My colleagues on the helpdesk are great at winding me up. What was all the fuss? There was nothing wrong with a bit of patriotism in the work place. This could be regarded as yet another first (lost count of the number in 2006). My first official international tournament to take place while working in a professional environment. Sure there was Euro 2004, two years ago but that was different. I started working for the firm in London on the day England played Croatia in a must win final group game. There is an interesting story about catching the second half of that match on my personal blog. This is my first World Cup in the real world. Last time around, four years ago, I was in that strange limbo period having finished my second year (at University) and waiting or rather I should say preparing for my sandwich placement (it was scheduled to begin on Monday 1st July 2002). Feels like it was only yesterday, but here we are, days away from Germany 2006. It was perhaps a blessing that England were dumped out of the cup by the time I started my placement, as the office makeup was generally female and quite anti-football, although everyone knew which London team I followed. Football is well supported with my current office and my floor in particular (Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, Spurs and now a Reading fan, make up the Premiership contingent, along with my self supporting the mighty Gunners). So I felt it my duty to buy a flag over the weekend when I was in Clinton Cards. It was more of an impulse buy, I was in the queue about to pay and saw the flag on display behind the cashier and just asked if they were for sale and then just bought one. As I walked out the store, I knew I would hang it somewhere around my desk in the office. The best time was yesterday as England were playing Hungary in a friendly. Even though the PA did comment that it was too early? Too early? There are, only nine days to go, love! But that is not outrageous comment regarding the tournament I have heard in my office. Another female colleague said, "Is there something happening over the summer?". Did I mention my Dad got me an England bear from his work place?
Right back to work. Yes, I actually do work in between counting down to the biggest sporting event in the world. (There is actually a iMac-shaped clocked that handles that taxing task for me). How is work going? It has been extremely busy and my colleague on 1st line has been taking the strain. There have been several rollouts taken place with extremely tight deadlines (turning over forty devices in a week and eleven devices in two days). Considering all installations have to be gone through a rigorous QC check, getting everything done and out the door on time is not easy. Particularly with the phone ringing constantly. I have to be honest and admit over the past few weeks, but especially the past few days I have really been below par in the quality of my customer service delivery. Sure, the numbers may look good on the Crystal Report but there are facts behind the statistics. I really want to get back to the bread and butter of my job. Answering calls, giving a great service and most importantly action things. Too often, I feel in helpdesk jobs, we find out what the easy tasks are and get those done and then avoid the difficult, more complicated issues for later. Hoping that either someone else will come up to the 'plate' or they will sort themselves out in time. In reality neither ever happens. You just get under pressure from all sides to look into the problem and get it resolved. Ultimately, the next few weeks will be a struggle for several reasons. The first one I have already mentioned, but the other is the holiday of the 1st line guy. While I know I can handle answering the phone, I feel I will be stretched. We shall see what happens. Expect the next update soon, then the subsequent posting sometime after 19th June, when normal service will be resumed. Why is there so little out there on the web for International IT workers day tomorrow. Are we just not as important as tobacco?
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