Author: k

Currently I’m working a bridge position.
The last employee left.
The position was vacant for a month.
I was brought in for year end.
Eventually another employee will be hired.

There is always a temptation
to improve processes and procedures
while in a bridge position.

Resist that temptation.

There are usually other employees
who are familiar with
what the previous person did.
(My current contract is the exception)

If you change things,
no one except for yourself
can help the new person out
and
you’ll be gone.
If the new person doesn’t grasp everything
in that week (or day or hour or…)
of training,
she’ll be on her own.

Suggest improvements to the new hire.
Document current processes and procedures.
Put together a training manual.
Clean up old messes.
Those are some ways to add value.

I charge per hour
with my current business gig.
Last night,
around 9 pm,
I heard some managers discuss workload.
They decided to delegate something to me
because I get compensated
for every additional hour I work.
I should be ‘grateful.’

Ahhh…. NO.

Money is infinite.
Time is not.

My hourly rate is a number.
It doesn’t represent
the worth of that hour
because I can’t buy more time.

Please don’t waste other people’s time,
no matter how much they charge.

Last night, around 9pm,
after everyone on the team
had worked 12 hours plus
for the fifth day in a row,
the sh** started hitting the fan.

You see,
when you’re not well rested,
your brain usually shuts off
non-essential thinking.

One piece of thinking
is the ‘should I really say this?’ filter.
Exhausted co-workers are often
brutally honest co-workers.

Except that while this thinking
isn’t needed for physical survival,
it IS necessary for corporate survival.

Last night,
relationships were damaged.
These relationships may never be repaired.

If you’re tired,
it is best to
keep to yourself
and keep your mouth shut.

The manager I am currently reporting to
has 15 direct reports.

She can’t manage.

There is always a line up
outside her door
(wasting everyone’s time).
She spends her day firefighting
and has no time to plan or train.
Her department is treading water.

TimeBack blog states that traditionally
7 to 10 direct reports are optimal.

Flat organizations are a wonderful notion
but aren’t that practical.
Don’t overburden your managers.
If you manage too many employees currently,
consider building in a layer,
having your junior employees
be managed or mentored by more senior employees.

I recently heard of a company
that wanted to save money on staffing
so they didn’t replace a key admin person.

They ended up missing a major tax deadline
and paid penalties
equal to a year of that person’s salary
(the FULL cost, benefits and everything).

This happens… a lot!
A huge chunk of my billings
is from cleaning up messes made
by missing staff.

I know that
the chorus for corporations
right now
is cut, cut, cut
but don’t cut so deep,
the costs outweigh the savings.

I’m starting a new contract gig today
(going from insanely busy
to unmanageably busy).

The employer hated my resume.
She didn’t like how I answered the interview questions.
I failed the personality test.
I am unavailable for half the contract dates.
There was a lot of competition for this role.

Yet I got the contract.

Why?
Because they felt I could do the job
and because they liked me.

I met with a senior editor on Thursday.
She told me that voice was important,
style was important,
but what really decided
the signing of a new author
was if she felt they could work well together.
Everything else could be fixed.
Personality… not-so-much.

Nice people do NOT finish last.

BTW… nice does not equal indecisive or meek.