12:40 a.m. - 2004-06-06
Equilibrium
My assistant picked me up with nearly his entire family in tow. I think he had got wind of what had happened yesterday while he was gone. I've known him and his family for about 20 years because our sons are the same age and are friends. He does not deal with conflict or stress - he's a runner. The gambit seemed to be a way to deflect the discussion that was necessary to clarify what had happened in the meeting he chaired in my absence where my instructions had been countermanded. When I asked him to step into my office his first words were "I'm going to quit rather than jeopardize our friendship" Wrong answer. I just noted that I don't consider any one a friend if I can't trust them. Trust to me means being honest when there are problems too. It also means addressing the issues head on and honestly without resorting to personal attacks. Picky aren't I? He got the message, said he was an artist and didn't function well with that type of requirement. I said he needed to stop running away from problems. We proceeded to address the issues from there. An extended discussion around what exactly had happened occurred and that cleared the air considerably. One of the other team leaders joined us during the discussion and we started creating several ways of responding to the crisis that had been precipitated the afternoon before.
When we had agreed on an approach that would isolate the behaviour without causing distress among the rest of the staff the day began. My office manager walked in to set our agenda for the day when the phone rang. It was Ottawa and I must admit I felt pretty tense at that point. Last thing I needed was another round of wasteful requests. Instead what I got was an apology for the incident the evening before. I was completely floored. In the 8 years I've worked for Elections Canada they have done much worse to me - and other RO's - and I don't think I've ever heard of anyone receiving an admission of error much less an apology. It took me quite a while to recover from the shock, but at least it was a good one for a change.
Layer number two and three of responsibilites for my manager were laid out - tracking and facilitating supports for staff and service providers was the focus there. Sometimes it can be something really simple you know. For example the other night when we had a large crew in the office labelling the Voter Information Cards one of my son's brought in rabbit ears so the television we use for training could receive the local signals. The reason was that the local hockey team is in the Stanley cup finals and we didn't want them to miss something that we haven't seen in 15 years. No one left as a result and my son was the hero of many of the workers too. Other strategies are ensuring comfortable working spaces with adequate supplies to do their jobs to their satisfaction as well as mine. Sounds obvious but isn't that well carried out in a lot of workplaces. Working contract means I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly so I know wherefore I speak, Mercutio.
One of the strategies we decided on today was to skip the morning meeting. A cooling off period and also a warning in some ways that decisions about employment status were not yet complete. By the end of the day the stress level was almost back to normal. The one person who was the obvious instigator was the only person who didn't let go of the incident. For most of the day she kept trying to find ways to reinstate herself as she believed she had been before everything blew up. No one would accept that from her. The only person I really felt badly for was her daughter in law who is also working with us. She is great, but divided loyalties were pulling her in both directions. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
A lot of people coming in to vote by Special Ballot today - that was nice to see. A lot of our door to door registration agents coming in and out all day. Dropping off the work completed and picking up more supplies for their next round. EC called frequently with information or questions but always in a positive and supportive manner. What a change - what happened? I'll savour it while it lasts I think. Talked with three other Returning Officers ove the day and our regional liaison too. Housekeeping touching base. One RO had two incidents of violence at her office yesterday so she was fairly stressed. She said that several electors had witnessed the assaults and had come forward to provide their accounts of what they saw to help out. That helped her state of mind a lot. She's having trouble with staff pulling stunts similar to what happened in my office and she noted there's been a lot of in-fighting among her staff. I don't get it. It is one month's worth of employment with no further advantages attached. What is there to gain by playing all the politics?
Confirmed the last candidate, got a lot of the financial issues addressed, started working out how we are goig to configure the 6 or 7 institutions that will make up our mobile polls and made a start on the planning for hospital voting and community out reach. Applied for more hours for my Automation Co-ordinator and her assistant. Because of all the problems we've had to address already the Assistant Automation Co-ordinator has already used up his entire allotment. He is very knowledgable and proactive. I don't want to lose him. We'll see what happens. Worked out the process for supervising and assessing paper flow with voter registrations regardless of where they come from. I essentially have to see and approve every transaction that is made. Last election that was over 50,000 in a four week period. I can't see that number going down somehow. Ther have been several efficiencies built in form last time but signing off on every piece of paper is still incredibly time consuming, but it is quality control and a security function as well. We don't want the dead to rise agian just to vote - they deserve their rest from earthly trials. Right?
Anyway time for stories with my youngest and the cats. They are finding the lack of attention form me difficult. Warrior princess Ficus has taken to sneaking under my skirt then trying to shred it with her claws. Skirt means I'm leaving her I guess. I spent about an hour last night just lying on the floor cuddling with the new babies after my youngest created a nest for them out in the living room. Now that all the Elections Canada stuff is out of there, ther is actually quite a bit of space to play. The babies eyes are just opening and a few of them are almost strong enough to walk. We had a lot of fun playing with them and their moms seemed to approve for a change. Bonding.
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