I work for a big UK wide charity. All the field staff are based at home (which is cheaper than having lots of wee offices everywhere for us to sit in) I like this, it means if I'm not out training people, I am in the dining room in my jammies. And we all know how I like my jammies.
The downside to this is
a - I have to have a ferocious amount of technology that me, myself and I alone have to operate and maintain, laptops, projectors, infra red pointers, speakers, shredders, scanners, printers. Jesus you should see my phone, it's like a switchboard, I can transfer any call to anyone in the organisation, well regular humans can, I just tell people it'd be quicker to redial, I seem to cut people off a fair bit.
b - We do a lot of things I have never done before such as conference calls, Internet meetings, signing out group documents etc and all kinds of spreadsheets that I am forever breaking. Don't even get me started on mail bloody merge.
c - there is no one around to show you what to do, if you're lucky you can ring someone and they'll try and explain it down the phone. This may work with regular humans, not so much with aunties. I spend a bit of time every week in a tizzy.
Every month I complete my expenses, I have a page for mileage (fine), things I've bought for work (fine) and then the receipts page (not so fine) I have to put the wee arrow in a certain box, put the numbered receipts to correspond with the line they appear on and while I've got another tab open reading the instructions for the scanning of expenses, click insert picture from scanner. You only get 1 go and if your scanned picture doesn't show the total, it's no use.
Me no likey.
My lovely boss has left and we are awaiting her replacement. This month I had to send my expenses to my ex lovely boss's boss. She's 1 down from the Chief. I had a real problem with the scanner yesterday (there's bog all wrong with the scanner, it's just me)so in my covering email I apologised and said I had had problems scanning the receipts in but I still had the original receipts and I could post them to her.
I received a very charming reply saying how sorry she was about my scanner but I hadn't actually attached the expenses document at all.
There's an internal vacancy for head of IT, guess she won't think I'm up to that then.
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18 comments:
I am out of the work place atm and have been for two years. I dread to think how things will have moved on by the time I go back and that I won't understand a thing and some 20 year old will sigh heavily and show me how to do it for the fifth time. Hopefully by then my grandchildren will be old enough to give me lessons in the latest technology, or I can go and live in a hole somewhere!
I would LOVE to work from home, but I'm not desperately sure how much work work I would get done, not a lot I guess. I guess the trouble comes when someone wants a internet conference call and one forgets one has one's jammies on :(
This is why I am encouraging Darling Daughter to live at home forever: she is a techno-whiz and although she rolls her eyes a lot, if she is in a good mood, she explains things like scanners and mail merges to me quite well ... if only I could remember it all the next time!
I have to use quite a bit in my job, but I find that sixth formers are usually clued up and can come to my rescue!
You should employ one of the beautiful children to do the comlplicated stuff.
I have a technical guru to hand (aka The Shah) on whom I rely for all such jobs. I'm dreading something going wrong while he's away!
Oh Auntie! Although I can't help you with your scanning issues (unless I could have the scanner in front of me - then maybe) - but the mail merge and stuff - call me. I'm your woman. This is the stuff I do all day along. Well, not really all day long. But I do it often enough that I could do it in my sleep.
Sounds like bad design to me! No chance to preview your scan? That can't be right, hope you get some good advice x
Bring back the days when everything was done with a piece of paper, a pencil and counting on your fingers eh? LOL
I favour the children route too, mine are good at all sorts of tecchy things I can't do - the only thing they can't do is patience. If it doesn't work first time they get peed off and sulk, but I am prepared to (read - I have to) give it several more goes.
would you trade wearing your jammies for being in an office with someone to hand to show you how to do these things? Just because it's technology doesn't always mean its any good. There are plenty of crap systems out there and it sounds like you've got one of em
You don't need those techi skills...all your other attributes more than make up for not knowing a mail that is merged or not!
You have my entire quota of sympathy.......!
My commiserations, darling - G'is a job? ;) x
Are you going to be able to come on Wed night? Can you send me an email on lulucampbell11@gmail.com please? Would love it if you can.....Lx
I do get fed up with asking (usually younger men) how to work the most modern version of Word - Why did they change it, it worked beautifully before - In fact, whatever happened to Word Perfect? I loved it!
I share your pain, gorgeous Auntie Gwen, but you have a job, I don't, so that's as far as my sympathy goes at the moment! :) Love you anyway xxx
I think work can be a fine place for a romance (but only if you are prepared to leave the company straight after:)) - read my dating story on http://poetryandporn.blogspot.com/
BbG x
I used to run a regional office for 2,000 members from my spare bedroom and the IT support was in london or Coventry so I could only get telephone advice or else do it myself - so I know your pain!All I ever wanted was an IT person to live in and help me out when I was throwing things across the room and smashing the screen with a pick axe. Nothing too dramatic. I totally empathise!
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