Sleepless






"Promotion is not about gaining power, it is all about more responsibility".



On leaders and friendship



A team leader reported that they had a sudden drop in work volume in one of the accounts. The boss immediately dispatched a letter asking the client what happened. 

The client responded that there seems to be a technical problem with one of their phone service providers. While the explanation appears plausible, the way it was written could be interpreted in different ways.  

What if the client pulled out without telling us ahead?  

What if the phone service provider cut the chat service after an agent spoke like a bitch-in-heat to a 12-year old kid?

What if...

The volume of work from that account is not as glaring compared to the others we attend to. But the absence of users wishing to talk and flirt the blues away was alarming enough to affect the production of one team.  

Lucky for the rest of us. For while the technical group of the client sorted out the issues affecting the chat service, a sudden deluge of work from the other accounts beefed up our numbers.  Our hands were so full, even I had to take an agent role just to lower our queue.

But we know, the stars will not be on our side forever. Sooner or later, we too will have to face the reality should our worst fears ever materialize - the disappearance of one account.  

It is said that there are times it's better to be a follower than to be a leader because of the responsibilities a leader must bear. Not only will the troubles haunt you even in your sleep, your head will always be below a swinging axe, ready to roll once a failure changes the landscape around you.

With the Patroness' uneasy silence came my increasing, behind-the-scene-presence. The queue in the troubled account remained empty during much of the day. I was already at the gym at past midnight and my thoughts were still pegged with the affairs of work. At past 1 am, I was still looking at the production report to see if there are changes. The trend looks promising but it was too early to tell. At 4, with my eyes barely open, the report revealed an upswing in the output. Satisfied with the developments, I went to sleep only to have dreams of work.

The last time I sent my credentials elsewhere, part of the reason for the exodus was to run away from it all - the responsibilities, the skinning from my superiors, the worries of the pockets now that my mom is about to retire.  The boss will never know the vigil I did last night, nor will Mami Athena. For these extra efforts, though unnecessary, were already built-in to me long before I was tapped for the position. 

It's been a decade now since I learned to leave the TV on at night. Since then, when my world seems to crumble. I have this assurance that sleep will come, even when hell comes to claim me in the morning.   



Hello!


We started receiving messages again on [this account] around 1:00 am, but the volume wasn't high.


attached are some screen grabs of users noticed that there was something wrong with the service.


Thanks!


-  GY Shift Team Leader