The programmer and his woman

It was not until the last minute before leaving get off work that I finally saw the rarely seen art director in the busy office. When she walked into the office, her steps were hurried and her expression was a little tired, as if she had just experienced a tense battle. I couldn't help but start to wonder if she also held a similar position somewhere else at the same time.

After a brief exchange with her, I put forward my request - I hope she can help us design an important module of the picture. She did not respond to my request directly, but sighed softly and said lightly: "Alas, I am so busy today that I haven't even had time to eat a bite of food."

I was confused by her words, and I didn't understand what she meant by suddenly mentioning eating. However, the big head sitting next to me seemed to understand. He gently pulled my sleeve, blinked, and then said, "Sister, you've worked hard, how about we go out for a meal together? What do you want to eat today? Our President Wang said he will treat you."

It suddenly dawned on me that Datou had understood the art director's implication. I secretly admired his wit and acumen, and at the same time I was amazed at the subtleties of the workplace. However, I was also a little worried, after all, the cost of this meal was not small, and it had to be reimbursed from the production department's funds.

However, the art director waved his hand and said, "No, I've been running all day and I'm too lazy to move. Just buy me the Korean bibimbap from the restaurant downstairs. I like that."

"Okay, okay." He nodded and agreed immediately, and took me out of the office. I asked him as we walked: "Look at you, why are you acting like a slave?"

Big Head chuckled and explained, "Oh, you don't understand. This sister is very considerate of us by letting us buy food. Just think about it, if she lets us order food at a restaurant, how much will it cost? Now she just lets us buy a meal, which is already a great thing. Why don't you hurry up and buy it?"

I nodded, thinking that what Datou said made sense. So we went to the Korean restaurant downstairs. I was shocked when I saw the price on the menu - the stone pot bibimbap she ordered cost more than 40 yuan! I said to Datou in surprise: "Are you seeing right? It's so expensive? Can our product department reimburse you?"

Datou smiled indifferently and said, "Just be happy! It only cost more than 40 yuan. If she asks us to treat her to a meal, then we will have to pay more than 400 yuan, right? Just buy it with confidence!"

I thought about it and felt that what Datou said made sense. So we bought food and sent it to the art director's office. She took the food and finally showed a satisfied smile on her face. When I mentioned the drawing again, she finally heard what I said and happily agreed to our request.

Afterwards, I asked Datou how much our department could claim for this kind of funding. He thought for a moment and said, "Well, at least enough for us to have two good meals." I sighed, thinking that the rules in the workplace are really complicated!

The next day, I came to the company early as usual, ready to start a new day's work. However, when I stepped into the office area where the product department was located, a strange atmosphere immediately enveloped me.

Looking around, I was surprised to find that the already slightly crowded office area had a few new faces. They were all women, wearing uniform business attire, busy tidying up their workstations. I walked to the door of the vice president's office and heard him talking to a colleague from the human resources department.

I heard this HR colleague say to the vice president: "The product specialists we recruited this time are all very good. The project time is tight, and the product department is short of staff."

I walked in, greeted the vice president, and asked about the new colleagues. The vice president told me that due to the tight project time, the workload of the product department was increasing day by day. In order to improve work efficiency, the company decided to recruit some more product specialists to assist the product manager and asked me to arrange for these new colleagues.

After listening to the vice president's explanation, I couldn't help but feel a little emotional. The scale of the company is not small. Although I haven't counted the exact number of people, at a glance, it is not a problem to have a scale of hundreds of people. And now, with the addition of these four new colleagues, our product department has exceeded ten people. I can't help but start to worry, can such an increase in the number of people really improve work efficiency?

However, things have come to this point, and I can only accept this reality. Since the company's human resources department has already recruited people, we naturally have to arrange work for them. So I walked to the center of the product department and knocked on the table to attract everyone's attention.

"Everyone, listen to me for a moment," I cleared my throat and began to announce, "Today, we have four new colleagues in our product department. They will serve as assistants to help our product managers do their work better. Therefore, I hope that each product manager can bring a new colleague with them."

As soon as I finished speaking, Datou stood up impatiently. "Hey, I'll take care of this one." He pointed at the prettiest of the four female colleagues, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Seeing this, other product managers also picked their favorite colleagues. Soon, except for the most ordinary, even ugly-looking female colleague, everyone else found their "mentor".

Looking at the female colleague who was left behind, she seemed a little uneasy, as if she was afraid of being ignored and isolated. I know that in this fast-paced, high-pressure workplace environment, the integration of newcomers often requires some extra care and help. So I turned to Heizi, one of the more experienced product managers in our department.

"Heizi, you don't have an assistant yet? You can take charge of this female colleague." I said hopefully.

However, Heizi waved his hands, looking as if he wanted to avoid it, "Well, I don't want to take it, I can do it myself." His words revealed a bit of helplessness and rejection.

I didn’t give up and continued to look for the right person. I turned to Xiao Chen, a new product manager in our department who had little experience but great potential.

"Then Xiao Chen, you can take care of this female colleague." I suggested.

However, Xiao Chen waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No, no, I don't know anything yet. I can't lead the team. Director, why don't you lead the team yourself?" There was a hint of self-mockery and humility in his words.

I sighed helplessly and shook my head. It seemed that I had to guide this female colleague myself. I walked up to her and said to her with a smile: "Okay, you can follow me for the time being. When you are familiar with the business, you can do it yourself."

I then asked about her work experience, “How long have you been working in product design?”

The female colleague seemed a little embarrassed and replied: "Hello, boss, I have never done product design."

I was stunned and couldn't help frowning. "Ah? You've never done product design? What did you do before?"

She explained: "I worked in sales at my last company."

