I remember a clerical job I had in a factory a few years before working in the call center. I started having a lot of stress. I had become fairly knowledgeable in the operations of the plant, and knew what my boss would say or do in most situations, and he trusted my judgement when he was not in the office. I guess I had sort of become an administrative assistant instead of just a data entry clerk. So when people started having problems with production issues and shipping, I would jump right in there and tell them what to do. I started acting like I had authority that I did not. What really shocked me is that people started doing what I said.

But that didn't always work out, and then I would have to try to clean up my messes. I started dreaming about the factory, and problems at work. (this is when I decided I did not want to be a supervisor ever again. )

Then one day I made the decision not to get involved in anything outside of my job description. I was hired to be a clerk, not a crew leader. Things changed almost instantly. I started only being concerned about the accuracy of my clerical work, and if I was pleasant to my coworkers and customers and vendors.

Some of my coworkers in the call center get really stressed out sometimes. They see the queue getting backed up, and sales are not being completed like they should and they start talking about how they are carrying the whole shift, and how everything is so unfair. I know they are right, but I also know I can't do anything about it. I'm not going to carry the weight of the whole call center on my shoulders, that's nuts. I'm just going to handle it one call at a time, and do the best I can. I wish some of my coworkers could see it that way...