Competence Is Revealed in the Small Things

Poor management or administration is rarely about one big mistake. More often, it shows up in the way small, everyday issues are handled.

Take a simple facilities issue from a fictional office. The air conditioning in one section of the office has not been working since last few days. The section is too warm to work comfortably, but since only 2-3 people are affected, fixing it doesn't seem to be a priority. There are no proactive updates from the administration team either. The only way to know what's happening is to keep asking for a status every day. 

That is poor administration.

To be able to work comfortably, one of the employees - who cannot stand the hot temperature - booked an available conference room through the proper process. However, he is asked to vacate it for a meeting that was never booked (it was requested by the attendees but was never booked by the Admin Manager). He is asked to move to another room, even though that room isn't available for the required duration.  

At that point, the broken AC is no longer the real problem. The conference room isn't either. It is about competence and professionalism...or the lack of it.

Good administration requires promptly addressing workplace issues, adhering to established procedures, keeping everyone posted, and proactively suggesting workarounds. Professionalism is not measured only by how organizations and people respond to major challenges. It is reflected in how they handle the small ones. 

Perhaps that is asking for too much.