Over at the VACOC Virtual Assistant Mastermind Forum, we’ve been discussing our motivations for being in business. And as stimulating conversations often go, there have been interesting twists and turns brought up throughout the discourse.
One of the fun tangents we got into talking about were some of our boss horror stories. Another theme that was brought up was having to deal with catty coworkers and fights over the phone.
I thought the fights over the phone was quite interesting because it was experienced so consistently by almost everyone who had ever had to work in an office, myself included.
When I was still in the working world, I remember just about every single place I worked there was always contention when it came to phone coverage. It was one thing to answer your own calls, but when it came to overall coverage for the office or lunches, no one wanted to act as receptionist.
I’m sure there are lots of reasons for this. For one thing, in cases where the role fell to one specific person, I think the person who got "stuck" with this duty often felt demeaned by the role. By the duty not being in their official job description and not being equally shared by the other colleagues, there was an implication that they were the low person on the totem pole.
Another reason I think no one wanted phone detail is because they became chained to their desk. Everyone that I’d ever worked with hated being tethered in this way.
Similarly, another reason most people can’t stand answering the phones is because you can’t get anything done except the most mindless of work. If you had work that required serious thought and concentration in order to do well and not make mistakes, you just had to save it for when you could get away from the phone or were allowed to put your calls on Voicemail.
Phone were such a point of friction at just about every place I’d ever worked, it’s amazing to me that these companies didn’t brainstorm to come up with a better way.
For one thing, they should recognize that employees who are in roles where critical thinking and concentration are necessary cannot be expected to also answer phones during those times. It’s like expecting mere mortals to be able to walk around all day rubbing their tummy and patting their head at the same time.
They also could have hired one central reception person or team whose first and primary (and valued) role would be to answer phones. That way, they wouldn’t have competing priorities for their attention and when it was the specific role they signed up for in the first place, there wouldn’t be any feeling of being demeaned.
Another solution that would have alleviated the "enslaved to the desk" syndrome would be to employ mobile phone units where they could get up, go where they needed, if they needed to, and take the phone with them at the same time.
I thought it was an interesting discussion which I just love. Did you have phone fights when you were still an employee? Were they ever resolved? What are your solutions?
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
2 Comments
Oh man, Danielle, does this bring back memories
!
I remember one place I worked, where I was the office manager and the person in charge of the receptionist coverage schedule, as well as the clerical staff. Getting people to cover the reception desk so the receptionist could have lunch, was a never ending battle and the lengths some people would go to, in order to be excused from covering, was mind boggling.
Because I live by the motto, “I won’t expect you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself,” I put my name on the coverage schedule, and I covered the desk one day a week — to set an example, so I thought. Wrong!
The secretary in the sales department always found a way to not take her turn, including having her boss, the VP of Sales, call me to tell me she wouldn’t be doing it that day. I’d tell him that I’d switch days with her, and he’d tell me she couldn’t do it at all that week. I could mentally picture her sitting in his office violently shaking her head no.
I tried reasoning with them, cajoling, and even scheduling her turn when she thought it would be convenient for her. No go.
I think that the reason companies don’t come up with a better system is because in the brick and mortar world, clerical staff (secretaries and admins. too) are not valued. The brick and mortar bosses are the first to jump all over us when something goes wrong, and they’re the first ones who expect us to be able to walk, chew gum, pat our heads and rub our tummies at the same time. They think the work we do is mindless and that we don’t need to concentrate or focus to get our jobs done. If we can’t walk, pat, chew and rub at the same time, there’s something wrong with us — not the job.
=>Donna Caissie, Owner
ExtraOrdinary Assistance
http://www.extra-assist.com
cio@extra-assist.com
LOL, Donna. Ain’t that the truth! Thanks for sharing. Since we’re at it… got any fun boss horror stories?