Week 8: Day 1

My teammates returned from their Program Management class on the eighth week. I was surprised by how happy I was to see them. We have grown tremendously close to each other because we work in such close proximity every day. After comparing notes with each other on how our week apart was, we combed through our task list in search of more work to do. We sat there for a couple of hours, contemplating what we would do for the remainder of the week. Almost on cue, Meridel appeared in our office. She is getting better at entering our office when we wonder what our weekly tasks will be. During our Monday meeting, she gave us four new tasks. I could barely contain my happiness once I discovered that they were all substantive. She told us that she spent the weekend reviewing all our maps. Two thoughts came to mind as she spoke to us. First, I would never want my workload to reach the level where I had to review my subordinates’ work on the weekend. I understand having to be in contact in case of emergency and/or having to communicate with an equal or higher level employee outside of work hours. I would never want to devote my weekend to work the way that she does. My second thought was that Meridel must be telepathic. She gave me a certain glance while she was talking to us, leading me to believe that she was aware of my displeasure at being assigned the Internet task. There is a good chance that she observed the displeasure on my face. For now on, I will work on controlling my facial expressions in order to better hide my thoughts. Meridel’s four tasks were our last remaining process maps. Apparently, we had even less remaining than I originally calculated. The first task was to redo the Training Procurement map. She told us that Tarik gave us the wrong information, which I do not find surprising. The second task was to meet with the Budget Group and add several more subprocesses to the Status of Funds map. The third task was to meet with the Physical Environment Group in order to determine how they reimburse employees for their travel expenses. I have the feeling that I will enjoy hearing about that one. It sounds interesting. The fourth task is to meet with the Customer Assistance Group (a.k.a. Mailroom Staff) to determine how they utilize and maintain their online database. My teammates and I were all surprised that the mailroom clerks have IT skills to begin with. After thinking about it for some time, I wonder if their IT skills were acquired while working with the BEA? If my assumptions are correct, then that reflects positively on Brian and Meridel’s leadership style. They truly believe in workforce development, educating and uplifting even their mailroom clerks. Ultimately, my teammates and I decided to pair up in order to tackle the projects more effectively. Jeff teamed up with Eric and I teamed up with Laura again. Laura and I decided to tackle the first and third tasks while Jeff & Eric handled the rest. By Close of Business Monday, Laura and I had set up appointments with Margaret (PEG) and Tarik (Training) for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.