CS Update

I thought I'd use this post to update you on the CS situation, as it's been quite a week so far.  The new manager started at the CS on Monday and I am very pleased to say that he seems to be very volunteer orientated.  I explained my situation on my first day working with him and he seemed very happy for me to work just two days per week, doing only the hours that I wish to work.  I was very relieved, as I do enjoy the work very much and hoped to stay on.

As I wrote in a previous post, I will probably be doing the odd extra day in the next few weeks until he can organise some new volunteers, but by the sounds of it, he had a large pool of volunteers at his last shop and I am reasonably optimistic that he'll be able to attract and retain more longer standing volunteers at this one, which should hopefully make life a little easier in the shop.

In temperament and in many of his ways of working, he seems very different from the previous manager, which will take a little while to get used to.  I am so used to going in and being very focused, moving from one task to another very quickly, that I find it hard to adjust to a slower more considered pace.

I'm not criticising in any way, as obviously he is finding his feet and assessing his new situation, but from my point of view, I feel that I've been under quite a bit of pressure for so long, that it is hard to instantly switch down and work steadily. I'm sure I'll get used to it and come to appreciate it a lot in a very short space of time.

Having said all of this, a lot of work has been done and discussed this week by way of getting the shop to run how he wants it to. Only small changes, but ones that I think will have a very significant impact in weeks to come.

It's very interesting to hear someone else's ideas about how things can be done to make processes within the shop more efficient. Luckily, I'm not a person who dislikes change, so I'm happy to try new ways of doing things, particularly if they will be beneficial to everyone concerned.

I'm not in again now until next Tuesday and it does feel strange to have finished my volunteering week on a Wednesday.  I will enjoy my lunch out with friends this Friday though, as we've not met up for a good six weeks and will have lots of news to catch up on.

I have to say that I do feel slightly guilty that I'm not going into the shop and helping him more in his first week there, but I'm sure he will be fine and the other volunteers will do their best to help him. Besides, I have plenty of things to get on with at home and the more I get done, the happier I will be when I am in the shop, as I won't be thinking about all of the things I've still got to do and wishing I was somewhere else.

I'll keep you posted with how things progress.