Time management

Sorry? What did you say? Milan totally outclassed Man Utd & beat them 3-0 at the San Siro to book a place in the finals? Where they’ll avenge their defeat to Liverpool a couple of years back in Istanbul?

Hell yeah…

In case I haven’t said this before, one of the things I HATE is when someone is not punctual & doesn’t bother to inform you. And not just that, I hate it when you have a meeting and it is unnecessarily delayed for reasons that can easily be avoided. It’s just disrespectful to others; it shows that you don’t really give a toss if someone else has a whole different life planned out that does not involve sitting around awaiting your eventual presence.

Case in point – handover starts at 0830. Not 0832, not 0840, not 0845. Half past eight if you’re locally bred and don’t tell time in numbers. And frankly, I don’t care if you have to travel all the way from Newcastle to get to work – nobody forced you to live a good 70 minutes drive away from work, so you should make every damn effort to get in on time. If that means waking up in the wee hours of the morning, then that’s too bad. Can’t take it? Move closer. I don’t live in Carlisle because it’s the most happening place on Earth.

And once you start a meeting, there’re always gonna be a few characters to deal with

1. the chairperson who doesn’t do anything to rein in the other characters and god forbid, actually looks sleepier than you feel
2. the person who delays the meeting by regaling you with little details about her life or some juicy gossip about the nurse who got banged by another (male) nurse. By the time we find out that yes, she had a wonderful time walking her dog in the sun thank you very much, another 10 minutes is wasted
3. the guy/girl who is always late. At which point the chairperson decides to repeat everything that has gone by so that mr/ms latecomer will be up-to-date. Instead of chastising him/her and promising that person that the next time s/he is late, s/he’ll be on duty to pick placenta off the floor. With his/her bare hands
4. mr know-it-all, who just HAS to comment on every freaking thing that is said or mentioned. Comments that everyone else probably knows but can’t be bothered to articulate because everyone knows that everyone knows
5. the ass-kisser, who is sometimes so up the consultant’s arse that his shoulders are dripping with faeces. Quite often he’s the same person as no.4
   

All you need is to stick to the agenda, start on time and voila! You get a short, concise meeting and everyone is happy dappy. Socialising can be done before or after the meeting. There is, after all, a reason for having meetings at work and not discussing patients over a cuppa at Starbucks.

No wonder Elly thinks I’m garang at work.