Your Life and Business

Ruth was still in the office sitting at her desk. She had just finished writing e-mails. Her mobile rang. It was John: “Ruth, where are you? We are waiting for you.” She looked at her watch. It was 19h00, high time to hurry up to the happy hour. “I am on my way. See you soon,” Ruth lied and didn’t know why. She grabbed her coat and went out.

John was still sitting in the café, where he had lunch with Ruth, and thinking about her words. He felt he should be patient and cautious. However, it was not the first time that John had dealt with harassment in the workplace. Ruth’s position was not quite clear to John. What did she really want?

John was still waiting for Ruth. They wanted to go and have lunch together because Ruth had something to tell him. John was extremely curious, though he knew she might have some problems with Ron.

Ruth, John’s deputy, was standing in the middle of the open plan office and looking at the tribal mask that John had given her. “It’s fantastic. Thank you! Hmm.. John, I’d like to talk to you but I have an appointment with Mr. Smith now,” Ruth said. John suggested that they have lunch together and left the office.

John, a team leader, who had just come back from holiday, was sitting at his desk in the office. Emily, his personal assistant, and two other team members, Peter and Sam, had cheerfully greeted him. He’d found out that Ruth, his deputy, was in the face-to-face meeting with Ron, the new senior manager.

It had taken John only 30 minutes, to collect his bags and clear customs; and he was now on his way home. It was the last day of his holiday, and he’d arrived back to a beautiful sunny day. John had the window down in his car to keep him awake after his long flight; and he knew it would be a long day ahead because, later, he wanted to go to the office and meet his team.

Ruth looked at her watch and saw it was 08h50 and nearly time for their weekly team meeting. As John wasn’t here this week, she would be running the meeting herself. Ruth enjoyed bringing the team together on a regular basis to discuss progress and to hear everyone’s feedback.

Ron knew that starting a new job is considered to be one of the most stressful life events. He started as a senior manager two days before John went on holiday. Being John’s boss, Ron wanted to build a relationship with John’s team as quickly as possible.