Being The Man, volume one

Looks like the Bad News I reported back in October proved to be quite accurate. My job as a Call Center Supervisor has pretty much consumed my life - anything left that hasn't been eaten by work has been devoured by Rock Band, the Orange Box, and planning my impending wedding.

One thing I never expected is how frustratingly difficult it would be to manage people. I went into this job under the assumption that most people were like me - at work to work, conscious of what their job is, and understanding that doing said job is the reason I am being paid. It boggles my mind how many employees I manage who cannot grasp that basic concept: YOU WORK, THEREFORE YOU GET PAID. Avoiding work is one of the most common reasons I've had to take disciplinary action against employees. Why is this even a problem? You'd think people like this would have been weeded out in the application process.

I'm paid on salary now, which means the ridiculous amount of overtime I've been pulling is all unpaid. And when I say overtime... well, I average about 2.5 extra hours a day, with some spectacular days where I work as many as 15 consecutive hours (no breaks). I'm never forced into this, but I typically won't accomplish any assigned tasks without remaining this extra time. My problem, which I say at the risk of sounding incredibly egotistical, is that I am too damn good.

I work for an inbound call center that provides customer service & support for a client. I've worked for this client before through another call center, so I entered my current job with six months' experience in the systems and policies used at this job. Also, I'm an information sponge - in any job, I absorb information like nuts. Because of this, everyone comes to me for answers, even other Supervisors (because almost all of them have zero experience with this client, and the center has only been open since September). I've become a resource. This would be great if being a resource was my job. Sadly, it's not. My job is to manage my team; keep track of their metrics, attendance, and behaviours, provide coaching and feedback, and make sure they are on goal to satisfy our client's needs and the needs of the client's customers. This is a job that I am currently failing because I'm the site's go-to guy for just about anything. Every day I set out for myself a list of tasks to accomplish, and every day I accomplish less than a quarter of them. Thankfully my manager recognizes the situation and has been understanding towards the fact that I haven't been hitting my goals. Still, deadlines can only be stretched so far, and I am failing my own team as a leader.

The pay might have been nil, but things were so much simpler as a writer. Sure, I didn't meet deadlines then, either. But it was still something I did at my own pace. And everyone didn't lean on me like they do now to figure out their problems.

In gooder news, Firearm Arcana should be seeing life again sometime in February through Expeditious Retreat Press. Gods bless them. There's also a strong chance that I may be returning to the Accidental Survivors for Episode 22, their game session broadcast. Also, more regular updates to this blog! The idea is, the more I write, the more likely it will become that I write something gaming-related.

I'm back for now, readers. Stay tuned.