When I worked for Honeywell
the offices were typically pretty messy. A messy desk tends to be the sign of a busy worker, after all.

Apparently someone saw this as a problem, because they instituted the 5S campaign. The five S's stood for Sort, Shelve, Shine and two others I've since forgotten. Management got downright enthusiastic about this, and there were awards given to the most efficient groups and individuals, with charts to show how effective they were in each area. There were pictures posted of the winners, with their neat office spaces shown as well. Overall this went on for about two or three weeks.

All this hullabaloo over some basic housekeeping.

And the best part? In one building they threw out old binders and hanging folders by the box, while in a building three hundred feet away they had the secretary order a couple of cases of hanging folders and binders.

No wonder that plant got shut down.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 23 Feb 2012, 14:18, 6 replies)

Gotta love a bit of interdepartmental confusion
We had an office in London, and an office in Anwerp. Part of what we do involved trading futures.

On more than one occasion London would be selling furiously into an apparent black hole that our Anwerp office was desperately trying to plug.

All they actually needed to do was talk to each other, and make a one cell change on a spreadsheet. It'd cost us 20 grand in brokerage instead.
(username failed moderation, Thu 23 Feb 2012, 14:28, closed)

Twerp.

(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Thu 23 Feb 2012, 14:39, closed)

Surely it's "a twerp", not "an twerp"?

(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Thu 23 Feb 2012, 14:44, closed)

Don't be
an cunt.
(username failed moderation, Thu 23 Feb 2012, 15:04, closed)

The 5 S's:
Shit
Shower
Shave
Shag
Stella
( Greenbat, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 13:39, closed)

Not far off.
Sort Shelve Shine Sustain and something else I can never remember. I was told by one of my bosses very officiously that it meant "A place for everything and everything in its place." (Personally I prefer your list.)

I always have felt that as long as I can find everything, it doesn't matter how my office looks. If there's nothing decomposing and everything's sanitary, no one else has the right to complain. But to the bean counters a messy desk is an abomination. What if I'm not there and someone needs to find something?

You call me up and ask me where it is, you twit.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 24 Feb 2012, 23:02, closed)