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The reason the overkill of email chat is a bad thing is because you end up spending a ton of time on managing it every day, and if you throw in mundane notes into an email it becomes your job to be an email wrangler instead of what you actually do. It also breeds bad habits where people don't bother to save files, don't bother to pay attention to emails and only look at top of inbox, and don't even actively read what you email them about up until the last second.
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Jul 28, 2013 06:46
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The other thing to remember about email is that many of the people you are working with have to imagine a finger pointing at each word in order for them to understand what they're reading. It was something of a revelation to me at my first job when I realized that, compared to me, my boss was functionally illiterate.
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Jul 28, 2013 07:11
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I could be in a position to ask for a promotion and I could use some advice. I'm being moved into a new department and tasked with driving a large company-wide initiative which will initiate important growth. I haven't yet met with my new boss to discuss the details but I'm not optimistic that I will be offered a promotion and raise with this change, even though it would typically come with a title and salary reflective of the work. I want to be ready to ask for one if that is the case. Most of what I read says I should come prepared with number-driven accomplishments. Unfortunately, my previous work hasn't really been quantifiable in that way. But this new position will offer that kind of metric to reflect on in the future. It also says to ask during an annual review, but that's a ways off. I'm concerned they'll give me this massive new initiative, called by one VP in a recent meeting, "The most important job in the company", and just stack it on top of my current workload. I want to shed some of the stuff currently bogging me down so I can focus on strategy and I want the new title and more importantly, the money to go along with it. I've researched a bit and the salary associated with this position in my area is about $20k higher than what I make now. How can I make a good argument for this?
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Jul 28, 2013 13:14
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I'm moving cubes AGAIN because apparently one of our customers doesn't like being near people who work on projects that aren't his  So instead of telling him to suck it up and deal with it they're rearranging the whole office just so he doesn't have to see the unsightly engineers that have the gall to work for customers that aren't him.The silver lining is that I'll be a whole floor away from my idiot coworker instead of in the next cube over 
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Jul 28, 2013 16:35
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Ah, the wonders of working for a small company. My company has what I call the rainmaker from hell. This person brings in a ton of revenue due to industry connections (and is somehow considered a pre-eminent expert in their chosen field) so they are basically untouchable, despite:
Being not only a complete moron, but an overconfident one, who is constantly telling everyone they are wrong. This basically forces everyone else to painstakingly have to spend hours documenting why this idiot is wrong, not only delaying other projects, but frequently eating into our evenings and weekends. Being completely unprofessional. Any time this person doesn't get their way, even SLIGHTLY, they throw a temper tantrum to upper management, promising to quit unless they get their way 100%. And it works every single time. Starting the stupidest, most irrelevant arguments. Everything they complain about is literally angels dancing on the head of a hair pin. None of our clients remotely care about any of it, yet this person insists that not bending to their every whim renders our products unsellable (despite the fact that we have record sales.) Not just that, but the fights are just painstaking and drag on forever. At the same time, there are legitimate issues with the product, as there are everywhere. At a certain point, there are things we want to fix, but we have an internal deadline and promises to clients, so we have to cut our losses and ship it. Or rather, us adults do. It's beyond frustrating to be unable to do anything about real problems, while literally spending days going back and forth about stupid bullshit nobody cares about. The above just scratches the surface of the contempt that I and most of my direct colleagues have for this person. I am tempted daily to tell them that their input is less than worthless, makes the products actively worse, and has probably cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars in delays and opportunity costs.
