The company threw a garden party and fun day this week. It was a very nice atmosphere. There were sandwiches, burgers, cakes, chocolates and crisps. There were games both in the call centre and outside. It was a lovely day and the sun was shining.
We were able to eat our burgers outside in the sunshine, while listening to one of our colleagues singing. She has a fantastic voice. There were some people dancing. There were people playing basket ball, football, and other outdoor games.
Inside the call centre we had a box of games that was doing the rounds. Our team particularly like Jenga. We had a lot of laughs playing it – amidst all the cheating!
The day after it was found that some people were not allowed to take part in the fun and games. Seems that some managers thought people would be better off on the phones all day without taking part, and other managers didn’t make sure that all their team took part. Consequently there were a few people with a lot of complaints.
We have access to Yammer at work. For those who don’t know, Yammer is like Facebook but only for companies. You can only access Yammer if your company has an account, and you can only speak to work colleagues on it. It’s been used by a few people at my call centre to complain about their lack of participation in the fun day. Trouble is it wasn’t just a complaint that one particular person logged. He also blamed other teams for playing games and went so far as to say that other teams should be punished!
This person failed to realise that it is primarily the managers that have to organise things and make sure that things are done fairly. If his manager didn’t allow him the time to take part then he needs to take it up with his manager, or the next person up. He shouldn’t be putting blame on his work colleagues.
It’s a shame that this has happened. Everyone should have the same opportunity. I saw one of the sales managers going around the teams and making sure that everyone had taken part. So why were there people missed out? If they weren’t at their desk when the sales manager went round, then it is up to their direct manager to make sure that they are included.
It seems to me that there are a couple of managers who need to apologise to some, or, in some cases, all of their teams.
