The Eight Words That Drove Me Bonkers At Work
A phrase that can still have a triggering effect today
The first few times I saw emails starting with this phrase, I didn’t really have an issue with it. I simply adjusted my to-do list, made some time and got to work on the new task. I was a proud team player.
It was easy to maintain perspective in understanding that the unexpected happens, things get lost, marching orders can change quickly and sometimes there might be someone who is truly in a pickle and needs a helping hand. They were all valid possibilities which made forgiving and forgetting pretty easy.
However, the challenge came when emails starting with this lead-in weren’t quite the exception. In those moments I started wondering if I was on one of those hidden camera shows or if I had been unknowingly drafted for a reality-competition show.
The phrase that drove me bonkers: “Sorry for the short notice on this, but…”
As much as this opening phrase is intended to soften the blow of the tornado of administrative disruption it could cause, it seems that the more it is used, the less effective it becomes.
For me, these words became the fingernails on the chalkboard of my career days, the relentless dripping faucet of my workplace and my chronic pen clicker in the meeting of life. If these “surprises” were the kind that came with cake and balloons, it might be a different story, but regrettably that wasn’t the case.
Given the fast pace of our work environment, adherence to a meticulously planned schedule was a necessity. As a result, these eight words were sometimes the big bad wolf of my workday, leveling the house of cards of my day’s plans.
I tried to bargain with myself that I was indeed fortunate that management considered me one of their resident magicians who could make last-minute administrative wishes come true. For me, the gratification that came with the completion of multiple, short-duration tasks easily mitigated any disruption.
However the great irony was the way that the emails beginning with this phrase came at the worst possible times. Was the universe just messing with us?
On days when to-do lists were seeing more items crossed off than additions, phones weren’t ringing off the hook and the systems were on their best behaviour, naturally we wouldn’t see emails like this.
However, on days when we were short-staffed, trying to deal with issues reported to us through jammed 1–800 phone lines and an explosion of emails, that was when the eight words seemed to inflict their worst.
“Sorry for the short notice on this, but I’ve just been called to a strategy meeting and need status updates on all key files.”
“Sorry for the short notice on this, but new mandatory training courses have just been added. Please ensure all courses are completed by Friday.”
“Sorry for the short notice on this but we need volunteers ASAP. Please complete the attached spreadsheet with their names by noon.”
Often, the issue wasn’t necessarily the completion of the task itself but the scheduling conflict it created when we had committed to be somewhere else, away from the computer, such as in training or meetings.
Similarly, when we were already working on a high-priority deliverable, these last-minute additions required having the deadline renegotiated like a peace treaty, requiring evidence-based justification for the extension of one of the two timelines. Sometimes it took more time to renegotiate a deadline through the chain of command than it would to simply complete them both and hand one in a little late.
Either way, I tried not to let myself ruminate too much about the eight words. That just wasted precious time and headspace.
No matter how good the intentions, those words highlighted the challenges associated with working for an organization in high demand with many priorities on different timelines.
As someone who was a planner by nature, my lesson learned was to reserve some wiggle room for emergencies. Most times it worked, sometimes it didn’t, and that’s life.
But even when wiggle room was in short supply, there was really nothing more that we could do than to fit in the last-minute assignment and to complete it the best of our ability with the time allotted. To this day, those eight words remain a valuable life lesson in flexibility, resilience and letting go — despite being a little triggering at times!
