9/11

Zach

Just as I was about to leave my office for the day my boss stopped by. From past experience I knew that when Eric, my boss, stopped me before leaving on a Thursday afternoon it meant one of two things. Either he needed me to work this weekend or he wanted me to run the biweekly Friday meeting. Regardless the case, I didn't want to deal with it this week. 

Lately I feel as though I have been overworked, and I have been racking up the courage to go to Eric to talk about it. If I bring it up now, he will probably think I'm just looking for an excuse out of more work. Honestly, I just feel extremely stressed and want to spend more time with my kids. My wife and I have been planning this little weekend surprise for them, and I would hate to cancel it again, due to work. 

Eric walked in swiftly, his hair perfectly gelled back and his black tie sitting straight down his white button down. He wasn't much older than me, but his constant professionalism and formalities made him the perfect candidate for a promotion over me. I guess you could say that I resented him, but that feeling wasn't mutual. Eric has told me on numerous occasions how much he values me and needs me, which is why I'm always first pick to do the extra work around the office. 

I stood and extended my hand to greet him. He shook my hand back with a firm grip and greeted me in his usual manner, "Good afternoon Mr. Richardson." 

"How's it going Eric?" I replied, sitting down and motioning him to take a seat in front of my desk. He politely declined by shaking his head and running his left hand down his tie, flattening it against his chest. He then began his slow and thoughtful speech, the one I'm all too used to when he needs something from me. 

"I won't be here for long Zach. I know you should be heading out soon, but I need you to run tomorrow's meeting. I can trust that you have the statistics and other points for improvement all outlined already. I know this is very short notice, and I don't want to keep you from your family any longer tonight, so you are expected to be in early tomorrow to run the meeting's agenda by me. As my gratitude for stepping up on such short notice you may take tomorrow afternoon and all weekend off." Then he just simply nodded. I stood once again and shook his hand. 

"I can rest assured that you will have all that managed, Zach. Don't let me down," he told me sternly before giving me a strong pat on the back. 

"I will. Thank you Eric," I said as he released my hand a left my office as swiftly as he entered. 

Once again I sank back in my chair and quietly swore to myself. These Friday meetings were always so stressful to run. The first year's always had a hundred and one questions to ask, and the third years loved coming up with five problems for every one solution suggested. As one who ran the meeting I was expected to not only know the most, but to moderate the meeting and answer the questions to the best of my ability. The problem I had was not my lack of knowledge, I had a plethora of that, it was my public speaking anxiety. 

Crunching numbers and coming up with creative ideas and solutions were my strong suits, not demanding a crowds attention and speaking to them. I feel like I am well respected among our office, but as a mediator during these meetings when everyone wants to voice their opinion I am not of much use. Voices usually become raised and people end off unsatisfied. I've done enough of these now that I have developed a technique. So sure, I have the statistics and points of improvement, but for my meetings to run smoothly I need to develop a perfectly constructed script and agenda where each person would have their time to express their thoughts, opinions, concerns and questions. Going around the circle and just giving each person five minutes is not my strategy though. Depending upon each worker's personality traits and their speech tendencies I take over two hours to develop the perfect agenda that will allow myself enough time to make my necessary points, then my other department managers to do the same. I then let the loud and outspoken workers their chance to voice their thoughts. Followed by those who can't sit still, those who take a lot of notes and like to think out their responses, the quiet and more meek people, then we end it off with the goof balls who usually end the meeting on a nice, lighthearted note. I usually leave twenty minutes as a buffer time for any last words or questions, then I thank them for their time and wish them a good weekend.