reminder (not penance)

[doodlemaier]

I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage . . . .

Comments

[ex-means947.livejournal.com]

can i write it on the whiteboard, too? LOL.

i sent a message to my boss this morning (2, actually) with her duties for the day! I'm such a nut! heh

invenplentation

[deansavatar.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you should. Don't assume anything!

I've been stressing accuracy over speed to my temp, quality above quantity. I showed her briefly what I do and doled out work to her that was simple, no-nonsense, straight forward and encouraged her to find her own groove (I had to figure out this system for myself so that's how I started).

Big mistake! I guess I never mentioned that at some point we may need to reference this stuff at a later date. But, I figured, it's given her a point of reference so I can better explain how the processes we handle relates to everything else (complete with a flow-chart: God, shoot me. What have I become?) This got me the 'dear in headlights' response . . .

I never imagined that I would be the kind of guy to be a stickler for structure, even less that this would be the opportunity to actually author and implement that structure. The work's not hard, nor complicated but there are a lot of steps and if/then-type functions. It just requires a very high degree of organization. As it is now I've two weeks of stuff to re-sort and resort re-assemble, and that has to stop now.

see . . . I've done it again.

I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage
I will not micro-manage . . .

Re: invenplentation

[ex-means947.livejournal.com]

it's so hard to create structure if there's none to begin with. my director's coping mechanism is disorganization which only serves to make our beaurocratic 'machine' worse. i've totally eradicated some of my standards because otherwise, i'd go nuts. i try to gently prod her to do things, but i feel guilty when i sit there and WAIT for her to send out the email!!!!

there has to be a support group somewhere for this! I basically sit in her office until she does certain tasks because I know what the priorities are. Then, I stress her out and everyone else calls me the highstrung stress-enabler.

i'm working on subtler methods... like, avoiding phone calls and/or telling people to call her. i think that helps, because i explain to people that she manages my caseload (when really, it's the other way around).

argh.

Re: invenplentation

[deansavatar.livejournal.com]

Damn! Well then, I should consider myself very lucky . . . When I came to hospice I was only dealing with the 'old mind' mentality: "What we're doing doesn't keep up with our work load, so let's do more of the same, only faster". Hence the rut . . .

I was brought on as a temp and, I suppose because I'm kinda blue collar they never intended on hiring me permanently, I was never trained to do more than pummel out volume, quantity. As you can probably appreciate doing 'more faster' takes a toll on the wrists. So I modified what I'd been shown to save all that mousing here and there. With the I had time left over I began to document my methods. I started sharing little shortcuts with my direct supervisor and other people in the department who used the database, andhad who had displayed open-minded or progessive leanings. I started making clandestine copies of files to my local computer which were normally reserved exclusively on the shared drive so that I could continue working when the server was down. I started my own private little insurgency against ineffectual data processing and it got their attention.

It's pretty gratifying when the guy in the suit who's been subtley holding you back calls you into his office and says, "I'm more than a little concerned about how you're doing some of this, but at the same time I'm . . . well, this is fucking amazing. Are you some sort of hacker?" I had never really thought of it in that term because I wasn't doing anything more than using the tools available to me more unto their potential. I hadn't hacked their computer system so much as I hacked the beaurocracy.

To make a long story interminable, I had tried to do this with more than a few small companies I've worked under in the past, and I became so completey ate up, beat down, and frustrated with their reluctance to change in the face of their shortcomings; and all because "that's the way we've always done it". I guess what made the difference with this organization is that this time I didn't bother to ask their permission.

[dontshootthecat.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain! I have learned that sometimes it's best to show them the basics, and then when they get the hang of it, teach them shortcuts. It seems many people have a problem with information overload nowadays. I must be doing something right, because every time I hire someone and get them trained, they get promoted, and I'm back to square one.

And we all know my company doesn't want to try anything new, unless it's their idea. So, I do it my way, and keep everyone happy. What they don't know won't hurt them.

As far as my boss, I love him because he leaves me alone to do my job. Of course, when I really need him, I have to bug the daylights out of him. Yet he has this uncanny quality of knowing just when to give me a pat on the back.