Tag Archives: Work

Another one bites the dust!

I am living a range of emotions now that I have learned another colleague is leaving the company.

I am sad at losing a great person to touch base with on different issues.  Someone who keeps me in touch with another side of the business and who I enjoy catching up with.  Maybe I should have done it more…

I am glad that she has other opportunities, or so I assume.  She has not confirmed anything!  But, she has a few days left, so I can only deduct that she is leaving of her own accord.

I am jealous of change others go through while I am tired and frustrated lately.  There is too much work and we have not yet figured out how to handle it properly.

I am hopeful that she will have another adventure and will keep in touch to share her experience.

I am regretful that I have not been social enough with some people, she being one of them.

It gives me great joy and hope that I have these emotions.  It tells me that I am building relationships that I can count on over time.  It keeps me aware of the impact some people have on me that I may take for granted.  It is only when they leave do we realize their value.  I know I need to be a better person and make the time to make things right all around.  I just hope that those I count among my friends understand and take the time to lend a hand as they usually do.

Thank you very much dear colleague for all the great days we had together.  Your smile lifted my spirits and you were always great with me.  Keep in touch.  I hope our paths cross again some day in business and know that they will cross again in life.

Stay interested and interesting!

John

Build your brand! Learn!

With all the economic uncertainty and the snowy weather in Ottawa, it is time to build your brand, stay inside and learn all you can.  There is still a looming human resource shortage on the horizon.  The baby boomers are still going to retire.  Some have lost parts of their pensions, but my prediction is that they will retire from their full time job, take the pension and find some part time work that they truly enjoy, but are not slaves to the system.

You are in control of your own destiny and there has never been a better time to build your knowledge and market yourself.  Smart employers are locking their best employees in through incentives that are more important than money.  Think pride, belonging, adventure, influence and, of course, learning opportunities!

Keep in touch with the labour market.  You have to know what the opportunities are out there for you and don’t be afraid to apply for jobs you think you would like.  Yes!  Even if you already have a job.  That may seem selfish, but you have to remember that your current employer will probably replace you and if they don’t, then maybe you made the move at the right time.

It is your career.  It is your life.  Take control.

Stay interested and interesting!

John

I am busy

Man!  Am I busy?  Hell yeah!  I am VERY busy now.  What a difference a month makes.  I now have work, school and personal life that I am trying to balance.  The positive side is that I am watching less TV.  The negative side is that I am playing less games.  😦

I have really been riding the PVR pretty hard.  I take whatever spare moments I have to watch bits and pieces of my favourite shows at different times.  I also tend to listen to podcasts as I work.  I try to get through it all and not lose too much of who I am.

I am now wondering about priorities in terms of how much time I want to devote to all the priorities.  I think it is politically correct to say that family is my #1 priority.  The truth is that it should be balanced with all the others so that everyone is happy and nobody is taken for granted or becomes the source of resentment.

I wish I could add about 4 hours a day.  That would be great.  Any ideas?

Stay interested and interesting!

John

Budget

I hate budgeting for myself.  I find it to be tedious, frustrating and, sometimes, discouraging.  So, I have decided to take a “just don’t spend” approach.  I figure if I spend the least possible, I won’t really have to follow my budget because my riches will just build in my bank account.

The only issue I have found so far is that IT IS HARD!!  The consumerist society we live in values spending as much as possible.  I really have to find ways of making more money AND spending less.  The barter system would be really good, but I have not found a skill within myself that fits.  I guess I will have to push the “making more money” part!  I think I will go incorporate myself now…

Stay interested and interesting!

John

Balance

I am sure that you have heard that variety is the spice of life. Well, balance is a synonym and rightfully so. I hear “work – life” quite a bit these days and do not disagree in principle, but I think that we are looking at it the wrong way. Instead of pushing for change in how we, as employees, are managed, we should be managing ourselves. There is great freedom in the choice of how you live your life, and that includes work.

I am not saying you should go in to work tomorrow and tell off your boss. I am just saying that YOU can take more control of how you perform your duties, especially if you are a salary worker. I, one among many, get a yearly salary and have a bonus structure in place that pays out against certain performance indicators. In theory, I could work ten hours a week and still get full salary if my objectives are met. In practice, it is a little more difficult and if you have a good manager, they will know that you are not working to your capacity, which may be very different than others.