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Jul 29, 2013 01:53
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me your dad posted:I could be in a position to ask for a promotion and I could use some advice. You are screwed. In more ways then one. Why would a company, any company, load a vital project on an employee that has no displayed experience with the subject matter? You'd think this would fail or at least will not be as successful as projected so think about who benefits the failure of the project most (likely people who want things to stay the same). So having established the project just set sail for failure, reconsider your options. Asking for a raise is out of the question and as you say so yourself a similar role at a different company fetches 20K more, that is, if you have the experience. So here is what to do: you suck it up, the additional workload, the politics, the bullshit and the likelihood of massive and inevitable failure. Then after all is said and done and you are much wiser and your got the experience, you interview and get the new job with the 20K raise. At your interview you say that after having done this project, there were no more challenges left at company X and you are looking for an environment fitting your ambition (and ask for 30K more). Looking at this will have you win no matter what, because if the project succeeds and it indeed was as important as projected, you will get your raise. But asking for one before you started is wrong, just wrong. Kim Jong Il posted:Ah, the wonders of working for a small company. My company has what I call the rainmaker from hell. This person brings in a ton of revenue due to industry connections (and is somehow considered a pre-eminent expert in their chosen field) so they are basically untouchable, despite:
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Jul 29, 2013 13:36
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When did 8:30-5:30 become a thing? I always worked 9-5 jobs but my new gig is the above hours. Apparently this is becoming increasingly common. It doesn't seem like much until you start feeling like you've never left work - which I never felt on a typical 9-5 shift.
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Jul 29, 2013 15:36
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I work 8-5 M-Th and 8-12 on Fridays. Except on Fridays without fail a string of "I need you to do one thing!"s starts at about 11:55. I usually try to leave those tasks for Monday but more often than not it's our client asking for stuff and if I blow him off I get my rear end kicked by management.
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Jul 29, 2013 15:49
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Radio Talmudist posted:you start feeling like you've never left work I nominally work 7:30 - 4. However, I have in the past worked 140 hours in 11 days (including a 20 hour shift). I've also gone 12 days on, 1 day off (which I think got mandated by an admin so I wouldn't go completely insane) and then 12 days on. I've gone 21 days straight at work (including multiple 12+ hour shifts). During the summer months, I've been in the situation where the only time off I'll get will be taking flex-time on a weekday. Just as in the above situations, doing this leads to an inevitable inability to tell what damned day of the week it is. It got so bad last Tuesday that I had to remind myself multiple times it wasn't Wednesday. Which were always followed within 60 seconds of my thinking it was Wednesday and freaking out because there were set-ups that needed to be done "the night before" but hadn't been done. Hooray. I'm still not 100% certain it's Monday here right now. I feel like it's Tuesday.
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Jul 29, 2013 16:41
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Radio Talmudist posted:When did 8:30-5:30 become a thing? When everyone started doing it and tried to somehow rationalize giving free hours to their employer as a good thing. Then people stayed later and later, showed up earlier and earlier, shifting the norm until you get situations like ItalicSquirrels or my last employer. Don't work for free. You're probably going to die in the next fifty years, and it's not worth wasting the best years of your life like that.
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Jul 29, 2013 16:58
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I got a new machine. Siebel, a web application, shouldn't have changed its behavior. But it did. Some of these things are good, like keeping my sort and search settings when I go back to the ticket list. The other ones are terrible, like not auto-populating the subject field of outgoing emails, which must be formatted a specific way for customer replies to actually show up in the ticket. It also defaults all new activity types to "Meeting", which is ridiculous. I will never be in the same physical location as our customers. It doesn't fill out the description when I do select the one activity I use, follow up dates, for which descriptions and comments are required, but serve no purpose most of the time. Other "features" remain, like required fields that have no purpose on most tickets, information that is required but has no field, and a pop-up when you try to close the ticket that asks you if you've filled out all required fields, even though the system won't let you close the ticket without those fields regardless. Also, we can't search through previous tickets. Old ticket activity displays inconsistently in a variety of formats that are, in their own particular ways, examples of terrible UX. It doesn't integrate with any other system we use, and essentially serves as a glorified shared Excel spreadsheet that we copy and paste data into. It only works in IE8, and any time you click anywhere other than an input field (say, you misclick on empty space) it freezes up for 3 seconds. It doesn't behave consistently with the user interface of most web applications or desktop applications. It makes up its own UX conventions, none of which are good. When the company survey came around, one of the worst-ranked areas was "the company provides employees with effective tools to help them with their work". Management consistently affirms that replacing Siebel with some other system that works better is never going to happen. Another low-ranked area was "employees think upper management listens to and addresses their concerns". Management was confused as to why both areas were ranked poorly. gently caress everything.
