the other staff members ready for a conference call including her boss.
This most definitely was a position that required every skill that she had and every piece of equipment and technology that she could apply.
While I waited I took in the rest of the scene. This shared office attached to another office more regal and grander by comparison. But it was obvious that this was where the majority of actual work took place. It was obvious that the other desk typically was the home of a fastidious person who was also quite astute at their job. Post-it notes were on the calendar reminding of appointments and various other important dates. A professional woman of about 25 was on the phone, and talking with her hands at the same time. She motioned for me to sit in the seat that went with this other desk. So I did, and waited for her to close up her conversation.
When she finally ended her conversation, she turned to me, and greeted me by name. She knew who I was and had been expecting me. Not waiting for me to muddle the air with information that we had already discussed on the phone. She went on to remind me that her schedule was very tight, and that it shouldn’t take long for her to fill me in on the intricacies of her job.
She explained that basically, her entire job could be summed up in one task, making the boss look good. It was her job to screen calls that would waste his time, and to keep him focused on doing his job. She explained that all of the office computers were networked together on site, and that they were also networked with other offices in Tennessee, Texas, England and Africa. It was obvious that time was very important to her business, as the desk top on her computer had five different clocks, each one denoting the time at one of the other offices.
She quickly explained the nature of how this network system worked. “It’s like a huge, massive filing cabinet.” She explained. “I can file something in my ‘drawer’ and someone in England can pick it up, and work on it there. And if we need to, I can have real life conferences with those other workers.” She said that this really did help to allay confusion in language and interpretation when working on a project together. The only thing is that you have to be aware of the time.
“Often, we’ll run out of time, just because a lack of awareness of where the other person is on the clock.” There phones are internet linked, so that these remote offices can have the same local number as her office and so that customers can reach these other offices without really knowing. “This gives us a much longer work day here, without having to pay for it.” She explains with satisfaction. This had been her idea, and was the most recent reason for a bonus that she received.
Her job among all of the other organizational and communication related tasks really is to keep her boss on task. Her boss learned a long time ago, that he is easily distracted and that he does most of his best work when surrounded by others working also.
So he set up his office right next to his assistants, and it is her job every morning to come in early and to lay out his day. He is able to make better use of his time, by simply relying on her to schedule his time for him, and to keep focused on one task at a time.
Before I knew it, I was gathering my things, and saying goodbye. As I glanced at the local time on her desk top, I learned that all of this had been completed in just over five minutes. As I saw myself out the door, I could hear her on the phone already scheduling a meeting and getting all of the other staff members ready for a conference call including her boss.
This most definitely was a position that required every skill that she had and every piece of equipment and technology that she could apply.
No comments:
Post a Comment