Chapter 2: The Second Chapter
"On this floor are mainly the chief's office and his assistants. There's also a kitchen, so if you come here in the morning, you're welcome to drink some coffee." "There's no one else on the floor?" I asked, wondering. She shook her head. "No, usually the boss also opens the door, because it is so quiet here, he needs the rest, he really works hard. Only when he's on the phone does he close the door, otherwise it's always open." I nodded now and looked around further.
So here I was alone with Mr. Newspaper. Great!
A long corridor or a kind of corridor led to his office and soon also to my office. In this corridor stood two sofas, one on the right and one on the left, here and there plants stood in large pots and otherwise this kind of corridor was flooded with light, as there were also many windows here.
"There's a huge conference room on the floor below," she explained. "This is usually used two to three times a week." I nodded. We had now taken the elevator down one floor. "Here's our huge cafeteria," she explained. "All employees can eat here for free." I nodded and looked around. Also here everything had been furnished very elegantly, here and there plants stood and the rooms had been flooded with light again.
Alfina told me one floor further on: "Here are the accounting offices, which are responsible for accounting and finance. Above all, we also added the legal department. As a new assistant, you'll often be dealing with them. Not only with this department, with all the others, because you often play the mediator, towards the boss and the employees." I nodded understandingly.
We drove on now and arrived in on another floor. "This is the research and development department. That's what we always call them, but basically it's where our creative minds sit and come up with the latest designs. We have them on two floors," she explained friendly.
Again we drove down another floor. "This is where the manufacturing and production facilities are located, as well as the research and development department, which is also located on two floors." I looked around. Men and women were walking around, here and there were mountains of fabrics and here and there were finished objects.
A paradise, in my opinion.
Another floor down. "This is the marketing department, this is also where the IT people sit and basically take care of the marketing. We still have EDP among us, they take care of all the technical issues."
One floor down. "And here the post office and customer service are in one. They're all open to questions. Among us are the logistics and the property management as well as the technical administration." "That's a lot of departments already," I remarked and counted.
The building has a total of 13 floors if you do not take the main entrance with you.
She laughed easily. "Yes, it's true, but you won't have anything to do with every department. I had relatively little to do with technical administration, for example, only when something broke," she said. We just went back to the top floor. "What were your duties?" I asked her and looked at her attentively. She smiled at me with her brown eyes. "My duties, well. I was not only an assistant, I was also a substitute for a secretary. I mastered both very well."
Now I wouldn't just be an assistant and then a secretary.
"I must say it's a little difficult at first," she started. "But you get used to it, and it's easier. It's actually a quiet work together with the colonel." The elevator stopped and we walked down the long corridor to the office.
Will there be a quiet cooperation with me?
We sat on the couch in her office. "Your tasks are very simple," she said and I took out my notebook and pen and started listening to her. "When you come in the morning, you usually come half an hour earlier than the boss. You're already here around 8:00. He'll be here around 8:30."
He gets a good night's sleep.
"You need to put documents like contracts he needs to sign on his desk. Send him an e-mail in which you list all his dates, events and other things. It's basically a close collaboration with him. When new projects are coming up you will advise him. Especially when projects are due, you are responsible for working out a schedule with him and then sending it to the respective department heads. During the project phases you are also responsible for following up how things are going with the respective topics. How far each department is, you are open to questions and must bring the boss up to date," she explained. "You make and cancel appointments for him, you email the department to remind them of the upcoming meeting, and what is being asked. You bring him coffee if he wants, but he always does that on his own." She laughed. "You also accompany him on business lunches and trips. You're like his shadow, you work closely with him. "
So in a nutshell, I was the errand boy for that old sack. Great.
"It sounds like a lot, but it's not really. You always inform him about what the other departments are up to, so he always knows what's going on." I nodded now. "That's all, actually. I can still show you how to use the program and that was it. That's all I can tell you." I smiled slightly. "I still can't get used to the idea that I'm retiring," she said and looked around. "I've worked here for thirty years." "Thirty years?" I asked in surprise.
That's an achievement. Then the boss must be an old - and rude - sack.
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