Category: Work

It’s a very cold day. I can be seen shivering in the office even with my sweater on. Someone came to inspect the air-con and took temperature. I just hope they can adjust the temperature so that we can work better instead of thinking of how to keep ourselves warm all the time.

A cup of boiling water is not enough to keep me warm because it would be cold in a matter of seconds.

The only nice thing I heard today from a customer was when she said this to me, “Saya suka cakap dengan Grace. Kalau marah pun jadi reda.”

In the afternoon, I received a call in distress. The same lady has been calling to my department for another department and I have been informing her the correct numbers to dial but she kept coming back to me. I guess I might have sounded a bit annoyed but that’s because I really was annoyed, knowing the fact that even though I might be able to assist her but I just can’t do it because if I do it once, she will always be coming back to me and it won’t do any good. That’s because I’m not in charge of what’s happening in the other department and it’s best that I lead her to deal with the right people.

Finally, I gave in after she apologised for always disturbing me but that’s really because she has been calling the number of the other department for three days but nobody is picking up her call. How can I not help if she tells me that? The earlier call that I received from her was also transferred directly to another agent after I have been trying to connect to someone who is not engaged.

“Do you know that when you transferred the line to the other department, someone said “Hello” and then the line got cut off?”

I could only apologise and told her I will help her this time.

So, there it went, she ranted all she could to me, I just listened, reminding me of the days I used to be in the previous team. Her problems are not solved yet so I’ll need to follow up personally tomorrow morning. There are times that make me think whether I should just act like I don’t know anything and thus not helping or be soft-hearted and understanding and help her even though it’s not really my job anymore. Know why? Because once I start doing it, I would need to follow up and following up takes time and it would mean I’m not doing the job I was assigned to do but doing other people’s job instead. But in the end, I chose to help her because I think if I were in her shoes, I would have liked someone to help me too. Imagine calling for 3 days looking for help but with no one to turn to, well, no one to attend to her in the first place, tak boleh ni.

“Thank you so much.” she said.

Tomorrow Gracie will be clocking in to work and checking on her stuff first thing in the morning. It’s already written on my log book for tomorrow, appearing like that’s the first call I’ll be getting in the morning.

I left the office later than usual today because I was waiting for my turn to meet the senior manager to get my increment letter. Not much, just 5.89%. But what cheered me up is the performance bonus that I’m getting so, boleh lah. April will be my richest month. Then, May back to normal again with just that very very slight increase.

Till then, write again tomorrow.

I was always curious about the words printed on my colleague’s mug but never get to ask her about it.

Today over lunch, she came to join us for a conversation and she was holding on to her mug.

“I’m not shy. Just conversationally selective.”

One of us said it out loud.

“That mug suits you!”

One of us said.

She smiled and said, “Mr.A gave me this mug when he first saw me.”

I really really like the whole idea.

I love the Monday today because tomorrow is a holiday! I was answering calls so happily while seeing the clock ticking away.

Wore a new shirt and I felt great. There’s just something about dressing nicely and feeling good. You walk around confidently too!

The bomb came when a customer shouted on the phone. She exclaimed, “MY CALL IS NOT IMPORTANT TO YOU!!” No hello. No nothing. I was stunned for a while before I knew why she said that.

It’s the voice message that keeps repeating if all the agents are busy. “Your call is important to us. Please hold while someone attends to you.”

I apologised to her and tried to win her heart again. She seemed okay after that.

I got to know a very nice colleague today. I was being bounced from one department to another internally to get answers to a question. Certainly not something I like being stuck in but I had no choice but to be bounced till I got hold of the correct party. I tried my luck to ask people that I think would be able to help me until a girl referred me to someone. She’s the quietest girl in the office but she’s very informative and knowledgable. She will always share with you when being asked. Better than those who talk so much but know nothing.

After that, I made a call and I wanted to look for a lady but a guy answered the phone and he asked me what I want. I told him but he sounded like he was unsure but was willing to check it out for me. That’s what I like to see in people too, trying even though they are not too sure. Helping when it’s not really their job.

“Grace, let me check and I’ll get back to you in half an hour’s time.”

And he did. My questions are all answered. Submitted my report and I wrote, “Dear Z, Thank you so much. You’re very kind.”

I hope to meet him in person next time.

Sorry for not filling up the blanks for the past two days. I was busy, you see? Ha!

Today marks the end of my first week in the new office. It has been rather eventful and the problems are just flowing in and accumulating and each problem that comes our way are getting more complex and complicated.

Sometimes I wonder how to solve them because they seem to be unsolvable. You wonder whether you alone can solve it. But really, all it takes sometimes is someone to take the initiative to highlight the issue to the relevant parties and the rest will take its place. Like they say, terserah kepada Tuhan dan takdir. I’m trying my best to ask the correct person so that they can guide me on a solution and then it’s up to me to compose messages to be sent to relevant parties across the different offices in the world to get it solved. Sometimes, it’s exciting to be able to communicate with colleagues from different offices in the world. Whether or not you get a reply is another thing but I find it fun even though the problems are really big. When I get a reply, I feel so happy. Of course, I don’t usually feel this way when I’m actually doing it, solving it. It’s only after the day is over and I’m reflecting on what I’ve done today that I feel somehow contented and accomplished in some way.

I’ve learnt that when I work here, anything can happen. And I mean ANYTHING. Things that are unimaginable would happen. And you have to solve the unimaginable when the customers call you unexpectedly. When you get to solve the unimaginable, you feel really amazing. Then, your customers will treat you as their God and love you to bits. Some lah. Not all.

Because why? Some people just love to give you a hard time even though they know they need to depend on you to solve their problems. It’s like they like you and you know it but they still want to give you a difficult time.

Customers bugging you is enough to kill. So when you have the sales person chasing you after they have been bugged by the customers, then it’s not nice. I’m getting calls from this sales lady on my mobile phone, asking me to do things for her customers. It’s not that I don’t know because the customers have been calling me directly. I only answered once. Then, she called me a few times during lunch and I didn’t get to answer them. I will only entertain people who call me on the hotline.

That aside, my forehead has been reading as “The Paper Remover” because there’s a colleague of mine who would call out to me once the paper gets jammed in the printer.

“Grace!! Paper jam!!”

I don’t know why she would call for me. She would be seen like she’s going to pull her hair off anytime and keeps opening and closing the printer cover like as though the jammed paper will disappear with her doing that. Then, Gracie comes and pull out the stupid cartridge (I’m saying this because it is really a very stupid printer) and then pulling the jammed paper out, putting the stupid cartridge back (because putting it once never works, you need to pull in and out until you find the perfect fit to it) and then the colleague would exclaim, “OHHH…finally!”

It’s either that or she would complain why the printer is so slow. I mean of course it’s slow since there’s only one pathetic printer to be shared by so many people. Spooling takes time and dah lah it’s a stupid printer, it’s going to take an even longer time.

“Grace, why cannot print? Why is it not coming out?”

You know, when people know you’ve studied IT, they expect you to know how the printer and the fax machine work. Paper gets stuck in the printer is also my problem.

Lunch time is the most interesting time of all now that most of us eat in. We ta pao from home. You get to sit around and listen to stories that you wouldn’t want to hear. Horror stories of crazy customers. Horror stories of people not liking their boss. At times, I cannot eat in peace. But then, it’s good to be in the loop, to be aware of what’s going on.

I must play hard this weekend because next week is going to be another challenging week.

You have a fantastic weekend too!