Not my circus

When I started here a year ago, I found out really quickly that there are a lot of people that have worked here a really long time and don’t want the status quo changed

I’m the interrupter, noticing all the things that could be done differently, different approach, a fresh set of eyes as it were

One thing that I found out real quick is that of all the groups that aren’t really supported, Facilities was the one that got under my skin really quickly

For some context, I work in an office, that covers 2 floors, about 250 people, give or take.  I am the office manager of all of it, as well as the executive assistant for 3 VPs, my direct manager is a Senior VP and Chief Development Officer. She takes up 95% of my time

At the time I started, there were 3 people in Facilities, and their manager

At my last job, I worked in an office, that covered 2 floors, about 200 people.  I was the office manager there as well.  I sat at the front desk with my security officer/receptionist.

It was myself and a day porter. For both floors

There I handled everything office related, from spills to overflowing toilets, to meeting room setup, office events, badges, onboarding tours, you name it, I did it

Here, it’s definitely a hard line between Facilities and myself. However I am their high volume customer. I am the one putting on the meetings, having happy hours, office stuff

When I first started here, I would suggest things, make comments about how things looked, how they didn’t work, etc and I was told we’re short staffed and can’t do everything

I made the mistake of mentioning ‘at my last job, I did all of that and more’ one too many times when I first started here.  I learned really quick that the manager of purchasing was thrust the role of managing facilities and he essentially didn’t care.  No one on that team actually does anything and if you bother to follow procedure and pressure them to respond, they bring up the short staffed excuse.  They really do have a short staff.  There’s only two of them

The manager and I work pretty well together. I force myself to ignore all the digs that he throws at me because essentially he’s insecure, not that great of a manager, and having this new person come onboard and in not so subtle ways tell him he’s doing a crap job running this department

My SVP has told me that I need to embrace that there are boundaries with my job and that group, that she knows that I am eager to help and make everyone’s office experience a positive one.  However I cannot insert myself into things and not expect to get any blow back. I have had a lot of blow back, today again, the manager made it seem like I did something wrong by telling him I shouldn’t be involved in something that was a Facilities role

Not entirely sure why this particular situation gets me all worked up. Pretty sure it’s because I am working my ass off and these clowns do the bare minimum and that impacts my getting a meeting together or an event running smoothly

I spoke with someone who used to work for that team and she gave me some tips on how to manage all of it. I certainly don’t want to go to my SVP again, we’ve had meetings about this and I think she doesn’t get why everyone just doesn’t get along

I set a really high bar for myself, I cannot expect others to live up to those expectations. I don’t have a lot of space in my head to carry all of their inconsistencies and lack of professionalism

It’s early in January, I can set up boundaries for myself, submit tickets for things and not engage them and because of who I am and the role here, people come to me all the time for things, I will direct them to submit a ticket.  Whether they do it or not, not my problem.  The more evidence that I have against them only proves my point.

How this guy in Facilities has been here for 12 years and get away with doing the bare minimum tells you a lot about how complacent people are about their job and working here.  I think at some point people just don’t care, they know a request into that group won’t get done