I stared at her with wide eyes, in shock. "What? Sales? Can you do product design?"

She shook her head honestly, "Of course not, so someone needs to take care of it."

I took a deep breath, feeling somewhat helpless. Why would the HR department hire someone with no product design experience to assist us? I turned to look at the other new colleagues and asked, "What about you? Have you ever done product design?"

Another female colleague hesitated and replied, "Does product packaging design count?"

When I heard this, I felt a little amused. How come they even hired people who do packaging design? I felt amused, but it would be nice if they could hire some more people who are good at art as assistants, so that I don’t have to ask the art director for help every time I make a drawing.

I looked around and couldn't help but sigh that the recruitment strategy of the HR department was indeed a bit confusing. But since they are here, it is our responsibility to help them integrate into the team as soon as possible and bring out their own value.

Just as I was immersed in deep thoughts, the voice of Datou suddenly broke the silence. He said to me with a hint of seriousness in his tone: "Director Wang, we have to submit monthly work summaries to the boss every month. Everyone has finished writing theirs, except yours. I guess you may not have noticed this, so I came to remind you, don't forget to write it." After that, he handed me a piece of paper with the boss's email address clearly written on it.

I shook my head helplessly, lamenting that this boss really knows how to toss these formalistic things. I glanced at the female colleague next to me and asked softly, "Are you a fast typer?"

She raised her head and replied in a clear voice: "Type fast, leader."

I smiled, waved my hand and said, "Don't be so polite all the time, calling me leader all the time. You can just call me Director Wang or just call me by my name like them. I'm a little busy right now, so I want you to help me type a draft of my work summary for this month. I'll ask you to type it."

I sorted out my thoughts and began to talk: "After a month of in-depth understanding of the company, I found some problems. First, the company's management is corrupt, which not only affects work efficiency but also damages the company's image. Second, the atmosphere of passive resistance is strong, and many employees lack enthusiasm and sense of responsibility."

However, I had just said a few words when Big Head interrupted me hastily: "Director Wang, you can't write like this." He lowered his voice and looked around nervously, as if he was worried that someone was eavesdropping.

I looked at him in confusion and asked, "Why? I am only reflecting the problems truthfully."

Big Head sighed and explained, "The monthly work summary is not used to reflect problems, but to show how much you have achieved this month. You should talk about those aspects that are beneficial to the company, exaggerate the small things you have done, and if you really have nothing to write, you can also look forward to the future. Otherwise, the boss will be unhappy when he sees it. If you really can't write it, you can take a look at the work summary written by Xiao Chen. If you see the level of his summary writing, you will want to promote him directly to president."

I sighed helplessly, thinking that the workplace is really complicated. I looked at Datou and asked, "I really didn't do anything this month, what should I write?"

Big Head patted my shoulder and consoled me, "Boss Wang, don't say that. You've already done a lot of work. We can't do this much work in three months. I didn't do anything this month. I just attended meetings and wrote a work summary of more than 500 words. In the workplace, it's better to say something than to do it well. This is the workplace rule."

I nodded, but I felt a little unwilling. I knew I needed to adapt to this workplace environment, but I didn't want to go against my principles. I took a deep breath and said to my female colleague, "You should do as I say. I want to reflect the situation this month truthfully."

Heizi looked at the slightly old watch on his wrist, a hint of competence and shrewdness flashed in his eyes. He raised his head, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he walked towards me, "Director Wang, it's time for the meeting, let's go, don't dawdle." He urged, his tone revealing an unquestionable decisiveness.

I was a little stunned. "I didn't book a meeting room?" I asked doubtfully, feeling a little puzzled.

Heizi seemed to have expected me to ask this, and he replied calmly: "I made the appointment for you." His words revealed confidence and calmness.

"You made the appointment? Aren't you tired of having meetings every day?" I frowned and asked in confusion.

Heizi seemed to see my doubts. He smiled and explained, "Director Wang, you may not be used to this kind of workplace environment. If there is no meeting, are we going to sit here stupidly? That will not only make us look idle, but also make others misunderstand that we are lazy. Besides, this meeting is also a way of communication and collaboration. Moreover, the meeting room I booked today is really good. The air conditioning is very cool, and the chairs are big and soft. It is much more comfortable than sitting in the office area. You will know when you go there."

Listening to Heizi's enthusiastic introduction, I was somewhat reluctant to attend these frequent meetings, but as I watched my colleagues from the product department standing up, sorting out their documents, and preparing to go to the meeting room, I realized that if I refused, I would seem a bit out of place. So, I stood up and followed Heizi to the meeting room.

On the way, Heizi described to me the advantages of this conference room. He said excitedly, "Director Wang, do you know that this conference room is very popular in our company? Every time it is released for reservation, it is the first one to be booked, and it is usually fully booked all day. I was lucky today. I saw that no one had booked this room, so I quickly booked it for you."

I couldn't help but feel a little curious and asked, "Is this conference room really that good? Why is it always so fully booked?"

Heizi nodded and continued to explain, "Yes, this conference room is not only well-equipped, but also comfortable. Look at our company's marketing department, their workstations are often empty because everyone likes to hang out in the conference room for meetings. The same is true for the customer service department, which is in meetings all day long. Think about it, these two departments are one of the core departments of our company, and their work requires a lot of communication and collaboration, so the conference room has become their 'second office'."

I listened to Heizi's explanation and couldn't help but feel confused. The company's products haven't been developed yet, so what are these two departments doing now? Do they still need to hold meetings every day?

Heizi seemed to see my doubts. He smiled and continued, "You may not understand our company's culture very well. Here, meetings are not only for discussing issues and exchanging information, but also a way of working."