A sales organization is careening toward the end of the quarter. Frontline managers are mashing together forecast spreadsheets their reps emailed to them, and this manic exercise in aggregation goes up the leadership chain all the way to the head of sales.

Or perhaps the organization is using a sales customer relationship management (CRM) system and the sales manager is ensuring that her reps have updated and submitted their forecasts, unsure how many "sandbaggers" and "happy ears" there are within her team. In either scenario, we can be sure there's always a hot pot of java brewing at the office throughout the quarter-close hustle.