A day at the office...


National Office Professional of the Year 2009, Pamela Khumalo reveals her typical day at office.


W 06:30: 07:30 to 08:00: 08:30: 09:00: 10:00: 14 issue 2 • careersuccess


Well my day is very different from the norm. I get up at 05h00 in the morning to start my preparation for the unpredictable day as I live in one town and work in the other. I live in Roodeport and work in Pretoria to be precise.


I start my journey to the office which on a


normal day would take about an hour but with all the road works the traffic has become very unpredictable so it can take anything from one and a half hours to two hours. Fortunately my boss also has to travel from Johannesburg so he tends to understand the pressures of traffic.


I arrive in the office and gracefully walk


to my desk and order a cup of coffee to calm my nerves from all the traffic ducking and diving. Today’s newspapers are already on my desk. I flip through the newspapers looking for any company related publications or any competitors articles worth noting. I must do this before my boss comes in who usually arrives around 08h30 (Thank goodness). Once done with the papers I go through my bosses e-mail first and take note of the ones for his attention. Then I go through my emails (200 on average), then I go through my previous boss’ e-mail. Most of the preparation for the day I would have done the day before, so my Boss’s meeting documentation is already on his desk all neatly labeled in files with a copy of today’s diary on top.


Boss walks in and greets always with a smile as


if saying “Brace yourself”, I immediately get up and follow him to his office to brief him of the day ahead. I start with what’s in the paper, and then the emails for his attention thereafter I offer him a cup of green tea. This is done in about 20 minutes as his usual meetings start at 09h00.


Boss goes into his first meeting and I continue


with emails and the incoming calls which are now coming in one after the other. Mainly customer complaints and those wanting a piece of my boss, even chancer’s.


My first cup of tea comes and I have been on a


call now for almost 25 minutes with a very irate customer and my ears are hot from the ear piece. My boss is done with his meeting and he has a 30 minute gap before his next meeting, so he calls me in and tells me he wants to see the Chief of HR, then the Chief of


Finance, and then he wants to speak to an MD of a company in Nigeria. All this must be done in 30 minutes, so the office already feels like a stock exchange.


10:30: 11:30: My telephone is ringing off the hook. Boss goes


into the next meeting. Gives me time to finish off the emails and start on my to do list.


The Minister calls to speak to my boss, so I pull


him out of the meeting. 12:00:


My boss is still with the Minister on the phone


and the other meeting is still waiting, so I go into the meeting room and apologise profusely and request to reschedule the meeting. The participants leave the boardroom. I reschedule meeting to another suitable date.


13:00: 13:30: 14:00: Boss goes to the Executive Dining room for


lunch with other Executives. I also take some time out to have my lunch at my desk.


Boss calls from the dining room to tell me that


I must cancel the 14h00 meeting instead he wants to meet with the Union leaders. I cancel the meeting and I summon the union leaders for a 14h00 meeting.


for Employee Relations and Chief of HR and the meeting starts.


sounds very heated and argumentative, typical union meetings. 14:30:


15:00: 15:05:


Union leaders arrive together with the Executive It


The final submission for the Exco Pack has just


arrived I add it to the final pack, print it and bind the meeting pack for an Exco meeting in two days time.


I forgot to speak to my daughter to find out how


school was so I call her and we speak for 2 minutes. My phone hasn’t stopped all day.


Union meeting is still on. My emails are done,


a little bit of filing left so I decide to do the little filing before I can start preparing for the next day. I don’t like filing so as a result I don’t like to pile it either so I do it as it comes. Particularly in the office


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