Happy and Nervous - it's a two-for-one deal!
So the job I started in April is great - good people, strong company, acceptable pay, flexible hours and ideas about how to approach quality (which is my field) - nearly ideal, actually. One of the wonderful and scary things about it, though, is that I'm in a position of particular responsibility when it comes to dealing with customer visits (audits), including preparation, communication, and associated documentation.
Now mind you, this is something I've supported quite a bit in the past, but now I'm specifically training to become the person responsible for it. This is both exalting and daunting. Fortunately I seem to be doing okay so far, as evidenced by this very kind comment from one of my co-workers:
"Thanks Gareth - it’s really great having you onboard for these! I was here for a couple audits before you joined and there is a major difference in the overall stress level around the office coming compared to the ones I saw before. Everybody seems relaxed and confident and I’m positive that’s because you’ve gotten everything under control."
This is very complimentary, and darnit, the feeling he describes is in part because of my efforts to keep things going smoothly. But the little part of me that is all too aware of how oddly built my career is (not to mention that looming oaf, Self-Doubt) is twisting around in my stomach because if some part of the audit tomorrow (and it's an important one) goes belly-up, so too might any chance of real success here for me.
I don't think it's actually that dire; I haven't been here long enough to have royally screwed anything up; any major system issues were here when I arrived and I haven't had time to fix them. And truth be told, I have the kind of experience and approach that tends to help assuage an auditor's concerns (one way being that I can say "We're aware of that problem and are working to fix it; here's how!" and make it stick). But it's still an audition of sorts, and I'm having my usual stage butterflies :)
I think we'll do fine, and will get a nice laundry list of things the customer would like to see to be happier with how we do things, most of which will be things I would have suggested anyway, so in the end it will all be to the good. But sometimes it's worth it to get all these thoughts out of my head and onto {virtual} paper so the rattling moths in the echoing recesses of my mind don't keep flapping about all willy-nilly.
Everything will be fine. I'm good at this, and by gosh people like me! Not everyone, mind you, but enough people, hopefully including tomorrow's auditors :D
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote
Now mind you, this is something I've supported quite a bit in the past, but now I'm specifically training to become the person responsible for it. This is both exalting and daunting. Fortunately I seem to be doing okay so far, as evidenced by this very kind comment from one of my co-workers:
"Thanks Gareth - it’s really great having you onboard for these! I was here for a couple audits before you joined and there is a major difference in the overall stress level around the office coming compared to the ones I saw before. Everybody seems relaxed and confident and I’m positive that’s because you’ve gotten everything under control."
This is very complimentary, and darnit, the feeling he describes is in part because of my efforts to keep things going smoothly. But the little part of me that is all too aware of how oddly built my career is (not to mention that looming oaf, Self-Doubt) is twisting around in my stomach because if some part of the audit tomorrow (and it's an important one) goes belly-up, so too might any chance of real success here for me.
I don't think it's actually that dire; I haven't been here long enough to have royally screwed anything up; any major system issues were here when I arrived and I haven't had time to fix them. And truth be told, I have the kind of experience and approach that tends to help assuage an auditor's concerns (one way being that I can say "We're aware of that problem and are working to fix it; here's how!" and make it stick). But it's still an audition of sorts, and I'm having my usual stage butterflies :)
I think we'll do fine, and will get a nice laundry list of things the customer would like to see to be happier with how we do things, most of which will be things I would have suggested anyway, so in the end it will all be to the good. But sometimes it's worth it to get all these thoughts out of my head and onto {virtual} paper so the rattling moths in the echoing recesses of my mind don't keep flapping about all willy-nilly.
Everything will be fine. I'm good at this, and by gosh people like me! Not everyone, mind you, but enough people, hopefully including tomorrow's auditors :D
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote