Caution - Office Safety Risks

I was thinking one day...When deciding on a career one may take into consideration the risks involved with performing a job. I always knew that I didn't want to have a job that involved manual labor, or any other type of work that would purposely put me in harms way. A corporate type, office job seemed like a safe environment, but beware of the dangers in the workplace. How can you hurt yourself sitting at your desk. Little did I know of the top 5 risks I face each day when I step foot into my office building.


5. Paper cuts - I currently have 5 paper cuts combined on both of my hands.

4. Slamming finger in file drawer - who is putting WD40 on these drawers, boy do they slam shut so fast.

3. Hanging file folders - Not only has these hanging file folders put holes in my clothes, and pulled threads out of my sweaters, I have actually had one of those prongs get caught in an existing papercut. Ouch!

2. Hand/Arm caught in vending machine trying to retrieve merchandise you bought that did not release properly. At 5 feet 5 inches and about 108 pounds (and gaining), it is quite impossible for me to rock the entire vending machine back and forth to get my Strawberry pop tart.

1. Bathroom doors - if you have ever been in a hurry - off to a meeting you forgot about, trying to hurry out to lunch or even that last bathroom break before you rush home - you may have been a victim of the being hit with a swinging bathroom door or better yet having a head on collision with a fellow colleague.

Be careful and extremely cautious at work, we are definitely not in the clear of injury.

~WEEK IN REVIEW~

Week of August 20th

Monday- 10:00AM, You sat in a meeting for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes , and you are still trying to figure out what it was about.

Tuesday - 4:57PM - Your coworker pawns an employee call off on you, when she knows good and well that their question requires her expertise. She sees you packing up to go home!

Wednesday - 12:20PM, Lunch time rush - You stand in line for approximately 23 minutes at a local sandwich shop for a chicken salad sandwich. What a ding-dong, lunch is at 1:00PM from now on.

Thursday - 2:45PM, Your boss insist that you attend an out of office meeting at another location. You brave the mid-afternoon traffic, hassle with the toll bridge, and fear all the crazies who shouldn't have a license. Once you reach your destination 45 minutes later, you find that the meeting has been cancelled and no one thought to tell you!

Friday - 8:30AM, Trying to end your week on a positive note, you are at your desk typing an email when you hear a "pop". Your belt buckle completely snaps off the leather end as you are wearing pants that actually require a belt to keep them UP! You hurry off to the grocery store to find a cheap belt, needless to say its ugly!

...........Better luck next week

"Corporate Lingo"

After about 2 months of working in "Corporate America" I learned of this secret language. A language that I would eventually grow to mock. My good friend Olivia and I, have had countless conversations regarding the meanings of these phrases and the need to use them. Do these terms really get our points across in a more effective way? Are we trying to create an elite club where you can distinguish its members through these sayings? Can one be considered unprofessional, or lacking in intelligence, innovation and business savvy if these terms and phrases are not present in their vocabulary?



Top 10 Overly Communicated Corporate Terms, Phrases and Lingo

1. "Think outside the box" - Thinking creatively and not of the norm (lingo within lingo). Would it not be accepted to say, "try thinking of something that hasn't been thought of before" or "be a little more creative". What is the box, the box of business measurements the box of normalcy? Wouldn't it be great for everyone to think within their own box, their minds, and then exchange boxes, and then collaborate the boxes to create this great big box of creativity.

2. "Touch Base" - To follow up. Such an easy term to define, yet used way too much. No really, way too much!

3. "....Oriented" - According to Webster.com, oriented means intellectually, emotionally, or functionally directed. My gripe is that just adding "oriented" before or after something does not make it a power saying hence hearing this word in numerous variations many times a day. i.e. deadline-oriented.

4. "Drill down" - Digging/researching deeper into a problem or issue's core. I'm sure that one could say, "I am going to research further and get back to you" or a manager could ask their employee to "gather more information to get to the bottom of it".

5. "Show Stopper" - A highly important item that if not addressed will cause detrimental effects. I already have a short attention span, so sayings like this just take me away from the meeting at hand. It makes me think that the meeting I am in is really about something fun and interesting and then I snap back to reality and find myself in a boring meeting discussing budgets or something.

6. "Push Back" - To disagree with an idea. In different workplace settings I have had bosses who welcome push back or simply despise it. This takes us to my theory that these terms, thought to be universal can carry different meanings in different places and you never really know what your coworker or boss is talking about. Oh, or is that just me? Perhaps I am "pushing back" on all these terms because I don't know their true meanings.

7. "Buy In" - Gaining support perhaps from upper management and/or executives.

8. "Take this Offline" - Discuss a topic or issue at a later time, outside of the current meeting.

9. "Benchmark" - Making comparison or evaluation of best practices (lingo within lingo) within industry to aide in making informed and strategic decisions. And that is fine, it is actually needed in all business aspects to remain competitive in the company's respective industry. But another that I have witnessed be used numerous times a day.

10. "Stay in the loop" - Yet another form of "Touch Base". Staying informed of a variety of things including, physical whereabouts throughout the work day, progress on assignments, projects and tasks, all not to leave your boss, coworkers without a clue of what is going on in relevance to them. (wink, wink) Yes, it is the name of the blog, but believe me, this phrase is the only one that I admit has made a home in my vocabulary!

Lessons Learned - "The Devil's Advocate"

When it comes to giving advice, there are two types of people:

1. People who are afraid to make their own decision, so they ask for advice and actually take it.
2. People who ask for advice in hopes to validate the decision they already made.

Because its a 50-50 chance that you are going to do "what the hell you want to do" anyway, this column is my way of fulfilling my civic duty, like jury duty. My objective is to supply you information, possible options and alternatives to help you make an informed decision that works best for you.

DEAR Workerbee,

"I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism next year and I really want to work as a writer for a magazine or newspaper. I don't have any experience in the field but I am willing to work hard and do whatever it takes. Since I have a year until graduation do you have any suggestions as to how I should prepare to job hunt once I graduate?"

~Girl who doesn't want to graduate without a job in my field.

Dear Girl who doesn't want to graduate......

I am glad that you are attempting to take a proactive approach to your career planning. First, I want to say that it is very common for recent graduates to take a job that is not in their field of study upon graduation. There is nothing wrong with doing so; gaining professional work experience allows you to gain exposure in different environments and become well rounded. With your lack of experience, I suggest, if you haven't done so already join a writing club, join the newspaper staff at your college or university and try to secure an internship. Gaining these types of experiences although unpaid will give you items to put on your resume as well as compile a writing portfolio of your writing to present at a job interview. Lastly, start researching potential employers that you may be interested in working for and going as far as reaching out to contacts at the company to inquire about paid internships and entry level positions. You know what they say....the early bird catches the worm!

Good Luck!

Got a question, let me know!