Church vs. Park

2012-02-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

Daddy: Sophie are you ready to go to church?
Sophie: Is Mommy coming?
D: No Mommy is sick and needs a nap.
S: I'm sick too!
D: No I don't believe that.
S: Yeah... I'm sick like Mommy.
D: So you don't want to go to church?
S: No. I'm sick.
D: Would you like to go to the park?
S: Yeah! I wanna go on the swings and the slide....
D: No, sick little girls can't go to the park.
S: I'm not sick!
D: Wow! Imagine that!
S: I want to go to the park!
D: It's too cold to go to the park. But we can go to church since you are feeling better.
S: No... I'm sick.

Sophie says....

2012-02-11T16:55:00.001-08:00

#1 We are in the bathroom doing her hair
Sophie: Mom, where are my eyebrows?
Mom: Right here (points to her eyebrows)
S: No... I don't see them. I don't have eyebrows. I want eyebrows.
M: Honey, you have eyebrows. They are just the same color as your hair. Your hair is light, so are your eyebrows.
S: No... I don't have them (starts crying).

*It's apparently devastating to have light eyebrows.*

#2 Sophie is running down the hall and hits her shoulder into the wall.
Sophie: MOM.... the wall hit me! Say, 'That's not nice'!
Mom: Honey, did you run into the wall?
S: Yeah. Tell the wall that's not nice!
M: (groan) That's not nice wall.
S: Yeah wall! That's not nice.

*Glad she taught that wall a lesson*

Management 101 Course

2012-02-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

Typically this would be an excellent class for Business bachelor degree seeking students. In fact, you can probably find most of these lessons outside of a college institution and within business settings. However, much to my dismay I'm finding that there are several business professionals (some with MBAs) who have missed these vital lessons. So, let me elaborate for those who could use a crash course on Management 101.

1. You do not tell your boss that you aren't going to do something simply because you don't think it's worth your while. If it is part of your job description and doesn't violate moral, ethical, and/or compliance codes- then DO IT!

2. When you come across a problem that will demand the attention of your boss, don't just say "Here is a problem... now what are you going to do to fix it?". You are competent and are expected to know your area of expertise. So when there is a problem you should say "Here is the problem... here are a couple options I suggest to get this fixed". You are hired for your brain... use it.

3. When you have problems with a fellow employee, you address your fellow co-worker in a rational and professional matter. If the conflict continues, quietly schedule time with your boss to again.... rationally and professionally discuss the matter. What do I mean by rationally and professionally? Well how about I discuss what it is not. It does not put hate notes on Facebook, does not include pulling other employees into squabbles, it does not mean you go to your boss' boss and complain and cry to them, and it does not cause a cat fight which prevents you and others from doing their job.

4. As a manager it is your job to keep employees on task and be accountable for the completion and delegation of the required workload. You are also responsible for making sure your employees act in a professional manner (i.e. see number 3). So when an employee is not doing these things, it is your responsibility to take the issue at hand and address it in a professional manner. For example, Employee #1 is being obnoxious and disturbing Employee #2 from doing their job. You need to pull Employee #1 aside and discuss professional behavior. Then enacted consequences if this issue should continue. You should not "do nothing" and just "let it all work out on its own".

5. Delegating authority does not mean you have everyone do all your work and then take credit for the end product. You delegate the data, and then you are responsible for pulling everything together and analyzing the information and making it ready for presentation. Your job is not to watch everyone do your job.

6. If you do not personally like someone, you get over it and deal with them anyway. Everyone is different and you won't like everyone you work with... but it is your job to look past that and work professionally with them. When the work relation becomes unprofessional or they are doing something unethical, then you 'rationally' take action. Leaving your emotion and personality preferences out of it. You do not try and sabotage their job and try to get them fired by falsifying facts.

7. In your work, try to go above and beyond by thinking about what your boss would like to see from your work. Don't just do the bare minimum. Beforehand, think about what they'll ask and try to make sure you have that information, graphs, charts, etc... there to address those things. You know it's a good meeting and a good presentation, when your boss has no questions regarding your work afterward. You know it's a bad meeting and presentation, when your boss says- "You didn't answer anything about what I asked you to present about" or "I didn't understand anything you said".

8. A very very small percentage of people are going to hire you just to kiss their ass. If you are doing a good job, your boss will know how valuable you are without any need to kneel and pucker up. People that waste time kissing butt are compensating for their lack of ability to do their job and/or the task... and therefore result to the one thing anyone and anything can do.... kiss some rear.

9. If you have no clue what is unethical, go immediately to HR before HR comes to you with packing boxes.

10. If you are paid to work 40 hours on work provided by your company... guess what.... you need to work 40 hours working on the work provided by your company. This means you do not claim to work 40 hours, but take a 2 hour lunch break everyday while on the clock. It also means you don't spend your time shopping and selling on Ebay, chatting on Facebook, or trying to manage another business at work.

I'm sure most people are competent and understand these 10 instructions. However, I have seen everyone one of these issues violated within the past year from paid management employees. Hopefully this is something uncommon within the US and the business industry. However, if not... feel free to refer those employees to this blog posting for a quick education.

Sorry... bad day at work... can you tell?

Oney Family Adventures

Church vs. Park

Sophie says....

Management 101 Course