Today was one of those rare days at work where I was noticeably infuriated. As I hinted in my last post, I'm not always sweet and lovely. I get angry and upset as do most people. But at work, I do try to behave in a very professional, respectful and calm manner. In fact these are among the very words that most of my colleagues use to describe me: professional, respectful, calm, friendly, quiet, easygoing.
Yet every now and again, there are days…. Today, the words "screaming banshee" come to mind. Okay, there wasn't any actual screaming (although I truly felt like it), but I was quite noticeably angry, annoyed, PO'd.
To help put things in context... I'm a Web content writer and editor. I'm part of a team of writers, designers, developers, and coders that manages a Web site consisting of more than 3,000 pages. This morning's anger was fueled by an e-mail my boss received from a client disappointed that her micro-site wasn't completed on time. In said e-mail, she failed to mention that she submitted significant site changes just prior to the time it was due to launch. An oversight, I'm sure, of which I was more than happy to alert my boss.
After spending a few moments venting with my fellow project team member and our systems director, I was able to very calmly express to the client manager my disappointment and frustration with clients who don't own their role in creating project delays. My team member and I busted our you-know-whats to turn this project around within an extremely tight deadline. We had the initial page mock-ups ready for review a day ahead of schedule. Opinion stated, I chose not to fret about it anymore. I moved on to my other projects.
Several e-mail exchanges later—still more changes were requested—the project was finally completed. The site went live and looked great.
Near the end of the day, my peace long since restored, my boss sent me and my fellow project team member a very nice e-mail congratulating us for a job well done. It's funny how things work out. Had the thankless client not sent her scathing e-mail, it's quite likely my boss would not have seen this particular micro-site until weeks or months after completion. He doesn't review every project we complete. He simply doesn't have the time.
So, all things really do work together for good. Behind the scenes, without me knowing it, God was turning my morning's frustration into an opportunity for me and my team member to shine!
I wonder what He'll teach me tomorrow?
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