A good day at the office
September 19, 2005
By Cam Tait
In these times of technology we can work anywhere - home, hotels, airports, or even at a picnic table in the park. The landscape has changed, but we still hear that age-old question: did you have a good day at the office?
For some, the answer is very obvious. People in sales and marketing can judge a good day, quite simply, with the bottom line. In the news business, a good day is getting the scoop before the people across the street do and submitting the story before deadline. In the world of sports - one of my passions - a good day is easy to see. Just look at the win/loss column.
A friend of mine made an interesting observation the other day when she talked about a pediatric surgeon. For them, she said, a good day at the office is performing an operation on a child so he or she can recover, go home, and resume having fun again - something kids are supposed to do.
It's something I have often wondered about in the nonprofit world. How do staff, who have so many balls in the air, so many issues to deal with, so many...well, you know what I mean, how do you define a good day at the office?
Is it reaching a public fundraising goal, or exceeding it? Is it the rush of getting more donors and knowing they are buying into your program and have the same philosophy and vision you do? Is it that ride back to the office after you've made a very significant bank deposit from donors? And as you drive through the afternoon traffic, you know your clients might have an equal opportunity to succeed at whatever they want.
Or, is it taking your bag lunch down to the inner city/hospital/food bank/youth centre/seniors drop-in/rehabilitation centre/sports centre or wherever you know you can see the people who you work for, and just sharing some time with them to see how they're doing, if they need anything extra...or just talking about the furthest thing away from their situation, to get them thinking about something else?
Or, is it making a telephone call to a new volunteer - whether it is someone to answer telephones during the noon hour, or a new board member with unlimited vision and energy - who has the potential to make your organization vibrant and exciting?
Is it seeing a junior staff member grow to become someone who is ready to take on a new role in your organization, or perhaps even another agency?
What defines a good day at the office for you? Is it something we have already mentioned, or is it something we have overlooked? Please send any thoughts and comments to the e-mail address at the bottom. We'll run some of them in a future column.
One thing I know for sure is that a good day at the office is something that needs to be celebrated. We all have different ways and means, though, and you never know what you will learn from other people's
experiences.
So, let's celebrate a good day at the office, together. No matter where that might be.
Cam Tait is a sports reporter and columnist for the Edmonton Journal. He covered community investments and volunteers for 19 years. E-mail Cam at cam@charityvillage.com with thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
Opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CharityVillage.com®.
