Underway

The Fall term is underway and the students began to move into housing today.  The phone rang constantly, emails popped up faster than I could respond, and the halls were full of people with questions.  The day went by quickly even with two meetings dicing it up.

The office accountant is working extra hours to keep on top of her work, but we're dealing again with her cranky personality that pops up when she's stressed.  This isn't to complain about her or her work, it's just to note that people handle stress differently.  She internalizes it and allows it to ferment until it  needs to be released.  She tends to release at inopportune moments (as I'm walking out the door is the most typical) heaving her stressballs my way so I can carry them home with me.

Oh joy.

So how do I handle her heaving stressballs my way?  Some days better than others, but I can do a couple of things.  I can keep the conversation on a comfortable level, encourage her to step back a little and make inquiries rather than assumptions (she's a HUGE assumer, especially if it's negative).  She can be prickly, so this isn't always an easy approach because she'll take it as a criticism.

I can listen and then try to solve or help find solutions for her.  This is how I normally operate, with varying but usually less than satisfying results.  The truth is, it never feels solved with her, I just shoot for less pissed.

Because she stresses herself (and by proximity, me) there are tasks I am still doing that she should probably be doing.  I used to do them when I was in her job, and I still managed without working weekends.  She has a fairly large reconciliation that followed her to this position and has taken on a couple of more deposit preparations, but I'm covering more time-sucking tasks.  Why?  Because it's easier than a) teaching her a new task, b) answering the thousands of questions that inevitably follow, and c) hearing her gripe.

And that, my dear, is how not to manage an office.  Stay tuned for information on how not to solve problems.