My Casual Friday

Every summer the company I work for allows a relaxed dress code on Fridays, which includes capri pants, sandals, sleeveless tops and other work appropriate summer attire.  I do a good job keeping it polished and professional on casual Fridays - so much that colleagues has taken cracks at my creased jeans.  Take it from me, you don't have to crease ALL your jeans but you should at least have 1 or 2 pairs of jeans that mimic a pair of slacks. 

While I don't venture too far from the creased jeans paired with a blazer or nice blouse, some Fridays I would rather wear the most hated type of footwear.  You know what I am talking about. Yes, flip flops.

I know Stacy London and Clinton Kelley from "TLC's What Not to Wear" believe that there is no occasion for flip flops,but I beg to differ.  I love to just slip them on to run to the grocery store, to the mall, to that summer jazz festival downtown or to Outback Steakhouse to grab a last minute bite to eat. 

I do have enough sense to not wear flip flops to work.  But, you would be surprised that not everyone does.

So, if your feet hurt from wearing heels all week, or you love your heels Monday through Thursday and on Saturdays, but just want to give your feet a break on Fridays like me (only because my Physician Assistant friend has scared me straight mentioning to me that I am ruining my feet by wearing heels every single day) or you simply want to participate in casual or relaxed Fridays...

Wear something like my Kenneth Cole leopard flats! 

Chic and comfy

and save these Old Navy Flip Flops for the weekend if you just have to wear them! 

And yes, I do have to wear them.

Broken-in and convenient!

Tick Tock goes the clock

Time is of the essence.  Time is money.  Time is precious.  These are things I thought about when sitting in a meeting this afternoon that should have taken one hour but instead took close to two and a half hours.  Initially transitioning from the classroom to the workplace proved very difficult for me as I learned that there is the potential for lots of meetings in the course of one day: planned meetings, impromptu meetings, meetings that run over the end time, meetings that did not have a purpose and so on.

 However, in the last 6 years of my corporate work experience I have not only been broken into attending, facilitating and planning meetings, I have also grown to enjoy them, when they are a means to inform, summarize, clarify, and/or reiterate information, brainstorm and collect ideas, or  implement, in other words  productive.  Oh, and facilitated in a timely manner.

After the two and half hour meeting, I thought that although the objective was met and I was enlightened on the performance management system that I had not yet been trained on, I realized that there were numerous missteps by the meeting facilitator that led to our meeting being extremely long for no reason.  So, I present to you the five missteps that took place in the meeting I attended today and how to avoid them.  Read these carefully so when you facilitate a meeting you won't make the same mistakes and waste your employees or colleagues valuable time.

1. Test technical props (Lap tops, wireless connections, projector screens, phone lines, etc)
    being used for the meeting prior to the start time.  Things can and will go wrong, and most times it will be out of your control, however testing early allows more time to move on to a "Plan B" if you encounter issues.  Trying to troubleshoot in front of your meeting attendees is unprofessional and gives them the impression who were not prepared and makes them feel as if  you are wasting their time, which technically you will be if the meeting runs over. 
2. Do not digress.  While the topic may remind you of a funny joke, a recent scenario or previous experience, refrain from excessive side bar conversations, off topic comments and any other dialogue that will not add value and also prolong the meeting.  Save your irrelevant chatter until the meeting concludes.
3. Provide materials in advance if possible.  This may not always be possible or even necessary so use your best judgement here.  If you are training the meeting attendees on new material, handouts and/or instructions would be fitting.  This will save time down the line after the meeting, in that the attendees will have the information at their fingertips and not have to return to you for further explanation or search around for how-to's.
4. If the meeting time is up - set up a time to continue the meeting at a later date. Most people plan to be available for the meeting time communicated to them and that meeting time only.
5. BONUS - You are probably thinking, what if I am attending a meeting that is wasting my time?  Take control politely.  This will not work in all cases, but it is possibly to move the meeting along, by interjecting and getting the group back on task.  Suggest a timekeeper if you see time is getting to be a problem and also bring the group back to the meeting topic if they get off track by using a line like this "Julie, I understand your explanation of step 1 of the process, what would step 2 entail?"  This shows you are interested in the subject matter, but also want to cut out the unnecessary chit chat.

Here's to productive meetings in and out of the office! 

Your mother doesn't work here - clean up after yourself!

When I first started working at my current job 4 years ago, I was amazed to find real dishes in the breakrooms.  No really; drinking glasses, coffee mugs, plates, bowls, silverware and get this - a dishwasher!  I was quite puzzled, as my previous places of employment only had sinks, refrigerators and microwaves.  So this was totally new to me. 

Once explained to me, the efforts to cut down on waste and to go green, I warmed up to fact that these breakrooms were full fledge kitchens, just like at home!  But as my tenure progressed, I began to observe that the employees were treating these "at work" kitchens like they were "at home" kitchens.  Right now, at my house, my dishes are piled up in the sink (working girl = full sink until the weekend), but would I necessarily feel compelled to just dump my dirty dishes in the sink and leave for who knows who to clean up, at work?  Yeah, not so much. 

