I'm afraid I can't help with the diversity stuff but wanted to say I agree Gee4 about odd requests - one of my pet hates is being asked to come up with imaginative posters / publicity material.  Yes - I can use the IT programmes to produce stuff because I am trained in the IT.  It does not mean however that I am a designer and have the ideas to begin with about publicity.

Two things

1 - asking 'why do we do this?'  If there isn't a good or obvious answer perhaps you don't need to do it.  And 'because we always have' isn't a good answer!!!

2 - eat lunch - if I skip lunch everything I do in the afternoon takes twice as long as it should do.

Practically religious about lunch breaks.  I know we've all heard it before but taking a break does make you more productive in the afternoon and is generally healthier.  Eating and working at the same time just leads to digestion problems!!

Also, remember - no-one thanks you, or usually even notices, if you miss your lunch break - they just expect you to be there all the time and make more fuss when you are away from your desk.

Your boss - 8, nice but has 'flaky' moments
Answering phones - 4 - it's the volume of calls that gets to me
Planning Meetings - 1
Co Workers - average about 6 (some 10s, a couple of 1s)
Special Projects - 9
Filing - 8 - I know I'm unusual
Your computer - 8
Putting out daily fires - 8 (except when I really have to do something else)
Maintaining Schedules - 3

Overcoming the deeply ingrained attitudes towards administrators which have become entrenched in the minds of my team and administrative colleagues.:
- we are not 'just admin'
- we are entitled to and need supervision and appraisals
- we are entitled to and need professional development
- we have chosen this career and don't secretly want the jobs of the people we support.

I feel like I've made headway in the time I have been in post but there is still a long way to go.

No candy dish but we do have a permanent biscuit supply in one of our filing cabinets.  Next to the window - third drawer down - right at the back if any of you ever stop by.  We have to hide them because we have the same problem as lots of you - people who walk through our office eat them but never top up supplies.  If someone is having a bad day we manage to 'magic' them up!!

I'm an office manager in a social work office which deals with often very troubled teenagers.  I hear swearing all day every day but make a clear distinction between general swearing in conversation which I don't mind and swearing AT me or my staff which I will not tolerate.

I also don't allow what I feel is sexually degrading swearing - e.g. the C*** word, which I feel is demeaning to women.

I, like many of us, love stationery - so my idea of fun stuff is not necessarily the same as everyone elses in the office.  Recently we have bought a lot of super-clips - a cross between staples and bull dog clips.  The fun bit about those is that you can fire them quite a long way if you get the angle right!

Also, as we work with young people in our office, many of whom live alone, we do hampers at Christmas.  The shopping for those is fun - last Christmas we made 50 - you can imagine the looks you get in the supermarket buying 50 of everything.

Love it.  

Another one to add to the list - which a member of my team did suddenly announce yesterday - "How embarrassing, I've just realised I forgot to put a bra on this morning"!!

I've never posted before.  I think it's a combo of a number of things - sometimes it feels like everyone 'knows' each other.  also, I don't get much time at work to look on the site and by the time I get home someone has said what I would have.

Love the site though - one of my main aims as an office professional is to get my team members to stop describing themselves as 'only admin'.  This site has a fantastic amount of material to encourage them to view themselves as skilled, worthwhile individuals who do this job because they want to, not because they can't do anything else.  

Can anyone help?  I'm writing an assignment on resource management and I'm looking at management of accommodation / office space.

What I need is some up to date information on trends in this area?  Eg are companies buying or renting, research into what colleagues want from their workspace, are premises' costs going up or down?

What would be really useful is some relevant websites which show snapshots of the current picture, without being too in depth.

Any suggestions gratefully received.