Even a monkey can do this job!

With this post, I'm continuing a little more with the background theme. I won't go much into the details of how our office looks, it's a pretty standard looking office, identical to any you'll find in western Europe or the USA. Just imagine a large square shaped area with rows of cubicles, several meeting rooms and a small kitchen. I'm not sure of the number of people that work there, but I heard it's around 70 people or so. The majority of the people who work there are either Czech or Slovak. Although the demographics have changed a bit since I started work here 10 months ago.

Most of us are divided into teams. There are 10 different teams, 8 of which are divided into geographical regions and 2 data entry support teams. Within these teams are supervisors and team leads, who make sure we do our work like we're supposed to, and seem to spend half their working days in meetings. Additionally we have 2 IT guys, 2 people (TF included) with an operations position that will soon be transferred to company HQ, 2 people in charge of "continuous improvement," someone that makes our Excel macros, an office administrator and a cranky looking middle-aged woman whose job is a mystery to me. Although I believe she also helps with the continuous improvement.

We have 3 bosses. 2 Czech bosses, a man and a woman, and a man in Ireland who comes over every couple of weeks. The Czech man is our unquestioned leader in Prague, and we call him El Presidente. He was hired recently, and in a short period of time has established his unquestioned authority. The woman, even though she has spent longer in this company, reports to him. She's #2.

I work with Dutch clients, and I'm a member of the second smallest team. I don't deal much with the other teams, except for the 2 data entry support teams. I work with 2 other people within my team, a Belgian and a Dutch speaking Czech who is my team lead. I don't have a very difficult job but it definitely requires organization, stress management and an ability to work with several software systems at once. Basically what my job entails, is that I am a point of contact in the supply chain between the multi-national corporation and it's clients in northwestern Europe.

I tolerate my job, I don't like it much, but I don't mind going to work. What helps is that I know I won't spend the rest of my professional life in this position. But like any other job, it does become frustrating at times. There are people at work that are friends, others that I get along with, just a couple I don't like, and several I don't even know. Even though our office is located in Prague, many of the same typical western office dynamics are in play here. People complain about salary, holidays, promotions, etc. There are office romances, affairs, fights and rivals. But, more or less, one day is the same as the next...