Is anyone a fan of the movie "The replacement players" with Keanu Reeves? There is a line that he has where he talks about being out on the football field in a game and he makes a mistake, then another, then another, and the harder you try, the more you feel yourself sinking....like quicksand.
Now you might wonder what quicksand or even the movie has to do with a call center but it really has to do with life. Some days you get up, fix coffee, and drop the cup. It breaks and spills coffee and broken coffee mug all over the floor. No big deal right?! you just clean it up. Then, you go outside to let the dog out and he breaks his leash.....now you find yourself chasing him around the block when you really don't have the time. You finally catch up with the little mutt and you get him in the house. You grab your keys, lunch bag, purse (or whatever) and head to the car. Put the key in and turn it and the battery is dead.....with me so far folks..
You get to work and start your day as always, running through email, answering messages etc. Life is getting better right....things are normal......no inkling that in approximately oh say................NOW and your life changes as you know it. You get pulled in the bosses office (conference room or where ever your management takes you when they want to give you life altering news).
You sit there and stare at the other people around you and can you feel your heart...dumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdum...you try and think of all the possibilities for why you all are sitting in a room waiting....it's good news right...we all are getting promoted.....raises.....new desks....new computers....ok, good things running out.....we are all getting moved to another department, ramping up and getting more work......then the boss walks in and you stop thinking. Anyone still with me? Can you close your eyes and picture the room?
Now, you have gone through changes before right? You are the pro at this arent' you. Everyone is watching your face to see how they should react or to take their queue from you. You have just been told that your program is moving to another town about 45 mimutes away for a couple of weeks or maybe months. Now you are tasked to go out and find volunteers to move with you for an indefinate amount of time. You can't tell them how long it is going to last. What you can tell them is that it is temporary, they will be paid some "bonus" money for going and when it is over, they will be coming back here. So you spend 2 days addressing questions from them and alleviating their concerns about job security......you toe the party line and get your volunteers........Can you feel it coming yet folks?????
Ok....that was the sound of someone getting smacked in the back of the head yep.....you were right you are still sinking and there isn't a tree limb in sight.
Now we have talked about change being good and there are many sayings that i am sure we have all heard before about rolling with things and being open to change. It's good for you right? God only gives you what you can handle right?
So now you have to find your branch to grab on to again......what will you do? Move with the program and make the drive every day permanently? Move to the new town? See about staying where you are at and work in your 7 different program with hours you know don't work for you very long....
when you feel the quicksand getting up to your knees it's time to reach out to friends and family to do the whole pros vs cons thing if necessary. My sis taught me that one. Sometimes you need an outsider to help you look at everything to help you see the "forest for the trees" and see that the quicksand isn't as deep as you thought sitting in that room with everyone staring at you. It's really just another road you have to decide if you want to drive down. You still have options, and they are what you make of them.....good new highway or pot hole infested roads that break your car and you down till you just pull over and quit. Which road you driving....grab your branch and pull yourself out of "quicksand"
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Spock said "Captain, that is illogical"
Now, i don't claim to be the most logical person, I am a women after all and we all know that us women can change our minds rather quickly. What is logical to myself may not be logical to you. I am right handed and prefer certain things to be set up a specific way on my desk. Others, are left handed and likes things a different way.
Some people take pictures of every detail while they are on vacation so they have something to look back at and say "see this was my vacation". Me, my pictures are all in my head. I can see them any time i want all i have to do is just close my eyes and i can see that water fall on Route 1 in Massachusetts on a clear, cold day in December with the sun glinting off the ice covered water and the sparkles coming off of everything is breathtaking. Different strokes for different folks as my momma would say.
Women wear excruciatingly high heels and then when they get home complain about how their feet hurt. They squeeze themselves into clothes that on the best of days are at least 1 size too small and wonder why they have body parts screaming at them at the end of a busy day. Size 2 isn't everybodies idea of perfect and just being who you are and the shape you are is okay. I prefer to wear clothes that "fit" there is enough room so that when i eat lunch, i have room for my stomach to expand without causing pain around my middle because i am now being cut in half because i ate a mini size can of beefaroni and some peaches. When it comes to appearance women do the most illogical things to look good to others and to feel good about themselves.
We live in a time when everyone is trying to be eco-friendly but in most businesses we print out more documents than we need. We have vending machines that sell drinks in plastic but don't recycle. We pack 100's of people in a building and wonder why they get sick and stay sick because we don't clean the air filters, freeze them in the summer time because the coolers are set to 60 degrees and they need blankets to sit at a computer and take calls all day. Then in the winter time, we turn the heat on to 75 but don't regulate it properly through out the buildings to ensure it is evenly distributed.
We have cell phones that do so many different things that we text the person sitting next to us to say hi or send an AIM to ask a question rather then get up from the desk and take the 5 steps to the next desk to ask a question. What happened to our ability to carry on a conversation with someone that doesn't involve a slur, epitath or a put down of someone else. What happened to the ability to walk up to some one with a smile and say hi how are you and not get a "what do you want" response. We are raising a generation that has forgotten the english language and how to use it in the proper manner. But we wonder what is happening to our society as a whole.