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Jul 29, 2013 17:28
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Radio Talmudist posted:When did 8:30-5:30 become a thing? I am absolutely blessed when it comes to hours. 8:30-4:30 M-F, 1 hour paid lunch, and on Friday's we get sent home anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours early because "its friday, who wants to be here anyways?" And I just found out my boss pays for my healthcare. As in, it doesn't come out of my paycheck. Apparently it'd be $500/mo if it did, but the company just eats the cost for some reason. 
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Jul 29, 2013 18:01
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ladyweapon posted:I am absolutely blessed when it comes to hours. 8:30-4:30 M-F, 1 hour paid lunch, and on Friday's we get sent home anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours early because "its friday, who wants to be here anyways?" drat, what do you do if you mind me inquiring?
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Jul 29, 2013 20:05
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Radio Talmudist posted:drat, what do you do if you mind me inquiring? Admin/AP/AR/general office bitch. The pay is a little lower than I'd prefer, but its full time, close to my house and the environment is really great. I'd probably have to be offered 3x my current income to leave this place. There isn't any really strict hour tracking for the most part, as long as your work is done and the customers are happy. It's pretty obvious if you fall behind, but its not an intense job at all. I'm slowly getting used to not being slammed with work every second of the day. It pretty much boils down to my boss being A Cool Dude. If my biggest complaint is email and cranky clients, I'm a happy person v  v
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Jul 29, 2013 20:31
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I'm 23 and I honestly had no idea that people usually worked 9-5 in the past. I always thought when people say they have an 8 hour workday, they meant that they worked 8-5 or something similar with an hour for lunch. That's what I always did when I was working full time between semesters and putting 40 hours a week on my timesheet. e: Of course I'm in grad school now so all expectations for a normal workday are off. Shear Modulus fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Jul 29, 2013 |
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Jul 29, 2013 20:37
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I think the only time I've ever had a paid lunch break in my life was when I temped in a factory just out of college. Everything else, it's been expected that you work 8 hours on the clock and take an unpaid lunch break somewhere in between. I have also heard of a mythical beast called a "bonus", but have never once laid eyes on it.
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Jul 29, 2013 21:01
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Radio Talmudist posted:When did 8:30-5:30 become a thing? My hours are 7:30 - 4:30 M-T and then 7:30 - 1:30 on F. I'm a receptionist/admin at a doctors office and my schedule can fluctuate based on the clinic schedule. I don't generally take an actual break for lunch, and I'll eat something at my desk. I much prefer it that way.
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Jul 29, 2013 21:28
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Shear Modulus posted:I'm 23 and I honestly had no idea that people usually worked 9-5 in the past. I think generational differences are going to make it hard for people to understand some older movies and TV shows. When the office worker makes a disdainful comment about the 9 to 5 shift we're going to be thinking "Nice, you got yourself on day shift. Too bad you have to skip lunch or eat at your desk, wait... you get to take a big long paid break in the middle?"
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Jul 29, 2013 22:26
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Dr. Arbitrary posted:I think generational differences are going to make it hard for people to understand some older movies and TV shows. When the office worker makes a disdainful comment about the 9 to 5 shift we're going to be thinking "Nice, you got yourself on day shift. Too bad you have to skip lunch or eat at your desk, wait... you get to take a big long paid break in the middle?" Yeah, exactly. When I worked retail in high school they made me clock out for my lunch break so I figured that's how it always worked. Never seen anyone say anything otherwise.
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Jul 30, 2013 00:09
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I can see the logic of not paying for someone to take a lunch break assuming they actually aren't working during it.
