I was visiting a client today and something struck me that bugged me the whole time I was there. I didn't see one person smiling and I must have been there for over an hour. I thought this was very strange as you need to be able to enjoy yourself at work and not be so regimented.
Who knows maybe they are keeping their heads down as jobs are on the line and they need to show some type of false dedication. I have always believed a happy office gets more done and brings a sense of camaraderie to the entire work force. We all know times are tough but making your staff work with no back ground chatting is not normal to me anyway.
My last role actually that is a lie most of my roles I have refused to have an office as I tend to move around different departments. I always found that one can lose track of the business by hiding away somewhere so if you needed me you phoned me and if you couldn't reach me someone would.
I knew the business inside out so would notice any abnormalities fairly quickly and this way would stay in touch with everyone on a daily basis. One day I could be in shipping and decide to spend a few days there and then I would be in the spares department for the remainder of the week. My laptop would be set up and I would catch up on gossip and any problems first hand.
This didn't stop me from doing the occasional prank which I was rather fond of. You always know how far too push them as you get to know the individuals on a personal level. i used to hate the auditors every year as they came in and took over most of the offices and sometimes had requests that would test anyone's patience.
Always at the end of the week I would buy them food and offered them Nando's burgers which I would nip out and collect. There was a team of 3 auditors and they all chose the hot chicken burgers and a coke. That week they had me pulling my hair out running around and stressing others, but it was all sorted and ended well finally. My staff had a mixture of hot and mild burgers so with the order list off I went.
The staff at the Chicken take away knew me and I asked for one special favor and that the three auditors burgers to be made extra hot, but to leave just the hot sticker on with a mark so I knew which ones were for who. There is quite a big difference from a hot burger to an extra hot burger so this should be entertaining.
We were all sitting around the board room table and I handed out the food making sure I was sitting opposite them. I managed to keep a straight face as I saw beads of sweat appearing on their brows and they finished their cokes rather quickly. They never complained once and soldiered through them even after I commented that next time I should get an extra hot burger as the hot burgers are too mild these days. One did look at the sticker a few times making sure his burger was the hot burger and not something else.
This is just who I am and can't change the way I think and I am sure the auditors would laugh if they only knew. My staff never pulled pranks on me as they knew the consequences were not worth it as it would be full on war. That office today needed cheering up and I had to restrain myself as now they are paying my salary being a client.Maybe next time I will say something or crack a joke or take them some food lol.
