Understanding your work colleagues - Part 1

A word of warning - this should only be engineered where there is no other way of stopping the employee and a full medical team has been put on standby, in case the Bitter One is in danger of being beaten to death. The Bitter One takes a lot of sick leave.

The Administrator

The Administrator rates a mention in these character types. This person thrives on the application of process, rather than the achievement of outcomes. They will therefore find government a perfect place to work. They will also be welcomed with open arms by the senior management.

Their steadfast adherence to process and procedure will ensure that they provide serious obstacles in the path of those who wish to get things done. Many a frustrated staff member has wondered out loud whether the Administrator gets some sort of perverse pleasure out of causing such obstruction, and perhaps they do. They are a serious blockage within the machinery of government!

While, obviously essential to government, one should never try to engage in any meaningful conversation with an Administrator unless you want your brains to dribble out of your ears.

No, don’t laugh, I’m serious about this. There are many documented cases of unwary staff being bored to death, particularly at lunchtime when the seemingly harmless Administrator is sitting having a quiet lunch (on those rare occasions when they have managed to drag themselves away from the joys of writing procedures and process manuals) and an attempt at polite conversation is made.

This is often the last act of the inexperienced public servant, prior to them being found much later, unresponsive in the lunch room with drool hanging out of their mouth.