TheMommyBlog

CFO: “So. How’s it coming?”
Scary Employee: “ Well, like I said in our meeting 6 hours ago, once I have part of the exec office temp’s time, we can tackle the 300 files that are left.”
CFO: Well, it was useful having [VP-type Poobah] in this morning’s meeting. What can we ask for from him/her to make sure we get what we need?”
Scary Employee: “I think we’ve done a good job conveying the urgency and importance of the work we’re doing, and I think that folks are aware that we expect to have current info in the database this week so we can start analysis.”
CFO: “Well, I was specifically wondering what we could be doing that we haven’t thought of yet.”
Scary Employee: [trying not to let that paradox force my brain to splinter] “We’ve done quite a bit of proactive training, programming and education this time, knowing that we would be doing the return with fewer resources.”
CFO: “...”
Scary Employee: “We are far more organized than we have ever been.”
CFO: “...”
Scary Employee: I’ve made sure of that, since it is my responsibility this time.”
CFO: [waving hands and speculating] “What if we had fields in the database where staff could enter [crucial piece of information]?”
Scary Employee: “Um, we’ve had that in place for over a year now.”
CFO: “So is it a training issue?”
Scary Employee: “We’ve trained extensively. That doesn’t preclude their getting overwhelmed and forgetful, but we use gentle reminders.”
CFO: “What about a report to tell them what’s missing?”
Scary Employee: “We have that. In fact, if you’ll remember, we gave each area their own personalized report several months ago.”
CFO: “Should we send them another copy?”
Scary Employee: “Nooo, I think I want them to stick with the copy they’ve been using.”
CFO: “Well what else can we be doing? We can’t just sit here and whine about not having enough staff for all the work.”
Scary Employee: “Gee, I hope you don’t think that all I’m doing is whining. Well, of course I am whining a little, but I am also being very smart about our approach. To tell you the truth, I have been working my tail off to get as many pieces in place as early as possible this year. We’re organized the task. We made policy changes to make it more efficient. I’ve lobbied the president, the VP, and General Counsel to change the way we do things so we don’t have a repeat of last year. I have new checks and balances in the system. We’ve rolled out 12--twelve-- new policies to clear up any confusion, myths, or rumors about the process. The process is objective and extant now, and no longer vulnerable to interpretation or debate. That’s huge (hewge, one might say.)”
CFO: “OK, I just want to be sure were doing everything we should be doing.”
Scary Employee: “Are we doing everything we have thought of so far? Yes. Could there be something I haven’t thought of? Yes! But I assure you that as soon as I think of something else, I’ll act on it. OK?”
CFO: “...Okaaaaaayyy, thanks.” [scurries away]