Week of January 12th- coffee, tea or milk?

[andream]

the beverage du jour will be different in your country of origin, however around the world,  the job of getting the office refreshments most often falls to the support team.  The question(s)  this week:

Do you get coffee for the boss and do you view it as part of your job?

And even further, there are some support professionals who consider beverage fetching to be demeaning.  How do real world office professionals feel about this task?

Andrea

[gee4]

Interesting one - in my current job, I make my own tea/coffee and so does the boss.  It's a very relaxed atmosphere so getting off your seat and going to the kitchen is as much a break from your desk/pc, as it is having a chat with anyone on the way or even while in the kitchen.   I have no objection however providing hospitality for meetings which I have done on several occasions in the past.

G

[unique]

My current MD gets his own tea/coffee.  I make my own tea/coffee.

My previous Chairman would get his own, and make me coffee from time to time, as I would too for him.

In our office, tea/coffee is taken as/when we want - no set break times - so it's quite a relaxed atmosphere.

I've no problem in providing the hospitality for anyone whether visitors/VIPs to employees.

Pam



Pam
Peer Moderator

[carrielgreen]

In my previous job as PA to the MD, i was politly asked by bossie to get him coffee whilst in the office - even if i wasnt getting any for myself. It wasn't to much of a pain as he was only in the office two or three days a week - and it gave me a break from my desk. He also thought it best if i got him coffee for any meetings he had rather than rely on our office junior.

However in my new job (Office Manager for a small IT Consultancy - 5 employees) we all take it in turns to get the coffee, as i only drink one cup first thing I end up not making or drinking much.

I dont think beverage fetching is demeaning unless it's taken for granted and seen that only the admin can do the coffe/tea run. I feel that providing coffee & biscuits for guests gives a good first impression - especially if you serve nice biscuits.

[supergirl]

Everyone prepares his/her own beverages at my office, the only exceptions being when we have guests (when I am happy to pitch in) or before our weekly admin team meeting (when our development director prepares a big batch of drinks for all).  People prefer so many different drinks these days and at various times of day--it is just easier for us to do it ourselves.

[raindance]

Bossie gets her own coffee and makes tea for me, too  (she's well trained and only seven months in the job ) and I do the same for her. We ask each other if we want tea/coffee whenever we are making one.  I make coffee for our Chairman when he's in the office, but he usually gets his own.  

We have meeting rooms with coffee/tea  machines which are always available so people get their own drinks.  If visitors come to the CEO's office, where I work, then I usually prepare their refreshments - dust off the best china and tray and put biccies on plates etc.  

Making refreshments is not part of my job, but I don't think it's demeaning.

Raindance

[hgray]

I get my own tea/coffee.  If bossie wants one when I'm on my way I'll get his and that works the other way as well.  All quite relaxed and he'd never expect me to get his beverage du jour

If we have visitors/external meetings I actually order tea/coffee/biccies/water through our catering people and then just collect when it's ready.

Helen

[bethanial]

Around here, it's pretty much every one for himself (I'm the only her), but if we've got guests, I'll volunteer to fix something.

Peer Moderator

[Jackie G]

It's never bothered me - I used to organise all our boardroom coffee etc.

when it was just me and a boss - we quite frequently made for each other

And now some of my clients make me tea when I'm in their offices!

Jackie
www.iqps.org
Peer Moderator

[spitfire78]

I am the only tea drinker amongst a bunch of coffee drinkers.  So, I established long ago that I was not getting involved with the coffee!  One of the other admins usually makes the coffee since she's the first one in the office in the morning, though if she's not here, one of the bosses will make it.  I certainly have no objection to handling beverages/refreshments for visitors (in fact, I consider that part of the job).  When we're working on a project and everyone is putting in extra effort, I certainly don't mind fetching coffee and/or sandwiches.  However, being a product of the women's lib movement of the '60's and '70's, I would strenuously object to having coffee making added to my daily responsibilities.

[ControlledChaos]

In our office everyone takes it in turns to make the drinks, whoever wants a drink asks everyone else whether they want one or not, even the bosses.  In my last job it was the same as well.

Any meetings are catered for by the Receptionist who fills the urn with water and provides tea, coffee and sugar for the attendees so that they can make their own.

Personally, I see it as part of my duty and I don't have any problems with providing refreshments.

[claudiamag]

Our receptions makes the coffee as she is in the office before everyone else.  Bossie gets his own coffee or tea.  If he has a visitor, I will get the visitor something.  For larger meetings we have a catering company downstairs that will bring up large pots of coffee/tea/juice and edibles.  I rarely drink coffee myself.

[catsmeat]

Tends to be me, but then I'm usually alone in the office, so I have no choice!  Bossie tends to make "flying visits" where he doesn't need a cuppa but, if he does, it tends to be me that makes it - and also on those occasions when he has visitors.  However, he is fully au fait with where everything is, and does chip in with tea-making when the need arises!

I don't think it's demeaning generally except when it's intended to be - bossie clicks fingers and expects tea to be brought to their desk immediately sort of scenario.  It's just another part of the job as far as I'm concerned.

[chris68]

I will occasionally if bossie is extremely busy and can't get time away enough to take that short break for a cup of tea, coffee, or water even.  I don't mind at all as it doesn't happen very often.

Visitors if there is more than one is usually handeled in our conference room and that has thermoses to keep everyone happy if there are groups of people involved.  If it applies to my group I have no problems providing it, however, there is another secretary who is in charge of the conference room so she usually handles that for us.

We have a coffee service that I am in charge of ordering supplies for.  Not a problem, it's a once a week call and they ask how are supplies are and I fill the basket of goodies by the coffee pot.  We have regular tea, decaf tea, hot chocolate, and the sweet n low, and equal in a little basket along with the stir sticks of course.  They are spoiled on "real" cream instead of the powdered stuff; however, I do keep both in stock as some people prefer one to the other.   We have a budget of x amount of dollar per year and they just lowered it as I have been doing fairly well ordering all the supplies and saving money in the last year.


Chris68
Peer Moderator

[peana]

Bossie never ever gets a drink for himself - he just plain forgets!  I'm always nagging him to drink more, hence I'm always the one to get the drinks.  I don't mind - I rarely drink tea or coffee, but if I do I'm very fussy about how strong / sweet they are - unless I make them myself I often can't drink them!  However, I used to get cross with a previous boss who I always made drinks for but who never even offered to get me a glass of water when he went to the kitchen to get his own!  

I make drinks for meetings (which I don't mind at all) for which we use plastic stirrers rather than spoons as we are always running out.  What I hate is when I come to clear away and 9 times out of 10 someone has broken a stirrer into pieces and deposited them into the dregs of a cup of coffee - I then have to pick these out to stop the sink getting blocked.  I'm going to have to invest in a sieve!

However my pet hate is men (and it always is men - I've never noticed a woman do this) who spill drinks all over the kitchen work top and then fails to wipe up after themselves.  My office is close to the kitchen, so I'm always clearing it up - to the point that someone from another part of the business thought I worked for our facilities department who are supposed to clean the kitchens!