Do you wonder why a certain person in the office is chosen to pick out the business Christmas cards? Is it their sense of style that sets them apart? Or perhaps it’s that they are favored by the boss. Maybe he values their opinion better than everyone else’s. If any of this has crossed your mind think again. If your office is anything like mine, the job goes to the person with the most patience.
Once upon a time, I was the person with the most patience. Then I was chosen as the Christmas cards selector. My boss said we need a nice card to send to our clients. It can’t be too corporate and it shouldn’t be too cutesy, but I trust you to choose wisely. First mistake I made was to feel pleased he had chosen me. I set about getting catalogs and searching websites with a purpose. A few days later my boss saw me looking at samples and said “You should show them around, get a consensus of what everyone likes”. I had no idea what was to come.
Do you know that in an office of 25 people there will be 30 opinions? It’s true that by the time you have surveyed 25 people, 5 people will have a new opinion. I’m sure you have seen this depicted on Discovery or the Learning Channel, because it is a unique phenomenon reserved for the human race and perfected in the American business office. There have been many studies done on it – it is caused by too much coffee and staring at computer screens too long. All sense of decorum departs with the mention of Christmas cards and a chance to break from the routine. It is encouraged by the fact that the person expressing the opinion does not have to make the decision.
Wisely I narrowed down the selection on the second go around to three choices – one awful and two really nice cards. The opinions were evenly (and very vocally) divided between two cards, which I promptly presented to the boss with my decision. He chose the third card as our business Christmas cards that year, which nobody liked.
The moral of the story is never believe you are better than your neighbor and always inform the boss that you admire your neighbor’s sense of style. Uh oh, here comes the boss with a birthday card catalog- break time!
Haha this is so true! Getting people to agree on cards is like getting them to agree on where to order take-out for lunch, everyone wants something different! It can still be nice to do the looking though, especially if your boss actually lets you make the final call rather just choosing one at random at the end of it all.
Dolly, great entry! There is unfortunately no card on Earth that will please every single person, but I think the boss will always have final say.
Good luck with the birthday cards :P.
There is nothing more difficult then making a decision that not only pleases you but other people as well. Picking out a card that you like is much easier then to pick one that you know eeveryone will like. I don’t see how anyone even with patience can handle such a difficult task.
Convinvce your boss to let you and only you make the decision. Impress upon him all the time that is wasted and the work that is not getting done by all of the consensus/input from your coworkers. He should agree immediately.
It makes others feel great when you include them in making selections no matter how big or small. Just remember that you were the one the boss chose and put faith in. Feel confident and make the decision you feel is best.
I knew it! I knew before I got to the end of the story that the boss would come back and pick the ugly card. That mess would always happen at my old job. Everybody loses, but at least nobody wins??? Like, why would they put someone else “in charge” at all. It makes no sense.