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Jul 30, 2013 00:25
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Harry posted:I can see the logic of not paying for someone to take a lunch break assuming they actually aren't working during it. Yeah gently caress labour laws.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:12
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Lunch is unpaid by law.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:21
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Harry posted:I can see the logic of not paying for someone to take a lunch break assuming they actually aren't working during it. What places actually let you have a non-working lunch now, though? (Or at least, places in the scope of the TPS thread?) My experience at my last two companies is that they say you can take lunch, but then almost every single day will have mandatory meetings scheduled as "Lunch and Learns" during the time period you're permitted to take lunch. I try my damnedest to avoid giving unpaid labor, and even I can't avoid the work-through-lunch stuff.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:28
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Sundae posted:What places actually let you have a non-working lunch now, though? (Or at least, places in the scope of the TPS thread?) My experience at my last two companies is that they say you can take lunch, but then almost every single day will have mandatory meetings scheduled as "Lunch and Learns" during the time period you're permitted to take lunch. I try my damnedest to avoid giving unpaid labor, and even I can't avoid the work-through-lunch stuff. "I'm sorry, I scheduled an appointment because this is during my lunch hour."
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Jul 30, 2013 01:37
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Sundae posted:What places actually let you have a non-working lunch now, though? (Or at least, places in the scope of the TPS thread?) My experience at my last two companies is that they say you can take lunch, but then almost every single day will have mandatory meetings scheduled as "Lunch and Learns" during the time period you're permitted to take lunch. I try my damnedest to avoid giving unpaid labor, and even I can't avoid the work-through-lunch stuff. We had those at the government contractor (engineering) I interned at for a few years, but they weren't the norm. They weren't catered though so I sure as hell left early on those days.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:48
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Yeah, 9-hour shifts with a one hour lunch break in the middle have been the norm in every job I've been in, at least for the people working normal shifts. I've never had an issue with taking a lunch, either. My current company does occasional lunch meetings, but I just take my usual lunch beforehand or afterwards if it's one of the few mandatory ones (most are just optional seminars and such, which hardly anyone goes to). We go out to lunch with our manager sometimes, but he's an awesome guy, so it's not like those are working lunches or anything, we just have fun and shoot the poo poo.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:59
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:"I'm sorry, I scheduled an appointment because this is during my lunch hour." I have to clear my OOO appointments with the department calendar several weeks in advance. 
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Jul 30, 2013 02:24
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Sundae posted:What places actually let you have a non-working lunch now, though? (Or at least, places in the scope of the TPS thread?) My experience at my last two companies is that they say you can take lunch, but then almost every single day will have mandatory meetings scheduled as "Lunch and Learns" during the time period you're permitted to take lunch. I try my damnedest to avoid giving unpaid labor, and even I can't avoid the work-through-lunch stuff. So far all 3 of mine have. All of my friends do as well. Pidmon posted:Yeah gently caress labour laws. Not sure what you're getting at here at all.
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Jul 30, 2013 03:52
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I work 9-5:45 with an hour lunch. I don't know why it's 5:45 and not 6:00 or 5:30. I feel like that's a nice little 'gently caress you'. But for Hong Kong these are actually considered short working hours
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Jul 30, 2013 08:59
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I have to work 324 hours over a two-month period (unless I go on vacation, then each vacation day counts as 7.4 hours). How and when I do that is up to me, but my coworker and I are supposed to have at least one of us "in the building" during normal business hours. We get a 30 min. paid lunch placed whenever we want during the day, but are expected to pick up the (cell)phone and act on issues that can't wait until lunch is over.
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Jul 30, 2013 09:05
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Just got back from being out of the office for a few days and my inbox is full of increasingly frantic, panicked emails from a couple of individuals insisting that I reply to them asap. My short (3 work days) absence was:
Even if we assume that they just thought I was ignoring them because they'd not noticed any of the above, surely if you're trying to get answers for something that urgent and can't get hold of the person you need then you'd... go to their manager? Who would then have told them that they should probably have paid attention to all of the above, and then tried to find them some assistance. Goddamnit people.  Regarding working hours and lunch, in the UK 37.5 hour work weeks are pretty standard for salaried employees in office jobs and lunch is unpaid since you're not working. In fact I don't know of any company which pays its employees not to work, so I'm as confused by the "gently caress labour laws" comment above as most of the rest of you.
