Poor-running of a department

Jasper · 24-10-2007, 11:18

Now, I'm not the most organised of people - but I try really hard to be. This is why it annoys me when something's so disorganised that it annoys me!

The company I'm currently [operative word] working at is so disorganised, it hurts. They get a report of what I've done, and what I've got to do every day. Yesterday, I had 3 jobs to carry over to the next day:

1. Awaiting copy - didn't arrive this morning
2. Awaiting copy - didn't arrive this morning
3. Awaiting design/functional spec - didn't arrive this morning

So, I've been sat teaching html and css to a guy who's been working here well over twice as long as me. My superiors know I have nothing to do, but they don't have anything to give me. This lead me to discover that the interest held within the internet is wholly finite

This can't just be me - who else's workplace is this disorganised?!

Mark · 24-10-2007, 11:46

We used to be. The problem we now have is that we have a monthly planning cycle, so if you run out of work mid-month you have to start 'finding' stuff. That's not too hard though as there's about a year worth of work that can be 'found' for such occasions.

I haven't personally run out of work yet, but one of my colleagues seems to get through his work in double-quick time and regularly does it. Either I take on too much work or I'm a lazy sod.

MarcLister · 24-10-2007, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark

Either I take on too much work or I'm a lazy sod.

It could be both.

Mark · 24-10-2007, 11:56

Truth be told, it is. That's why I work such odd hours.

MarcLister · 24-10-2007, 12:07

9 to 5? As in start working at 4.51pm and leave at 5pm?

When I worked in a school my department was just disorganised as hell. I had to beg my boss for stuff to do. In the end I just did nothing when I wasn't busy. Was always looking for lessons to go into and help.

Actually I got so bored once I helped out the techies upgrade the laptops for the whole school. Some of the teachers were so annoying/stupid I couldn't believe it. One of them asked me if I was going to have to "delete her off the network"!

Er what?!

Mark · 24-10-2007, 12:13

Bah - that's nothing - that's a common IT question when dealing with non-techies.

MarcLister · 24-10-2007, 12:27

It was just the way she said it.

I can remember times when all the staff would be off ill from the IT department so it was up to me to go round all the classes and tell the cover/supply teachers what they had to do. Mostly they wanted me to tell the class what to do for them.

Cover work? Never! Mainly it was just "carry on from last lesson".

Belmit · 24-10-2007, 13:39

I despair of the management here sometimes. They just make decisions that affect us lowly workers, i.e. the ones who can spot the pitfalls most easily. When we point out the problems they just say 'no problem, let's find a workaround'. How about asking us in the first place and getting our input so the problem gets solved right the first time? Nope, far too sensible.

A classic incident:
I spent hours over the summer installing software on three Macs and two PCs for a new digital media suite. Huge programs that took a good couple of hours to install at about 60GB each. Two weeks into the digital media course a meeting was called between the heads of the course and our IT managers to discuss problems with the setup. The biggest complaints were that on some of the machines the software hadn't been installed (it bloody had!) and that the trial versions of Office were running on the Macs.

Turns out they know nothing about Macs and had they looked in the Applications folder they would have found the 'missing' software. It just so happened that on a couple I'd provided desktop shortcuts (or dock shortcuts). As for the trial versions, I'd installed the full versions but had forgotten to uninstall the limited version that came with them. They were running the wrong ones.

In 30 seconds I could have explained all this and there would have been no need for any meetings or complaints. I, of course, found out about these issues after the meeting was over and my manager contacted me to ask why stuff hadn't been done.

I can't remember the rolleyes shorthand... probably

or something.

Edit: Back o' t' net!

Richard Slater · 24-10-2007, 13:58

What do you managers say when you tell them you have nothing to do at the moment?

