Another Day in the Office

Longest Six Hours of My Life

So I’m still covering for my coworker while he’s on vacation. It’s his birthday today so I really don’t mind but as I sit here I am reminded of why I hate coming into an office, or why cubes are evil spawn. It’s because it is such an incredible waste of time. In my industry at least.

First, having to drive to work is dumb. Everyone is trying to get to one place (most of the time downtown) at the same time. This is why we have a rush hour in this city. If you allowed your employees flex-time to come in, they wouldn’t be drowning in road rage by the time they stepped through the front door affecting their entire day. Also, if you’re going to judge them about what time they come in in the morning, and then crucify them for not staying late. YOU. ARE. THE. PROBLEM.

Secondly, I understand cubes and open concept are so incredibly cheap that you are giddy about your bottom line but imagine sitting there in your comfy office with someone sitting there, right next to you staring at everything you do on your computer all day, listening to your phone calls, judging that email you’re writing to the client. It’s no wonder people are racing for the elevators when lunchtime comes around.

Thirdly, I can hear the person that is supposed to be doing sales down the hallway and my intense level of hatred for him goes through the roof. I know I shouldn’t let it affect me, but just knowing that he has been actively trying to get you fired by talking negatively about you to the owners, removing you from group emails to try and get your coworkers to turn against you (they told me about the emails), and saying he would do stuff then backs out last minute and throws you under the bus in staff meetings drives me nuts.

What Does He Have On You

I don’t understand why they keep this man on staff, he is the Sales Director (the only sales guy they have) and hasn’t sold anything in FOUR YEARS?! He drives a Lexus and lives in a fancy condo, so he’s making decent money. I don’t get it.

I guess I shouldn’t take it personally though, from what I hear from a coworker that works for another line of the business, he is the reason this company has been through three Creative Directors in two years. He drives them off because we don’t bow down to him. The reason we don’t bow down to him is that he is rude, will get up in the middle of client meetings or staff meetings and just disappear, he says he will do things and then doesn’t so the team is left to pick up the mess, and he doesn’t know anything about what he’s trying to sell and refuses to learn about it.

I really wish I had been able to have this knowledge when I was interviewing, I would have run so fast in the other direction. I guess though in 26 days I will be free of this jerk and hopefully I can find a company that is stable, knows what they are doing, and doesn’t allow leaches to run their business.

What I Want

26 days. It’s actually a relief knowing that I am going to be able to separate myself and be done with this place. While I don’t have a job to go to yet, I feel this is a blessing in disguise. I am good at what I do and I haven’t been able to do what I do since March 2017. It’s been that long, while I learned a lot in the job I had before this, it was more developing processes and working with a cross-disciplined team, good skills to have.

My hope is that with all the resumes I’m putting out, I can find a work home. Somewhere I can be for a good chunk of years. My friend Jess always tells me to make a list of what I’m looking for. So I’ve decided to finally make a list of what I want from a company and why I want it:

1. No Micromanagement: When you hire someone you should be hiring someone that can do the job you are hiring them for, stop hovering.
2. Flextime: My industry can take place from anywhere at any time as long as you have an internet connection. This means people should be able to make their own schedules and do what they need to do as long as they are great communicators and time managers.
3. Appropriate Staffing: Stop forcing people to wear fifty million hats. It stresses people out and makes them resort to unhealthy behaviors.
4. Communication: Yes, we need to move quickly. The industry is always changing, but when you have people that refuse to follow processes to make the machine work, the machine breaks down and it makes it really hard for everyone to work together. Now if a process isn’t working, a new one needs to take its place. Also, stop going around people because it’s “easier” when you aren’t the person that is responsible for that thing and it will come back negatively on them.
5. Organization: This really partners with the previous one, if there is a process for organization, follow it. If it doesn’t work replace it. If people are storing things in a million different places, when you need to refer back to it, you will be S.O.L. because no one will be able to find it.
6. Tell the Truth: Being at a place that is always trying to spin the story, or place the blame on someone else is exhausting. If you would educate yourself in the business you are trying to run you wouldn’t make so many mistakes. If you would hire more people you wouldn’t keep missing deadlines or forgetting about client projects.
7. Understand the business they are running: When I got hired I was told I would be under the president, on the first day of this job I was told I would be reporting to a person on my team that was my equal because the president didn’t understand or like creatives so she didn’t want to “deal” with them. This is probably why you can’t get any clients.
8. No Jerks: As I said above, people that are allowed to negatively influence the workplace without anyone caring about the validity of the claims is a recipe for disaster in the workplace. It will drive off the good talent and continue to drive the company into the ground.
9. Transparency: I’ve learned that the places that are super secretive are the ones that are the shadiest and most corrupt. I want to work for a company that is open about as much as possible. This breeds trust and security with your employees.
10. A Plan: A company without a plan is no company at all. Mapping out goals and celebrating achievements helps move things forward and build the company over time. You can’t just throw things at the wall and hope they stick. I mean you can, but it’s not advised.

One More Day in the Office

Monday is my last day covering in the office and I know it’s going to be another long day, but I can make it through. I really just want to put this past me and move forward. I want to be positive and focused on the future. When I go in on Monday, I really want to just woo-sahh my way through it and then just pack my shit up and leave. I will not let this consume my life more than it already has.

Focus on applying for new jobs, focus on finding the right job, and focus yourself first.