Good morning! I'd taken a little break from Sound Off because I thought you all were getting bored.  Now we're back in the saddle with a most important (and potentially fun!)  question...  
What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you or your colleagues during a holiday party?  Did the caterer not show up? Did the guy in marketing tell the guy in production what he really thought of them? We're all seen company holiday soirees go horribly wrong, What's your story? What happened? how did the company or your co workers deal with the situation? Who got the blame and why?

Do tell....
Andrea

Why yeeees.  I'd be happy to.  If you'lljust give me the name of your copier so I can send you some toner...Bwhahahaha! I Actually DID do this to a couple of telesales people and it got to a point where when one would call, I would give a hand signal and people would gather around my desk in hysterics.  Hey a girl's gotta have some fun!

Andrea

It's always puzzledme that having a return address in the UK wasn't much of an issue.  In the US a letter isn't a letter without a return address on the envelope and the letterhead itself.  Given that both organizations have the occassional spotty delivery record, it's a safe thing to do! In the US if a letter needs to be returned and has no return address, it goes to the dead letter office, (which means it may as well be shredded since you'll a.  never know it's there and b.  never find it anyway even if you DID know it's there....
Andrea

bwhahahaha! Im printing this one out for my  wall o fame!

Andrea

It's interesting that the differences in the job role in the US and UK are not very great but when it comes to the notice period, there's a huge discrepancy in how it's handled.

For the Benefit of both countries, let me give you a low down on how it works in each.

In the UK when you are offered a position you are also offered an employment contract which defines the position and the salary and generally the all important notice period.  Notice periods range from 1 week if you're not on a contract to some of the longer terms you've heard on this thread.  And if the parting is amicable, it's generally not a terrible thing to give an employer as much notice as possible. The employer has the right to pay the employee in lieu of notice, for instance if he's an unhappy camper and wants you to leave today, if you've given proper notice then you're (generally) entitled to pay for that time period.  It works out pretty well. AND the longer you've been in a position the more likely it is that the notice period will be increased in successive contract.  

In the US, the employment contract is not as common (although I do know of very high end executive assistants who have them).  Generally the company policy manual and a job description are relied on to set the rules of employment and in most cases notice periods will be spelled out in the P&P manual.   In the US a two week notice is generally acceptable unless you've agreed otherwise with your employer.

Obviously there are individual company differences but that's the basics

When the news talks about the newest virus to shut down the WWW are you the one who finds the fixes and advises the rest of the team on what action is to be taken?

What's your experience with Virus protection and spam control in your office environment? Are you a participant in choosing what will work the best for your team or does IT handle everything for you ?

Do tell...
Andrea

Well the problem is not the file sharing which we know you all do anyway via email, it's the potential that something might have a virus. Macro Virus in Word are not often detected by the person who has them, which means we have to scan for them at the server level, we're working on a way to do that without slowing down the forum boards and using existing technology.

So yes, we're still looking at it, but we've got to be sure that we come up with a very safe and effective solution.  Great things do not happen overnight:)

Andrea

What training have you had this year and who initiated it?

Do Tell...

Andrea

On the web these days and for what? Has the web replaced the way you do some things? Do you order supplies, book travel or do you still need the sound of a human voice to manage the day to day operations? And how much time do you spend per day on the Net and for what reasons?

Do tell...
Andrea

We've talked about tools, we've talked about toys, we've talked about a lot of things that have to do with your jobs.  Today, let's talk about you personally.  What's your most impressive skill? Sound off blow your own horn.  What do you do better than anyone else in the office and where does that fit into your job?  

do tell...
Andrea

It's very very important that you get the correct information when it comes to something as important as the salary rules in the US.  Please visit the home page of the US website and find the link for the Fair Pay initiative, that will take you directly to the relevant pages on the Department of Labor website so that you can get the correct information from the proverbial horses mouth.

http://us.deskdemon.com/pages/index.html

It happens in the best of offices.  Tempers flare, the pressure of increasing deadlines, the downsizing that means everyone works harder and there are less of you.  Sometimes, people yell.  At you, at a coworker.  Do you have a standard response when this happens? Mine used to be "We'll continue this conversation when you have regained your composure.".

what's your fav method of handling the yelling employer or coworker? Do you yell back? Lift a brow and try to make him/her feel like an idiot? (I was really good at that one ) Or if you never EVER get yelled at the rest of us would like to know that too?

So.. what's your secret ?

Do tell.

Andrea

Oh Cami,
I'm so glad you are okay and that the damage was not as bad as it could have been.  Just so you know I have family in Tampa, where charley was first expected to hit.  I drove the deskdemon staff insane listening to updates on Weather.com.  (I was part of a Red Cross team who went to Homestead after hurricane Andrew and I take it very seriously).  My Dad is in Tampa, my Kids, are in college in Charleston.  Which of course was where Charley was scheduled to move to after having a few hours over water to intensify.

Dad went to stay with his sister in....Orlando. Thank goodness I thought, at least he was safe.   I sat horrified as I watched charley swing south for landfall and barrel right up into your neck of the woods the Kississmee Orlando area.  Two days went by before I heard he was okay and another set of sleepless nights as I tracked and watched Charley's track up the east coast towards my children.  (the staff here was amazed at how much I knew about weather.  and it's interesting to note that only people who were raised in Florida (as I was) know that the east side of a hurricane is the safer side and that the size and clairty of a hurricanes eye wall are very important things to know).

I can only tell you Cami that I had an overwhelming urge to be there.  People here kept asking ... well what would you DO? I knew that I'd be fortifying the house, double checking the hurricane kit with it's canned food, determing whether or not we needed to evalucate....something ANYTHING rather than staring at the map waiting to see what would happen.

I am glad you are okay and I am glad you found the ability to write to us helpful too.  On the other side of pond this week a beautiful village in Cornwall was lost pretty much to a flash flood.  It seems there is no end to the trauma that nature can bring us at times.  Makes me feel kind of small in the scheme of things ya know?

Former Floridian, hurricane tracker and now Deskdemon's weather expert....

Andrea in London

This week's sound off was inspired by a tongue in cheek posting last week, where an office support professional received a plunger.   I'd like to take to a more serious (or semi serious ) level.

What's the last purchase you made in your office to increase your productivity or that of your team?

Do tell...
Andrea

Yes, Unfortuinately it IS a true story, though of course told only from my decidely warped point of view
Andrea