Technical Support in schools can be depressing... I end up with the most infuriating conversations:

Me: "Hello, Technical Support"
Teacher: "Hi, my computer dosn't work"
Me: "OK, What are you trying to do?"
Teacher: "Use the computer"
Me: "OK, have you managed to log on to the computer yet?"
Teacher: "No"
Me: "Is the computer turned on"
Teacher: "I don't know"
Me: "Right, what room are you in I will come and see what the problem is"
Teacher: "Hang on let me check my timetable"
*pause*
Teacher: "I am really busy at the moment, can you let me know when it is fixed"
*pause*
Me: "alright then, tell you what, when you get a chance pop down to see us and go through exactly what the problem is"
Teacher: "Oh, ok, its not that important really"

Another conversation

Teacher: "Hi, I want to make a complaint"
Me: "OK, what seems to be the problem"
Teacher: "The computer in my office hasn't worked for the last two days"
Me: "Alright, have you got a fault ID for the problem?"
Teacher: "No, I didn't log a fault"
Me: "Oh, who did you tell"
Teacher: "I am telling you now"
Me: "Right, I will log a fault and get someone to come and find you"

MarcLister · 24-10-2007, 14:18

Lol. I think I was the only person who used the fault log at our school. Don't think many people knew about it. No-one would have used it tbh. They'd have just gone looking for the techies.

One of the jobs I did was to change the settings for the laptop wireless cards to a secure, encrypted connection. Apparently neighbours in the houses nearby were getting into our network because they could see and connect to our network. FFS!

So I got the job of getting all the laptops to look for the secure network. One teacher told me not to log her off her laptop.....as I was logging her off her laptop.

She had nothing she needed saving, she just didn't want me to log her off. There was no way to not do the upgrade without logging her off.

And some teachers came to realise that if they couldn't find the two techies they would be able to find me and often asked me to fix their laptops. Most of the time I knew what the problem was and how to fix it but I knew the two techies would want to fix it.

Then there was the newly trained teacher who found me in one of the PC labs and wanted some help with something. I asked her what she was doing as in was she busy in a lesson or had a lesson next.

Her response, "I'm standing here, talking to you!", in a joking tone of voice. Yes clever joke dear!

She was someone I kept well clear of in the staffroom on the first floor of the main building. I could SEE the floor buckle when she walked across the room.

24-10-2007, 11:18	#1
Jasper Simple & Red Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 535	Poor-running of a department Now, I'm not the most organised of people - but I try really hard to be. This is why it annoys me when something's so disorganised that it annoys me! The company I'm currently [operative word] working at is so disorganised, it hurts. They get a report of what I've done, and what I've got to do every day. Yesterday, I had 3 jobs to carry over to the next day: 1. Awaiting copy - didn't arrive this morning 2. Awaiting copy - didn't arrive this morning 3. Awaiting design/functional spec - didn't arrive this morning So, I've been sat teaching html and css to a guy who's been working here well over twice as long as me. My superiors know I have nothing to do, but they don't have anything to give me. This lead me to discover that the interest held within the internet is wholly finite This can't just be me - who else's workplace is this disorganised?!

24-10-2007, 13:39	#8
Belmit The Mouse King of Denmark Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: The Winchester Posts: 6,476	I despair of the management here sometimes. They just make decisions that affect us lowly workers, i.e. the ones who can spot the pitfalls most easily. When we point out the problems they just say 'no problem, let's find a workaround'. How about asking us in the first place and getting our input so the problem gets solved right the first time? Nope, far too sensible. A classic incident: I spent hours over the summer installing software on three Macs and two PCs for a new digital media suite. Huge programs that took a good couple of hours to install at about 60GB each. Two weeks into the digital media course a meeting was called between the heads of the course and our IT managers to discuss problems with the setup. The biggest complaints were that on some of the machines the software hadn't been installed (it bloody had!) and that the trial versions of Office were running on the Macs. Turns out they know nothing about Macs and had they looked in the Applications folder they would have found the 'missing' software. It just so happened that on a couple I'd provided desktop shortcuts (or dock shortcuts). As for the trial versions, I'd installed the full versions but had forgotten to uninstall the limited version that came with them. They were running the wrong ones. In 30 seconds I could have explained all this and there would have been no need for any meetings or complaints. I, of course, found out about these issues after the meeting was over and my manager contacted me to ask why stuff hadn't been done. I can't remember the rolleyes shorthand... probably or something. Edit: Back o' t' net! __________________

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24-10-2007, 11:46	#2
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	We used to be. The problem we now have is that we have a monthly planning cycle, so if you run out of work mid-month you have to start 'finding' stuff. That's not too hard though as there's about a year worth of work that can be 'found' for such occasions. I haven't personally run out of work yet, but one of my colleagues seems to get through his work in double-quick time and regularly does it. Either I take on too much work or I'm a lazy sod.

