02/01/07 to 02/01/11

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We all get a new temporary staffer - and get rid of her too.

Monday:
AJ called us together for the morning meeting and said he'd decided over the weekend to implement a "focussing" policy, where we all have to concentrate on building up our relationships with our colleagues, to ensure everyone feels they are supported. Once everybody in the office feels they are supported we will concentrate on building up our relationships with our colleagues on the shop floor, and then our sister companies, and then Head Office, and then our customers.
He didn't actually say 'and then ... the WORLD! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!, but I got the feeling it was a close call.

We all just nodded and smiled so he'd go back in his office happy before carrying on as normal. If he asks, he'll be told we all are doing it even though nobody knows for sure what it is he wants us all to do.
LeeAnn said he's lost it you know, he's totally lost it. James said no, he never had it in the first place.

Sharon the temporary staffer didn't show, which wasn't that much of a surprise, so Amy called the agency to find out if they were going to send anyone else instead. The agency said oh no, Sharon said she was going to come and maybe she was running late, but they'd check and call back.
They finally called back about 3:00 to tell us Sharon wasn't coming back after all as she'd gotten another job and they were very pleased for her. So they would be sending us Laura instead - a lovely girl, very efficient, and she'd be with us tomorrow at 8:30 ready to start. It sounds good - but then, so did Sharon.


Tuesday:
Laura the temporary staffer from the agency was waiting at the door dead on 8:30, so Amy (who was the first in) showed her the desk and where everything was. LeeAnn was the next in, then all the rest of us, so LeeAnn took her around to introduce her to us all. She's a real nice looking lady, very smart, so we might be OK with this one.

Fiona explained how the customer invoices were to be typed up, then went back to her own work and wandered back after a bit to say how are you getting on? Laura said oh very well, I've almost finished.
That's when Fiona realised she'd typed up all the customer invoices wrong, so she said well unfortunately these aren't right, they should be done like this one I showed you, but Laura said oh no, this is how we did them at my last place.
Fiona went a bit white then, and said well, maybe I didn't explain properly, but this is how we do them here, so unfortunately you'll have to do them again. Laura said you did explain dear, and very well - even though you're obviously not used to doing them yourself - but this way is much better.

Luckily AJ came in right then to see how Laura was settling in, so LeeAnn and James were able to get Fiona away and start in to calming her down. By the time Fiona had gotten back to her normal color and had stopped breathing hard, Laura was standing over LeeAnn's shoulder and saying what a shame it was we were still having to do job cards to plan the shop floor workload as it was so old-fashioned, and they had a much better system at her last place.

She finally agreed she would redo the customer invoices even though they were done so much better than our way of doing them after we all told her no, she had to, that was what was wanted by our customers.
It looks as if it's going to be a looooong week.


Wednesday:
The big printer wasn't working after the lunchbreak again.
Walked over, pulled Mike's mobile charger, threatened him with LeeAnn, and plugged the printer back in.

Laura started in to lecturing Amy on how to answer the phone more professionally (like they did at her last place) this afternoon. We all could hear her, she has a very penetrating voice, and Amy was looking a little hunted so LeeAnn and Fiona went over and told Laura it was Amy's job to answer the phone and maybe she should get the customer invoices and the letters typed up instead, and there was all that filing she could be doing. Laura said she'd finished typing the invoices in our rather old-fashioned way even though hers was so much better, but she would save up the letters and the filing to the end of the week, like they always did at her last place, so really she had plenty of time to help out by showing Amy how much better and more efficiently she could be working.
LeeAnn said OK do the filing on Friday, but you ought to do the letters as they have to go out today or tomorrow and can't wait, so Laura said oh all right then, I suppose you know best - and LeeAnn managed not to swear or hit her.

We are all so proud of LeeAnn, she's controlling her temper so well nowadays.


Thursday:
James decided he wanted to change his default font again this morning, as he's had the current one for over two weeks now and he's bored with it. I've shown him how a couple times and he can do it himself, but he prefers me to be on hand in case it goes wrong again, like last time when the font mysteriously disappeared, so he asked me to come in and watch him do it.
I said OK, we'd do it during the coffee break because I remembered last time too - white font doesn't show up too well on white backgrounds. We all have our coffee at our desks right now instead of sitting in the break room, as Laura takes the opportunity to come over and lecture us all on what we all should be doing if more than two of us get together at any one time. Apparently the coffee at her last place was better than ours, and they had their breaks at a more sensible time of day too.

AJ came out his office to check on whether we all were working and ask us all how much we'd supported our colleagues today while I was still in with James, and everyone else scattered in time to avoid him, except Laura, but unfortunately James and I didn't hide quick enough so he caught us both. I abandoned James to his fate (he couldn't really plead with me not to, with AJ actually there) but felt guilty enough to hover around outside, so AJ caught me again when he came out and followed me back over to my office to ask me if I was supporting my colleagues. I said yes, and hoped he wouldn't ask me how.
He said good, good I'm glad to hear it, and wandered off looking for somebody else to bug, although he avoided Laura. James came over when the office was clear and said did he ask you if you were supporting your colleages? I said yes, and I said I was, and James said so did I and he said good he was glad to hear it - I think he's finally gone mad.
I said no, I don't think he's gone mad, I think he's just always been a moron.

We all waited behind after five until Laura had gone, and Amy called up the agency to say please take her AWAY - we'll have anything else you've got, just don't send her back to us next week. They said funny, but most people do only take her for a week, isn't she great - and so efficient! We all said yesyes, but just send us someone else next week.


Friday:
AJ didn't say much at the morning meeting, and it didn't last too long as Laura started in to telling us how they used to hold staff briefings at her last place until AJ said OK people, let's just get on with our work shall we? it's a busy day today, and then scoot off back to his office and shut himself in. We all didn't see him again until he went to the afternoon meeting at Head Office, and that was just a quick I'm off now see you Monday - but we all had to listen to Laura telling us about the much better photocopier they had at her last place the rest of the morning, so we all didn't gain anything by it.

I finally had to go over to get the goods releases so I could do the shipping notes for them, and Laura told me I was doing the shipping paperwork wrong and not the way they did it at her last place. I said this is how we do it here and very firmly took the sheets away with me back to my office, rather than just stand there and write out what I needed from them like I normally do. So she got up and followed me over to stand in my doorway and explain very slowly and carefully to me how I should be doing them, and how much better and faster I'd be if I did them the way she said I should, and would I like her to show me how? I said no thanks, I don't want to interrupt your own work and your phone's ringing, hadn't you best go answer it? She said oh no, Amy can answer it for me, she's not doing anything important - it won't take that long to show you, I'm a very good teacher and it's very simple, I'm sure you'll be able to pick it up in no time. I said that's OK, I'll carry on doing it this way. She said oh all right then, but don't be shy about changing your mind - just ask me.

Why isn't she still at her last place if it was so gosh-darned wonderful, that's what I'd like to know.

Laura got a call about 3:30 from the agency to say they'd gotten another job for her to go to from Monday, so she handed the call over to Amy for the agency to tell us they'd be sending us Jo next week instead - a lovely girl, very keen to learn, and she'd be with us on Monday at 8:30 ready to start. OHTHANKYOUthankyouthankyouthankyou!
We all wish her well, of course (of course we do), and hope she'll like the new place - who knows, maybe it'll be better than her last place.

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   revised: 2002-01-11
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