Germany doesn’t pause for Chinese New Year of course, but my boss seemed to know something about it and called for a meeting with my lab team today. The timing gave me an impression as if the meeting was some kind of an end-of-year review.
I was in fact quite glad to sit down and talk to him, as this was only the second time in my first year of work!
While most people would be quite sick of seeing, dealing with or arguing with their bosses or supervisors on a daily basis, our boss is hardly a visible figure. He spends a good part of his time travelling to all corners of the Earth, for different kinds of conferences and meetings with collaborators. And when he’s finally back in the home base, he’s too tied up with outstanding work. So unless he has to meet other big guns of the research institute, host important visitors, or deal with urgent grant applications or publications, he would much rather retreat into his own office. It’s actually a rarity to be able to meet and greet him around the corridors! We secretly hail him as our ‘highest boss’, in reference to the amount of time he spends mid-air as well as the fact that he is so hard to reach!
My current boss is not alone in his frequent jet-setting. The director of the research institute where I studied for my PhD in Australia is another frequent traveller. No surprise that he’s also known as the ‘Qantas Professor’!
By now you may wonder how our lab of more than 60 people, or workplaces in general, can keep running when the boss is away so often. It’s fair to say that we’re rather used to life without the boss. The day-to-day duties are already delegated to different people of the lab, and for other things we often talk over them together. This kind of environment, in a way, encourages co-operation among ourselves. Whenever we encounter trouble with our work, we can seek help from others easily. And it’s so fortunate that there’s no apparent politics within the lab, so we’re free to choose whomever we want for co-operation, discussion and learning. Imagine how easily this place will fall apart if there’s much bickering and infighting, when the boss is too far away to intervene a lot of the times!
While it doesn’t really affect us much whether our boss makes his physical presence, there’re still some things that are best discussed with the boss directly. I only had a few minutes during today’s meeting to talk about my concerns, but it was still a good opportunity to let him know what I was thinking, and to hear his advice on future research directions. This gives me the focus I need to carry my work on to the new year. I hope you have also found your new goals and objectives in the Year of the
德國當然無歲晚收爐這回事，但我的上司選擇今日與我和小組其他人坐下來談談工作進度，也好像有點年結回顧的意味。
我當然不介意啦——這還是我一年來第二次機會跟他面談呢！
相信一般打工一族，與上司或老闆朝夕相對、打交道、甚至摩擦，老早就厭倦，避之則吉。我這個上司，為大小公開及私人會議，經常四處跑，足跡滿佈全球，而難得不用出差時，又有大小要務纏身，除了最重要的人物外（例如研究所高層、趕交撥款申請或文獻、訪客），幾乎是「謝絕探訪」，能在走廊跟他點頭打招呼已屬難得，我們下屬便為其起了一個外號為「最高上司」，一則形容他空中飛人的生涯，二則暗喻其與我們隔絕，高高在上。
我以前在澳洲唸博士的研究所，所長也是不停飛來飛去的人，所以我們也會戲稱他為「澳航博士」(Qantas Professor)！
你也許會想，一個上司常常不在的實驗室（我的實驗室有六十多人），乃至一般機構，可以正常運作嗎？我們早已習慣「無王管」的日子，日常事務有不同人打理，或者靠大家商量協調，這個環境也造就全實驗室的人的合作，平時做實驗有何解決不到，大家都互相討教，最重要的，還是同事間隔閡甚少，喜歡找誰合作、討論、請教也沒所謂，試想如果實驗室是充滿政治或鬥爭，沒上司坐鎮的話，早已搞出不少山頭、派系和諸侯了！
無論這個上司現形或隱形，我們的實驗室也會一切如常，祇是有些事，始終都是最好跟他商量。雖然今天我跟他談個人問題的時間祇得短短幾分鐘，但跟他談過後，始終心裡也有點着落，新一年又有新的展望和目標。我也祝各位新一年
I was in fact quite glad to sit down and talk to him, as this was only the second time in my first year of work!
