February 28, 2012 ( Comments Off )
What would you want in a job? What kind of workplace are you interested in joining? Interesting topics to ask for in a cover letter. Recently the first question was asked in a job posting for an Office Manager as part of a short cover letter. I had a nice reply but feel that there is more to me than what a “short cover letter” can explain. In fact, this is a great question to ask someone looking for a job.
Personally, I’m looking for a cooperative team of individuals who know what their functions are but are basically cross trained to do it all if a team member is out for a day or on vacation for a while. A team that communicates and helps each other out and shares the skills they have so that everyone can do everything, perhaps not as well as the specialist but at least passable in a pinch. A sharing of skills, giving and taking and supporting each other all while keeping the office or business running smoothly.
I’m looking for a team that brainstorms, considers and chooses a decisive approach to a problem instead of languishing and procrastinating on the issue until it has to have a forced decision “right NOW”. A proactive approach to a problem. Under a corrective action, a new process is formed and data by the ton is collected… that’s a great thing but what are we going to do with the data, how will we control it’s collection, what will happen when we outgrow the system we’re using to collect it? I watched my current team go through this process over the last couple years. I’d asked the questions at the start of the process, then watched management go through the painful process of implementing new systems and rep0rts on the fly to satisfy the requirements placed on them by external regulators. Asking the hard questions and planning for the future is an important concept. Spending a lot of time on it early on, not necessarily a good idea but having a brainstorming session that can be reviewed in the future for ideas is a good one. A proactive workplace!
Continuous learning, new industries, new skills, new markets. I love learning a new skill or just about something. It doesn’t matter if it’s relevant at that moment you can’t tell when a off the wall comment or discussion from your past will come back and knowing something will be of great use to someone else. Learn something new everyday.
The basics are also important, financial security, living wage, health care, retirement plans, thank yous, bonuses, raises, vacation and the like are all important but it’s the people that make a workplace somewhere you enjoy working. To take a line from a former supervisor, “Do what you do well, AND enjoy!”
Sue Darby, BS Business, MOS
Certificate in Fashion Design
Microsoft Office Master Certified
Alpha Beta Kappa Honors Society
Business Owner & Webmistress
February 17, 2012 ( Comments Off )
12 ways to make people SMILE!
- Thank random people in uniform for their service to society. You may end up making a new friend or learning something about the world from someone with firsthand experience. (did you know it snowed in Afghanistan recently and the trucks freeze shut requiring our troops to chip ice off the hard way… no ice scrapers! Said vet learned that rubbing alcohol will melt ice easier and help them get into their trucks faster!) Another time I stopped a police officer coming out of the court house in downtown and thanked them. I got a seriously confused officer who questioned “Thank you for what?” “Protecting the people” there were tears in his eyes and a smile, no one had stopped him and simply thanked him for doing what he does for a living like that. I got the feeling he’d just come out of a bad court room case and really needed the pick up!
- Keep fun treats in your office that are to share. Licorice, lemon drops, M&M’s, peanuts, are all great items to keep handy….It’s fun to watch a boss act like a little kid when they see there’s a favored treat available…. Their guard goes down just for a second and they are very human about it which for me gives a glimpse of the real person not just the professional I know.
- Teach your children to entertain themselves by making faces at other drivers when stopped at red lights. My kids did this to a police officer just as the light turned green… she had trouble driving through the intersection she was laughing so hard!
- Send a funny e-card to various people in your address book
- Leave a random small treat on a co-worker’s desk in a random “run by chocolating” or “run by treating”. My co-workers do this to me because I do it to them!
- Compliment your boss on something you really like about their supervisory style
- Compliment someone’s outfit or a part of their outfit
- Buy treats at lunch and then offer one to the clerk you just bought them from
- Give the commuter bus driver a break when you know he’s been on the road for a couple hours and needs a bathroom run and there’s time before you have to take off. It doesn’t take much to keep a head count and open the doors for other passengers and they LOVE the opportunity to stretch!
10. Take a plate of goodies from a work potluck to the receptionist who didn’t get to go OR go down and give her a quick break so she can go!
11. Take a random coffee run with co-workers and then pay for a co-worker’s treat despite protests. I have a couple people I go for a random coffee run with and it’s funny to watch a boss protest when those they supervise treat them to a coffee and get the response “you can have your turn the next time I’m in need of a coffee run like this” we all take turns spoiling each other.
12. Bring home a random but unique goodie to your significant other. I found some cherry flavored jelly beans just before Valentine’s Day by a brand I’d never heard of and they turned out to be super good. I only got one bag and when I went back for more they were all gone!
Sue Darby, BS Business, MOS
Certificate in Fashion Design
Microsoft Office Master Certified
Alpha Beta Kappa Honors Society
Business Owner & Webmistress
I got to thinking about how to “save” good snippets of language used in the e-mails I send and vaguely remembered a new feature that Word 2007 (earlier versions do NOT have this feature and I am not sure how it works in 2010 as I don’t work in it) has and went hunting for it in Outlook too. It’s called Quick Parts. How it works:
1. Write something really cool that you know you’ll use over and over again
2. Highlight it
3. Go to the Insert tab and look for the Quick Parts drop down
4. Add the item to the Gallery with a name of your choosing
5. Next time you need to tell someone the same thing such as “you are missing blah blah blah” you can simply insert the pre-written language that explains it in detail
No more wasting time typing it over and over again for common things! Thought this might help us work smarter not harder! Pass it on if you know of someone else it can help!
Sue Darby, BS Business, MOS
Certificate in Fashion Design
Microsoft Office Master Certified
Alpha Beta Kappa Honors Society
Business Owner & Webmistress