Why do people think this is ok?  Now of course this is not everyone, you have people like me and then the people who create signs and tape them to the cupboard doors or even on the countertops printed in all caps "CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!"  Maybe we should remove the dishes?  I don't know what the solution is, we are all adults, and sadly enough people bring their bad home habits to work.  This is interesting to me, most times I would hate for someone to come to my house and see my dirty dishes piled up high or witness any other outside of work or behind closed door behaviors.  I suppose the employees who do this have no shame in their game and like to keep it real no matter where they are????  Beats me.

There is a time and place for everything, so let's try to suppress our behaviors that are not appropriate for work (like being slobs) until we get home OR eat at restaurants where there are servers OR use disposible utensils! 

Know your place

Until today, I felt that it was completely annoying to provide all this special treatment to executives who work for the company.  I mean, the overrides and extended deadlines, the calling the medical vendors for them, when they could simply call customer service themselves.  Not to mention, the company cars (I'm talking high end, not your typical Ford Explorer), country club and gym memberships, executive compensation (so they can be rich forever), additional life insurance and the list goes on! 

While I know 9 out of 10 executives deserve all the perks they are getting for leading companies, developing strategies, saving millions and making millions, it can get under your skin and irk you a little bit, the same way growing up, your parents irked you when they told you to get them a glass of water, or any other asinine task they could have done themselves, but instead, asked you to do it because you are their child and they are your parent!  I digress....

Today, however, it appears that the Director of Human Resources (of all employees) grew irritated over yet another perk.  The assigned covered parking, which is coveted by many (not me though, if I had my choice of perks, it would not be a parking spot) apparently was the straw that broke the camels back.  Long story short, the Director of HR parked in the CFO's parking spot while he was at lunch, only for him to return and find someone in his parking spot.  This is where it gets good - the CFO fights back by parking horizontally behind the Director of HR, blocking her in, retreating to his office and patiently awaiting her request to be unblocked when the workday concludes.  But, that is not what happens.  At 4:30pm, the Director of HR attempts to duck out early only to find her car is blocked in.  What happened next?  Well, the Director of HR asks another employee to go to the CFO, let him know she is trying to get out.  This employee does that, but the CFO is not having it.  He requests that the Director of HR come see him directly - but guess what, she poos poos that request and maneuvers her way out of the parking spot, leaving the CFO's car parked on the street and looking crazy!

The moral of the story is that:

1) I don't need to say that the Director of HR was out of line and while she may not think it was a big deal, it showed an overwhelming sense of immaturity and entitlement and blatant disrespect towards the CFO. 




2)  It's really not that serious.  Please don't risk your credibility and reputation over a parking spot that is 10 steps closer than the one you are allowed to park in. 

3) Don't mess with the hierarchy, totem pole, pecking order, whatever you want to call it, in the workplace.  Know your place, if you want a covered parking spot (which is not all that if you ask me) work for it, and if that means you have to work until you are 50, than that's what you have to do.  Hopefully, you can find more rewarding things in life to make you happy than a parking spot that really is probably detrimental to your health, because the closer you are to the door, the less exercise you are getting.  I know this is a stretch...but you probably get my sarcasm.

Behind closed doors: Bye Bye cubicle HEL-LO OFFICE!

After 4 years as a Benefits Administrator, I've gotten promoted into a HR Generalist role. I am very excited to learn my new job.  My hard work has definitely paid off.  I have created a very positive reputation among my colleagues and have also had several successes within the company.  So, along with my promotion, I have gone from a cubicle to office! Yes, more work, more travel and more intense projects will come my way, but I will be doing all of that gladly in the privacy of my office. Now, I've worked in cubicles in most of my jobs, so I was not a stranger to them, but it gets loud, I get nervous leaving things at my desk, like my ipod, I had nowhere to hang my coat in the winter and frankly, I had to always be on the lookout and ready to protect my computer screen as at any minute someone would be sashaying around the corner and my computer screen with non-work related images (oh! not that - I mean shopping or celeb blogs) would be viewed. 

As happy as I am about my upgrade (you have to walk into my office and then stand directly behind me to see what is on my screen, also my ipod and docking station is now safe because of my ability to lock my door when I leave and no one has to hear me cuss out Comcast about my high bill nor do I have to hear my neighbor cuss out their significant other), I do want to be the first to tell you that an office isn't a sign of making it or an indicator of great skill. Your talent is still king, whether you are sitting at a receptionist desk, a cubicle or working out of your car. Not all professions require an office and not all companies accommodate their employees with them.  My mother has been on her job for 33 years, has had an office for 30 of them but recently the culture has changed and she is now packing up her office to go to a cubicle. If you don't have an office at work and you really just want one, create a space at your home.

Working in Human Resources confidentiality and privacy is extremely important.  Having an office allows you to speak with employees related to performance issues, advancement opportunities or the dreadful reduction in workforce conversation.  So really, me having an office benefits the employees I service throughout the company! 

Either way, I am pleased with my career progression and ready to start decorating my new space.  Should I call HGTV???  Hey, TV show idea, right...