While most people would be quite sick of seeing, dealing with or arguing with their bosses or supervisors on a daily basis, our boss is hardly a visible figure. He spends a good part of his time travelling to all corners of the Earth, for different kinds of conferences and meetings with collaborators. And when he’s finally back in the home base, he’s too tied up with outstanding work. So unless he has to meet other big guns of the research institute, host important visitors, or deal with urgent grant applications or publications, he would much rather retreat into his own office. It’s actually a rarity to be able to meet and greet him around the corridors! We secretly hail him as our ‘highest boss’, in reference to the amount of time he spends mid-air as well as the fact that he is so hard to reach!
My current boss is not alone in his frequent jet-setting. The director of the research institute where I studied for my PhD in Australia is another frequent traveller. No surprise that he’s also known as the ‘Qantas Professor’!
By now you may wonder how our lab of more than 60 people, or workplaces in general, can keep running when the boss is away so often. It’s fair to say that we’re rather used to life without the boss. The day-to-day duties are already delegated to different people of the lab, and for other things we often talk over them together. This kind of environment, in a way, encourages co-operation among ourselves. Whenever we encounter trouble with our work, we can seek help from others easily. And it’s so fortunate that there’s no apparent politics within the lab, so we’re free to choose whomever we want for co-operation, discussion and learning. Imagine how easily this place will fall apart if there’s much bickering and infighting, when the boss is too far away to intervene a lot of the times!
While it doesn’t really affect us much whether our boss makes his physical presence, there’re still some things that are best discussed with the boss directly. I only had a few minutes during today’s meeting to talk about my concerns, but it was still a good opportunity to let him know what I was thinking, and to hear his advice on future research directions. This gives me the focus I need to carry my work on to the new year. I hope you have also found your new goals and objectives in the Year of the
!
德國當然無歲晚收爐這回事，但我的上司選擇今日與我和小組其他人坐下來談談工作進度，也好像有點年結回顧的意味。
我當然不介意啦——這還是我一年來第二次機會跟他面談呢！
相信一般打工一族，與上司或老闆朝夕相對、打交道、甚至摩擦，老早就厭倦，避之則吉。我這個上司，為大小公開及私人會議，經常四處跑，足跡滿佈全球，而難得不用出差時，又有大小要務纏身，除了最重要的人物外（例如研究所高層、趕交撥款申請或文獻、訪客），幾乎是「謝絕探訪」，能在走廊跟他點頭打招呼已屬難得，我們下屬便為其起了一個外號為「最高上司」，一則形容他空中飛人的生涯，二則暗喻其與我們隔絕，高高在上。
我以前在澳洲唸博士的研究所，所長也是不停飛來飛去的人，所以我們也會戲稱他為「澳航博士」(Qantas Professor)！
你也許會想，一個上司常常不在的實驗室（我的實驗室有六十多人），乃至一般機構，可以正常運作嗎？我們早已習慣「無王管」的日子，日常事務有不同人打理，或者靠大家商量協調，這個環境也造就全實驗室的人的合作，平時做實驗有何解決不到，大家都互相討教，最重要的，還是同事間隔閡甚少，喜歡找誰合作、討論、請教也沒所謂，試想如果實驗室是充滿政治或鬥爭，沒上司坐鎮的話，早已搞出不少山頭、派系和諸侯了！
無論這個上司現形或隱形，我們的實驗室也會一切如常，祇是有些事，始終都是最好跟他商量。雖然今天我跟他談個人問題的時間祇得短短幾分鐘，但跟他談過後，始終心裡也有點着落，新一年又有新的展望和目標。我也祝各位新一年
事如意！
Comments
西班牙語的文法比英文還複雜，學不會也不用太氣餒！
看來你在歐洲旅遊的時間也不少，我還有很多地方也未涉足，你可有甚麼好介紹？如寫private message較方便的話，可用小弟之電郵地址如下：
Yeah, also wish you enjoy yourself in Munchen!