24-10-2007, 11:56	#4
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Truth be told, it is. That's why I work such odd hours.

24-10-2007, 12:07	#5
MarcLister Absinthe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Leighton Buzzard Posts: 1,282	9 to 5? As in start working at 4.51pm and leave at 5pm? When I worked in a school my department was just disorganised as hell. I had to beg my boss for stuff to do. In the end I just did nothing when I wasn't busy. Was always looking for lessons to go into and help. Actually I got so bored once I helped out the techies upgrade the laptops for the whole school. Some of the teachers were so annoying/stupid I couldn't believe it. One of them asked me if I was going to have to "delete her off the network"! Er what?!

24-10-2007, 12:13	#6
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Bah - that's nothing - that's a common IT question when dealing with non-techies.

24-10-2007, 12:27	#7
MarcLister Absinthe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Leighton Buzzard Posts: 1,282	It was just the way she said it. I can remember times when all the staff would be off ill from the IT department so it was up to me to go round all the classes and tell the cover/supply teachers what they had to do. Mostly they wanted me to tell the class what to do for them. Cover work? Never! Mainly it was just "carry on from last lesson".

24-10-2007, 13:58	#9
Richard Slater Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 285	What do you managers say when you tell them you have nothing to do at the moment? Technical Support in schools can be depressing... I end up with the most infuriating conversations: Me: "Hello, Technical Support" Teacher: "Hi, my computer dosn't work" Me: "OK, What are you trying to do?" Teacher: "Use the computer" Me: "OK, have you managed to log on to the computer yet?" Teacher: "No" Me: "Is the computer turned on" Teacher: "I don't know" Me: "Right, what room are you in I will come and see what the problem is" Teacher: "Hang on let me check my timetable" pause Teacher: "I am really busy at the moment, can you let me know when it is fixed" pause Me: "alright then, tell you what, when you get a chance pop down to see us and go through exactly what the problem is" Teacher: "Oh, ok, its not that important really" Another conversation Teacher: "Hi, I want to make a complaint" Me: "OK, what seems to be the problem" Teacher: "The computer in my office hasn't worked for the last two days" Me: "Alright, have you got a fault ID for the problem?" Teacher: "No, I didn't log a fault" Me: "Oh, who did you tell" Teacher: "I am telling you now" Me: "Right, I will log a fault and get someone to come and find you"

24-10-2007, 14:18	#10
MarcLister Absinthe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Leighton Buzzard Posts: 1,282	Lol. I think I was the only person who used the fault log at our school. Don't think many people knew about it. No-one would have used it tbh. They'd have just gone looking for the techies. One of the jobs I did was to change the settings for the laptop wireless cards to a secure, encrypted connection. Apparently neighbours in the houses nearby were getting into our network because they could see and connect to our network. FFS! So I got the job of getting all the laptops to look for the secure network. One teacher told me not to log her off her laptop.....as I was logging her off her laptop. She had nothing she needed saving, she just didn't want me to log her off. There was no way to not do the upgrade without logging her off. And some teachers came to realise that if they couldn't find the two techies they would be able to find me and often asked me to fix their laptops. Most of the time I knew what the problem was and how to fix it but I knew the two techies would want to fix it. Then there was the newly trained teacher who found me in one of the PC labs and wanted some help with something. I asked her what she was doing as in was she busy in a lesson or had a lesson next. Her response, "I'm standing here, talking to you!", in a joking tone of voice. Yes clever joke dear! She was someone I kept well clear of in the staffroom on the first floor of the main building. I could SEE the floor buckle when she walked across the room.