Front Office

It's been a week now since I moved to the front office (although of that I took two half days off). I was, at first, reluctant to move but to be honest it's not been too bad so far.

For those who don't know, the "front office" is the place in a bank or other financial institution where, in short, the business lives. This may mean traders, but it does include other things too. This is as opposed to the "back office" (where the processes to enable FO to do their job goes on) and the middle office (which, as the name implies, sits in the middle).

So yes, it's a pretty scary concept since FO is generally the bread and butter of the business and so comes with the stress and pressure. Not only that but you have "important" people breathing down your neck making you, like, do work and stuff. Work becomes less project based and hours longer.

Or so I thought. So far I've been working as I had been in BO; my hours haven't changed much and I've still been going to the gym and stuff. I've even been able to blog a few times. This week has been unusual in that the death and radio show have broken up the week, but I'm not sure whether I'm taking the pee or not but I guess I'll wait till I get a first warning before I change my ways.

The move also means that I no longer sit next to Steve. It's a temporary move (allegedly) and I have a desk waiting for me for when I return, but it's still strange not having a gossip or joke randomly during the day. We've both often talked about what it would be like not to work next to each other (although it's only been a year neither of us can remember what it's like not working next to a mate), but the move shows that it's not that bad - phones and email help when I need the odd SQL help (which isn't actually that odd).

Still, I wander over a couple of times a day; and now that we have a House of the Dead machine I've got something else to go back for. And ultimately I can't wait till I go back.