Thursday, May 11, 2006

Thursday Thirteen (13) for May 11, 2006



13 Things that I Don’t Miss About Working for Big Corporation

  1. Too many useless meetings – Meetings are an alternative to work. But it’s okay if food or snack is provided.
  2. Pre-Meeting Meetings – Let’s discuss what we’re going to discuss. Aka: Let’s get our story straight.
  3. Post-Meeting Meetings – Let’s discuss what we discussed. Basically, I want us to make sure we got out of the meeting what we wanted. Otherwise, we’ll have to call another meeting.
  4. Mandatory Management Training – Another form of meeting, except this one had sign-in sheets and better food.
  5. Non-Persons. When people were fired or quit, we would quickly forget about them. They were practically family when they were with the company, but now they are a non-person. Very Orwellian.
  6. Office Spouses – Male/Female working relationships that mimic a marriage. When you have to remind your office spouse that he’s got an important meeting tomorrow and that he should wear the nicer tie. I would always remind male employees about Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and other events that they might get in trouble for forgetting.
  7. Getting approval signatures. I hated getting signatures of high-ranking officials in the company. My trick was to talk nice to the administrative assistant and make sure they got the signature. Here’s a funny story: I used to have to get approval for expenditures over $1,000 from a high-ranking, very old executive in the company. He should have retired, but it wasn’t the policy of the company to force retirement. There was a nurse working at the company that would give him daily shots of something that made him feel better. I asked her to let me know when she was going to give the shot, and I’d get the signature right after. He was always in a better mood and would sign without much hassle. He worked until 2 weeks before his death.
  8. Corporate dress. Dressing nice or corporate casual, it was always a problem for me. Since I’m a creative individual, my clothes are different, and not very corporate.
  9. Travel expenses. The company I worked at didn’t have credit cards or expense accounts. You were expected to pay for things out of your own pocket or credit card, and submit the expenses at the end of the week for reimbursement. So, basically, I was loaning a multi-million dollar company MY money.
  10. Dilbert (the cartoon) was too close to home to be funny.
  11. Gossip. Who’s doing what, who’s seeing who, who’s getting what. Makes you feel like you’re always under the watchful eyes of people that don’t have anything better to do.
  12. Too many Vice Presidents. Really, at some point, doesn’t it diminish the power a VP has when there are so many? My old company had so many that they all couldn’t fit all of their expensive cars in the executive lot, so they would park in the visitor’s lot. I actually had visitors who couldn’t park because all the VP’s were actually in the office for a meeting.
  13. Not getting credit for finishing a project. Instead, your superior would get the slap on the back for the thing that you did. All he (or she) did was put a fancy cover sheet on it.




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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!


25 comments:

Just Me said...

There's a lot to be said for remaining a peon at work. I think you've just listed 13 reasons :)

Anonymous said...

Meetings suck! They are so useless!

Sonya said...

I work for a small company, but sometime think I miss corporate world. For example, I have no one to back me up if I'm out. You just reminded me why I don't want to be back in Corporate America. Thank you!

Carol said...

Wow - those are so true! I like the pre-meeting and post-meeting. I'm a teacher and we have those all the time. Required professional development. . . lots of similarities. My TT is up.

Matt said...

Gotta love being a kid still!

My TT is up.

Anonymous said...

True, so True!

Wystful1 said...

Ohhhhh, stop on #1. Right there, I have to comment. You're so right!! What a waste of time, yes?

My T T is published

Carmen said...

Dave Barry has a comment that I love. "If I had to say, in one word, why the human race has, or never will have, achieved anything, that word would be meetings." (or something like that.)

amy karp | PHOTOGRAPHY said...

Amen sista!

meetings for meetings and blah blah blah - I am with you on the corporate dress...I am so thankful I can wear whatever I want (today I have on a NYC t-shirt, jeans w/ holes in them, and flip-flops...go figure.

my T13 are up if you have a chance to stop by.

One Scrappy Gal said...

I don't miss working for a corporation either... and not looking forward to when I return in about 5 years... blech.

LibertyBelle said...

13 good reasons why I could and would never work in that environment!
Especially number 13. I hate people who take credit for other people's work and ideas!!!
good TT.
Mine's up too.

Emily said...

Ugh...I could never survive a job like that!

Becky said...

Yep loved the pre and post meeting meetings too..LOL..

Undercover Angel said...

Glad to hear you got away from there. My TT is up.

Joan said...

So many workplace hassles are true to almost all jobs. Many of these also apply to public education jobs -- in which I am thankfully no longer employed.

My 13 are also posted.

Misti said...

I have have a promblem with authority. No way could I work for a coperation.

YellowRose said...

13 reasons why I loved being a SAHM while my kids were growing up!

Happy Thursday, my TT is up!

Anonymous said...

Uh oh #13 would really annoy me. I don't know if I could just sit there and say nothing.

Anonymous said...

actually, I hate being an office Spouse. i really hope you are happy now.

Kelly said...

This list is sooo true!
The pre-meeting-meetings were always a personal favorite!

Susan said...

I can't totally relate because I am in public school...but many of these things DO exist in my world too! My TT is up.

Anonymous said...

Great TT .. yes working for a corportation doesn't sound like fun. You can read about where I work in my latest TT it's definitely an interesting job. :)

Anonymous said...

I've never worked for a corporation but I have gone to my share of meetings. I always bring colored highlight pens and doodle my way through it!

Mine are posted.

ms blue said...

I can so relate to everything.

The private post-meetings were the scariest. It meant I said the wrong thing in the meeting. Guess I wasn't paying attention in the pre-meeting!

Trish Ess said...

I work for a small company that thinks it's a corporation. I can totally relate... on a much smaller scale. :)