Blog December Post 21 - A call to Action

Today's Destiny Card is Action - well actually the first one I pulled was Prudence but I really couldn't think hard enough to write a post on prudence so action it is!

This week has been a week of action - well the whole year has been really, but because I'm on leave as of tomorrow, the action has ramped up this week.  I had to make sure I completed most tasks that had to be done before I go on leave.

There has been a lot happening at work with regard to staffing.  One of my hardest working staff members (ok they all work hard but this one works particularly hard) is going to be off on sick leave for some time.  This is making rostering for relief staff a very fun (not really) task for me.  At the same time, I'm trying not to get too caught up in my management hat to become desensitised to what my staff member is going through during this difficult time.

This staff member works with me regularly and we have come to work together really well.  Where I lapse, they step in, where they lapse, I step in.  We almost don't have to communicate when we are on together as we just know when to step in and what to do.  This person is possibly the most organised person I know and prior to going on leave had organised that we had enough stationery, soap and toilet paper, got the Christmas decorations up, put together the stuff we needed for the Summer Reading program, and basically left with everything ready to go.

Now the leave will be extended, and I don't think they were prepared for the extent of their leave.  And some of the tasks that they do really well, like tallying up all the money at the end of the month (I really suck when it comes to numbers and maths), will have to be done by me.

I will be working with a few different staff members during this time, so the communication aspect will have to be worked on.  I will have to remember to be more communicative to them as we don't have that working relationship as I do with my staff member on leave.

I think it will be a challenging time but it is probably going to be good for me to be more communicative and work at getting procedures and everything more up to date.  So really it's a call to Action for me. 

I really hope that I do have a relaxing and refreshing break as next year is looking to be a challenging one - but then really, when aren't they!!

On a happier note - this afternoon is our work Christmas party and I'm really looking forward to kicking the heels up (well not as much as I could as the boss will be there and all) and talking with staff from all areas of the organisation.

Blog December Post 15 - Communication

Today's Destiny Card word is Communication.

Yesterday communication happened in a good way and a bad way.

At 7.40am I was contacted by our facilities manager that one of my branch libraries had been broken into.  At this stage, as he was still at home, he could only tell me that a window had been broken and our cash holders were found outside.

I then phoned the casual staff member that was to be working there that day as I was working at a different branch and let her know.

I then had another phone call from our Council ranger saying that if our casual could come and get him first and he could take her through the library without touching anything to see if anything was missing.

So I rang my casual back and let her know.  My casual is one of those that goes beyond the call of duty, so even if she wasn't supposed to be in at work till 9.30am, she said she'd head up to the library now - she doesn't live that far from the library.  I was thankful for this as my hubby needed the car and I had to get small one to school and get the other branch library open.

Later she rang to give me an update, and the facilities manager also called in to report the windows had been fixed.

So in that case, the communication worked well.

However, as we are going through a restructure, I totally forgot to inform my new deputy general manager.  So with tail between my legs, I contacted her late in the day - and was very thankful that she had been kept in the loop and totally understood when I apologised for not calling.

So while my communication had been good between my casual and I, it had fallen down between my reporting manager and I.  But we will be having a meeting about libraries and the break in on Monday.

Now back to the break in - I expect to get some hand slapping as we really shouldn't be keeping money on the premises and it should be locked up etc etc.  However, the library has been functioning this way for the last 20 odd years without a break in - honestly, why would a thief think there would be heaps of cash in a library??  We are only a small branch and I would think they were lucky to get $100 out of us.  And they went straight to where we keep the cash which means they've been in the library a few times to know where we keep it.

Retrospect is a wonderful thing and really this incident is probably a good thing because it will force us to look at our current money handling processes and make necessary changes.

And if they catch those that did the break in - I'm planning on asking to include community service in the library as punishment - because I'm sure they will enjoy spending days on end putting books in order!!! 8-)