When dealing with businesses, it is usually all about the bottom dollar and again, i may not be the most logical individual but i like most americans understand that if something is going to cost money and i can do something else that will cost less money "logic" would say to look at it and see if in the long run the money i save is going to be better for my business. Now i also understand that money alone shouldn't dictate the decisions that are made. I like to think of it as the want vs need theory. Businesses like call centers are really good at it. People have needs like food, water, clothing etc. They also have wants like the really good clothes, the good food like steaks and lobster and the better TV's etc. Businesses are no different. They want to make a profit, get their name out in their chosen field of expertise and to retain employees who help them reach these and may other goals. They want to do it as cheaply as possible.
Call Centers are constantly changing and evolving. It is just the nature of the business. As third party vendors, they have to provide the best possible services to their clients and they are at the mercy of their clients. Some clients are back seat drivers and others are content for the most part to sit back and let the experts do their jobs. And sometimes the clients pull programs with no notice and employees can be out of jobs in the time it takes to have a short phone call. There is nothing logical about call center business that i have been able to find. It's not about wearing the right shirt, or saying the right thing at the right moment. Things change in call centers like the weather in Seattle Washington, blink and it changes from sunny and warm to cold and rainy. One minute the answer to why something is happening is because monitarily it makes sense and then the next time you ask the same question it is because of the moral of the employees and we want to keep them happy. One month you are letting attrition take it's course and the next, your telling employee's that while you were going to let them go, you are now going to give them another chance. Mr. Spock would not like this Enterprise as there is no logic to be found in call centers.
Some people take pictures of every detail while they are on vacation so they have something to look back at and say "see this was my vacation". Me, my pictures are all in my head. I can see them any time i want all i have to do is just close my eyes and i can see that water fall on Route 1 in Massachusetts on a clear, cold day in December with the sun glinting off the ice covered water and the sparkles coming off of everything is breathtaking. Different strokes for different folks as my momma would say.
Women wear excruciatingly high heels and then when they get home complain about how their feet hurt. They squeeze themselves into clothes that on the best of days are at least 1 size too small and wonder why they have body parts screaming at them at the end of a busy day. Size 2 isn't everybodies idea of perfect and just being who you are and the shape you are is okay. I prefer to wear clothes that "fit" there is enough room so that when i eat lunch, i have room for my stomach to expand without causing pain around my middle because i am now being cut in half because i ate a mini size can of beefaroni and some peaches. When it comes to appearance women do the most illogical things to look good to others and to feel good about themselves.
We live in a time when everyone is trying to be eco-friendly but in most businesses we print out more documents than we need. We have vending machines that sell drinks in plastic but don't recycle. We pack 100's of people in a building and wonder why they get sick and stay sick because we don't clean the air filters, freeze them in the summer time because the coolers are set to 60 degrees and they need blankets to sit at a computer and take calls all day. Then in the winter time, we turn the heat on to 75 but don't regulate it properly through out the buildings to ensure it is evenly distributed.
We have cell phones that do so many different things that we text the person sitting next to us to say hi or send an AIM to ask a question rather then get up from the desk and take the 5 steps to the next desk to ask a question. What happened to our ability to carry on a conversation with someone that doesn't involve a slur, epitath or a put down of someone else. What happened to the ability to walk up to some one with a smile and say hi how are you and not get a "what do you want" response. We are raising a generation that has forgotten the english language and how to use it in the proper manner. But we wonder what is happening to our society as a whole.
When dealing with businesses, it is usually all about the bottom dollar and again, i may not be the most logical individual but i like most americans understand that if something is going to cost money and i can do something else that will cost less money "logic" would say to look at it and see if in the long run the money i save is going to be better for my business. Now i also understand that money alone shouldn't dictate the decisions that are made. I like to think of it as the want vs need theory. Businesses like call centers are really good at it. People have needs like food, water, clothing etc. They also have wants like the really good clothes, the good food like steaks and lobster and the better TV's etc. Businesses are no different. They want to make a profit, get their name out in their chosen field of expertise and to retain employees who help them reach these and may other goals. They want to do it as cheaply as possible.
Call Centers are constantly changing and evolving. It is just the nature of the business. As third party vendors, they have to provide the best possible services to their clients and they are at the mercy of their clients. Some clients are back seat drivers and others are content for the most part to sit back and let the experts do their jobs. And sometimes the clients pull programs with no notice and employees can be out of jobs in the time it takes to have a short phone call. There is nothing logical about call center business that i have been able to find. It's not about wearing the right shirt, or saying the right thing at the right moment. Things change in call centers like the weather in Seattle Washington, blink and it changes from sunny and warm to cold and rainy. One minute the answer to why something is happening is because monitarily it makes sense and then the next time you ask the same question it is because of the moral of the employees and we want to keep them happy. One month you are letting attrition take it's course and the next, your telling employee's that while you were going to let them go, you are now going to give them another chance. Mr. Spock would not like this Enterprise as there is no logic to be found in call centers.
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