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Jul 30, 2013 10:03
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The "gently caress labor laws" is usually because most people are "encouraged" (read: forced) to work through lunch.
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Jul 30, 2013 10:53
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Kyrosiris posted:The "gently caress labor laws" is usually because most people are "encouraged" (read: forced) to work through lunch. That wasn't the impression I got from that post, but ok. I don't do that - if people try to book me for meetings during my lunch hour I'll decline. On the rare occasion where it's some super-high-up important meeting then I'll get the time back in other ways. Again, being in the UK it's a lot harder to get fired for sticking to your contract.
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Jul 30, 2013 11:39
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I'll be honest, I was partially confusing 'unpaid lunch' with 'paid breaks', and partially delirious from a migraine on sunday night that completely swapped my sleep schedule around and made me miss monday at work. Might be a concussion from 2 weeks ago, I dunno.
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Jul 30, 2013 12:33
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Harry posted:So far all 3 of mine have. All of my friends do as well. I'm a bit envious. I'm paid well for my time at work, but every place I've worked since about 2009 when things started going down hill (my first year at my first employer was FANTASTIC) has this unrealistic expectation that their employees will be 100% dedicated to work 100% of the time. We're expected to always be accessible (nope), be close enough to the office at all times that we can come in on the fly (still nope), and expected to call in remotely to any meetings scheduled while we're on vacation or out of the office for personal purposes (gently caress no). I've had a fight trying to make me reschedule a doctor's appointment following up on a fairly serious injury in order to attend a meeting, and I've only been here three weeks. The answer was no - I'm going to my loving doctor. My experience in pharma is basically the polar opposite of yours. I don't know anyone who gets a standard lifestyle anymore without getting fired for it eventually. I work the least hours of anyone in my social circle, and I regularly come into the office in the morning and have a whole pile of e-mails requesting information "urgently" anywhere from 10PM-midnight the night before. It's sick.
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Jul 30, 2013 14:33
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Kyrosiris posted:The "gently caress labor laws" is usually because most people are "encouraged" (read: forced) to work through lunch. EU law specifically states that you have a right to spend your (statutory) break away from your work area.
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Jul 30, 2013 14:47
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I just want to say that I work Monday-Friday from 8am to 6:30pm. I would give anything to have a 9 to 5 job.
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Jul 30, 2013 14:52
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I work 8-4 M/F, yay 37.5 hour work week. All you people getting an hour long lunch is kind of weird as I haven't taken one of those beyond my Christmas party one since I was working as a company that was going bankrupt and the employees no longer gave a gently caress because we had no money to do our jobs.
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Jul 30, 2013 14:58
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Sundae posted:insane work culture I just found out this morning that we're absorbing one of our sister companies into this office. No big deal, whatever it's fine. Except it's not fine because I found out that I'm going to be handling all of their contracting paperwork and business insurance. We're an IT consulting company (and most of our consultants are on H1B visas, I could post about this if people are interested). That is a shitload of paperwork. So great, cupcake is the new "Resource Manager" for this company, on top of everything else that I already have to do. I already have two phones on my desk, each for a different company, because I'm also still the receptionist. If they put a third goddamn phone on my desk, uggdlkgjsdgsddh. Protip: they probably will. Oh and this is all supposed to happen by August 1st. That's this Thursday. And nobody loving told me, I had to ask about it because I was suspicious. Management said that the president said he would tell me - the president doesn't even say hello to me when he comes in. He doesn't even loving look at me or even acknowledge that I exist, do they really think that he's going to spend 5 minutes talking to me about what my new responsibilities are? 
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Jul 30, 2013 15:03
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On hours, my job is supposedly 7:50 to 5pm (yeah it's mandatory to be at the desk at 7:50) and I was coming in 7:45 and staying until 5:15 and at that meeting with my director among the other complaints, she said the others in the department didn't see me as a team player because they got to work at 7 and stayed until 6, the implication being that I should do same "for the team" despite the fact that I usually finish everything way early in the day and do very little from 2-5. Fortunately I just transferred to another department. gently caress them.
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