Tiny, little projects

My boss is pretty cool. I get along with him well. He and I could shoot the breeze on random things for over an hour while at work. And it’s okay to do that since he’s my boss! 😛 He’s definitely a guy I could hang out with outside of work, but I never do because he’s still my boss

And he has a reputation of passing on his responsibilities around the office rather than doing them himself. Which I ignore reputations because people gossip and exaggerate. And I’ve been judged too many times before due to my reputation preceding me, haha. Still I’ve learned over time there’s some truth to these rumors that have built this ‘reputation’

He does have his infamous words, "I need you to do this tiny, little project for me"

His "tiny, little" projects are sometimes indeed tiny, but sometimes they are far from it. Last week, right on the verge of our busy month end close time, he has me do one of these projects. It should be quick though, he claims, and after quickly reviewing little things I’d need to submit maybe 17 requests or so

His projection was a little off, after spending a day on this "quick" project I had submitted about 77 of those requests. Each one is manually typed by me, so it was fun! Especially when that full day’s work was combined with my own work, which is a full workday in itself. Plus other departments needing help with their work. Damn we’re understaffed around here

So yes, he pases on these random "tiny, little projects". It’s always annoying when someone passes on work to you. Especially when they make it seem small when it’s actually not. And really it’s insulting enough to try to make it sound small in the first place. If it”s so quick and easy then why would you need someone else doing it? Why do you not have time for something this quick yourself?

The plus side is I know the CFO hated this project once I was done with it (it was his idea to go looking into it in the first place). After I submit each request, he has to click on it and approve it. Earlier last week he had called me trying to find a shortcut in doing that. He was wondering if there’s a way to approve a whole batch at once rather than individually. Nope, turns out there isn’t!

So there you go, Mr. CFO, 77 items you dread sent your way!

moral of the story: Tell your boss what you really think about him, and the truth shall set you free…. from your job

Have a Nice Day!