Abrvt. Ths. U Putz!
Several days ago I strode into the office with my blue Google coffee mug half full of Starbucks House blend, feeling almost--almost, happy go lucky, when I was rudely brought back to the stupidity that is my reality. Upon walking up to the keypad on the computerized time clock, I was greeted by this handwritten memo with lots of misspellings, hurriedly scratched out with a Sharpie marker on hot pink paper:
"ATTENTIN ALL EMPLOYEES!
YOU WILL NO LONGER USE 'INSURNC' AS AN
ABREVIETION FOR INSURANCE! THIS APPLYES
TO EVERYONE! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH
THIS, SEE YOUR SUPERVISOR"(sic)
This is not the first time our abbreviations have come into question. This has been the subject of many memos and discussions. In a center like ours, when you are constantly filling out details of your conversations with customers, abbreviations are the only way to survive, especially if you can't type fast. The other problem is that you only have so much room in the fields in the computer. If you write too much, other advisors will ignore it and not read the important parts that cost us money.
What happens to bring these abbreviations into question is this: Our customer service rep. gets a call from a customer not understanding an abbreviation. The rep. then runs to the floor manager and general manager, there is a hurried discussion about how the effects of our NEWSPEAK-like abbreviations are ruining life on the planet, and a hurried memo is wrote out to the ignorant masses.
It always goes back to the same old garbage. Management wants quality when confronted with customer complaints, but then they want shortcuts and speed when confronted with the bottom line. Except for my floor manager, I don't believe many of the members of management can really remember how to do the job on the floor. I wish they would come sit with us and listen, it could be good for them.
This isn't likely to happen right now, everyone is in "fight or flight" mode on account of the company wide freeze on wages. After some people were laid off, everyone became like rabbits in a field full of dogs. They keep their head down, not moving and ready to scramble and scream if noticed.
Thanks for reading,
AC
