So, how did the rest of the week pan out?
Big Bad Boss Man chose Friday afternoon to let me know I have two meetings Monday/Tuesday next week. That�s bad enough in itself as I hate meetings and in my capacity of Queen of all I Survey Im going to have to get used to loads of �em, but its more the topic of the meetings which is causing me some concern.
Monday�s (time not specified so I get to sweat on it all day) is to decide the fate of my erstwhile colleague and captain of the Skiving Team. Its no surprise to anybody that he just doesn�t have enough to do to justify his existence (or his salary, which is only just below mine). The sensible option would be, of course, to get rid of him and to spread his meagre duties around those more willing and able to handle them. However, he IS 60 and so has limited �shelf-life� as an employee. In addition, he is BBBM�s ex-brother in law, and whilst this is admittedly a tenuous link, it does throw a big family-shaped spanner n the works. BBBM�s parting shot on this one was to say, "well, I�ll give you the weekend to work out how we�re going to handle it". Fucking marvellous. It appears I am caught in a lose-lose situation, no helped by Capt. Skiver�s inability to accept that he might actually have to learn a new skill or expand the skills he already has in order to stay alive.
If I push to get rid of him, then I�m the big bad witchy one, coming in at the 11th hour and throwing my weight around. If I push for him to have additional duties, we first have to find something that he can actually DO, and then have to find someway to get him to do it � preferably with a little good grace � not like last week when he realised his phone had been switched to the same call group as the rest of us and he was now going to have to answer the main call number, his solution was to say "Fucking hell, Im getting bloody customer service calls now. Im switching my phone off." This meant that not only was he not answering customer service calls; he also wasn�t answering his own bloody calls, which were then ringing on my desk. Mercifully I had the foresight to use my all-encompassing management powers and tell him not to. But there was sulking. And, I suspect, whispering when my back was turned.
The second meeting (Tuesday) is to discuss our new range of products. Im sure I will be expected to make erudite and constructive observations and suggestions during this meeting which would be a fucks site easier if I had ANY knowledge whatsoever of the new range and how it is to be marketed. I have been trying to get info in this for about six months but couldn�t get anything out of anyone because I wasn�t in a senior enough position. In fact, when I asked if I could attend the last Sales meeting as it was two weeks before I officially started my top-brass role and I thought it might be useful for me, I was told by ArmyBoy that I couldn�t attend because "we have some important things to discuss". He didn�t actually say "Go away, little girl" but he might as well. It wouldn�t be so bad if I could lay my hands on previous meeting minutes and bring myself up to speed but, as the meetings have been Top Secret, therefore no-one with secretarial skills has been allowed within earshot, no minutes have been taken. I am fucked.
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