However, you DO have control. Work is part of your life, whether you want to admit it or not. In our beloved capitalist society, we have the freedom to chose our path and have many opportunities to better ourselves. Unfortunately, many of us do not fully understand how to get to where we want to go and how to start, me included. I can not tell you how to succeed, because I am still working on it myself!  🙂

What you can control is the level of pleasure you get from your job. You should have fun at work every day. You should enjoy the people you work with and feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, or at least at the end of the month! If you are not having fun, do not like the people and have no idea why you are there, LEAVE. There is plenty of work out there and if you can not find anything to your liking, you have many avenues to explore in creating your own. This last option is VERY interesting to me. The sense of ownership gives you more desire to succeed and the intimate knowledge you will develop will certainly drive new passion in to your life. Lastly, it will become your LIFE, and you will want it to be.

Be brave souls and try something new. Make your own path and be happy. Nobody else will do it for you. You have to want it for yourself and success will follow in one form or another.

Stay interested and interesting!

John

PS: This post was written while listening to Ratatat. It is instrumental, but very upbeat. I think you will either love it or hate it. Try it though, because you will never know otherwise. 😉

Work

Man! Having work to do AND Ashley with me really puts a cramp on my writing! Who would have thunk it?

It has been an eventful week with new work to do, but some more friends that have left the company. Though I met with a former VP today and he is doing well. He is doing some consulting while he looks for something a little more stable. I am sure he will be fine.

Weirdly enough, I have not spoken to anyone who is REALLY upset about being let go. They seem to be taking it in stride and reveling in the freedom. I can certainly understand where they are coming from. With all the day to day stress taken away, I would imagine they are taking a bit of time for it all to sink in and be happy that they don’t have to be tied to their Blackberry all day and night. AND, all the long term pressures from work are gone. In a way, I envy them. Though, I would rather have the certainty of a job right now and continue to see what opportunities there are before I finally decide to stay with the company or not. Change is a great thing after all. 🙂

I hope you are all happy with your jobs. If not, start looking. You should be happy in a place where you will spend a lot of your time.

Stay interested and interesting!

PS: New Diggnation this evening on Revision3.com

John

Work

I really need to continue writing my book: “Taking the toil out of work”  (Working title.  No pun intended…).  I want to have enthusiasm for the work I do.  Part and parcel in gaining this energy is being able to do something that I am interested in and makes use of my knowledge.

Early in life, my mother really ingrained the maxim that I could do anything I set my mind to.  Apparently, I took it to heart, because I still believe it.  The only thing in my way is myself.  If I really want to do something, I will make time for it and improve myself through education and research.  Does thing mean that I am overconfident?  I don’t think so, but then I am biased!  🙂

With work, we find ourselves in a society that values work over many other pieces of what makes us who we are.  I find myself asking the traditional question “what do you do?” any time I meet someone new.  My expectation is that they will tell me how they make a living.  I would be very surprised to hear someone tell me they watch football and love popcorn.  I would wonder how the hell they make a living at that and where to sign up!  I expect them to tell me that they are an accountant, construction worker or engineer.

We each spend in the area of fourty hours a week, some more, some less, working to pay our bills.  Some people are betting at living simply and putting emphasis on other pursuits, such as travel for example, over wordly goods, but they are certainly the exception.  Others balance life outside of work and at work by seperating them completely.  If it is after four o’clock, don’t ask them about work, that is their personal time!  Finally, there are those who seem to have mastered the blend of both and have made their passions their work.   This leads them to WANT to work and takes the “toil” part out of it.  I am still trying to find how I can get to that point.

There is more to this story and I will certainly add to it as we go along.  Hopefully, there will be a few more of you around to read it!

For now, stay interested and interesting!

John

Goodbye Friends…

Over the last few weeks, I have been hearing about many friends of mine that have been laid off in the ongoing restructuring of the company I work for. I will not pretend to understand the rationale behind at least half of the people being let go. For all I know, they may be pulling names out of a hat and I have been lucky. It is unfortunate that I, and many others, have been living in a communications black hole for the last two months.

If you studied psychology or human resources, you have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The one where your primary needs are food, clothing, shelter and sleep. Then, you get in to the secondary needs, which have to do with personal security, financial security and morality. So, in essence, we are talking about a higher level of stress due to uncertainty in our situations. Next, you will notice that the third level has to do with Love / Belonging. So, to sum up with my life as it is now, I am uncertain about my job, so a secondary level of need that is not entirely being met, and a third level need not being met, because I do not know which team I belong in and how I will belong.

Overall, I know the reasons for all the secrecy surrounding who will be let go and when, but for those of us who remain, we are being stressed in several ways that will have to be dealt with when all is said and done. I think it would be reasonable for senior management to assume there will be an adjustment period for everyone. It will be interesting to see how the new leadership deals with this. It will also be interesting to see how the team pulls together or apart as a result.

Well, back to “work”.

Stay interested and interesting!

John