Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Watching My P's and Q's...

I try my best to avoid the subject of work on the blog. We all have good days and bad days and I'm sure mine are no better or worse than any of yours so I usually try to keep references to the day job brief and scarce. Besides, quite a few of you know where I work and although I don't think my colleagues are aware of my blog presence, I'd sooner not have to "go underground" should it become widely known when I'd filled the blog with career-halting honesty opinion.

Today however I'll make an exception, firstly because I'm not just ranting about work, secondly because I think it's an amusing anecdote and finally because it was yours truly who made himself look a complete pillock.

Due to the nature of some of the products we make, we need to have a Qualified Person on site who (amongst many other responsibilities) has to release licensed products for shipment and eventual sale. For those who don't know, Qualified Person is usually appreviated to the letters "QP".

This afternoon we were in the weekly Operations Management Team meeting and as part of the newly revived agenda, we were reviewing outstanding corrective actions in preparation for an important audit due in the next few weeks. Next on the list of observations from the previous audit was something along the lines of "need to provide evidence that a personal development programme is in place". Someone asked exactly what that meant and questioned whether it was referring specifically to the QP role or to succession planning in general.

"No", one of the team replied "it's about the person in that role attending seminars and refresher courses in order to maintain their..."
She was struggling to find the right word. I knew exactly what she was trying to say but couldn't think of a way to express what she meant either.
She continued, "It's in relation to their overall..."
In a sudden flash of inspiration I offered "QP-ness?"

Doesn't look so funny when written down but it's not the sort of word you want to holler across the boardroom table...

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