At 16:26 28-01-01 +0100, Sonja wrote:
>Dan Minette schreef:
>
> > --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "J. van Baardwijk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > >Actually, many corporations are kept up and running by those unskilled,
> > >minimum wage people. If it weren't for low-ranking employees like
> > >receptionists, cleaning staff and cafeteria staff, not much would be done
> > >anymore.
> >
> > Why? No hard feelings, but I think the European organizations that I've
> > seen have a lot more overhead than their US counterparts. So far the loss
> > of jobs due to efficiency has been overcome in the US by the increase of
> > jobs due to the added wealth that results from increased productivity.
>
>Ok, try to make all your appointments yourself. Plan all your meetings,
>contact
>all the participants in those meetings to find the one date they all have time
>to attend, then make the last minute changes because someone made a mistake.
>Then buy the supplies and make the sandwiches and coffee and tea for the break
>during that really long meeting. Of course you also have to serve it. Arrange
>for the necesary glasses, cups and plates and afterwards wash them and put
>them
>back where you got them. Make notes during that meeting and type them out
>yourself. Send them to the participants of the meeting. Book your own
>hotels/flights. Make your own travelling scedules. Read and write all your
>mail
>(e-mail and snail mail) by yourself. Of course you should recieve every
>incoming
>phone call even when in a meeting. Make your own coffee. And also don't forget
>that you have to keep track of, pack, order, recieve and unpack all
>supplies and
>stuff that a company needs, just to function. Find your own mail in the
>stack of
>incoming mail recieved by your company. I mean, these are really low value
>jobs
>and to us engineers they seem very trivial indeed and even I sometimes
>take that
>kind of stuff for granted. But I wouldn't wanne work in a company where I
>would
>have to do everything myself.
>There is always some one in a company who'll know where to order the trivial
>stuff like elastic bands, or how to order stuff quicker if you really need it
>badly. Or what about that person that gets you that stack of paper when
>someone
>else just finished the last sheet in the printer and the local stock just ran
>out. And there always seems to be that one someone who knows how to
>quickly fix
>the copier if it shows one of those qute blinking lights, without having to
>resort to calling one of those really expensive and time consuming mechanics.
>There'll be always people who write the bills, make your order forms, send and
>recieve your faxes and keep track of your accounts.
>
>I always make sure I really get along great with all those people that are
>at or
>near the bottom of the company floor. Yes, even the cleaning lady and the
>guards. Because if push really comes to shove, _they_ can save _me_, that high
>priced researcher and project manager, a lot of time working around all those
>trivialities that go with any job, so that _I_ can spend that time on work I'm
>good at.
And the flip side is that if you treat them badly, they can and will screw you.
-- Ronn! :)
