Maybe I should go for that job someday

[vicarz]

Wow. Work.
So my new boss isn't being the horror she was when I left, and that's good. Still, what the fuck does she do?
She is scheduled to work 6-3:30 every day, but I've noticed she's never in before 7. When she gets in, her and her friends go to breakfast.
She doesn't take phone calls. She has ordered us (HQ staff) to make up a schedule of who is answering the phone because she's too busy. She only takes calls from Regional Managers and high hq officials.
She is about to have us update the database on our own rather than keep her informed of case progression.
She has set up a process to have HQ staff review each other's work and the work of field specialists. We only get her final approval when she signs decisions.

Today was the icing on the cake - one of the people who I review for had a case of a type I do not know how to process. I said that what she was asking was beyond my knowledge base, and that she should go to my boss. She did, and my boss bounced the question back to me. I told the boss I had no idea how to process a case of this type as it lay between types of cases. Her response was "What would you do if it were your case?" Well - I'd ask my fucking boss what to do! She then suggested I poll my "teammates" to see if they had any suggestions.

Ok. So, so I'm not getting yelled at, but what is her job exactly? Besides assigning cases that come in, trashing management, and the new speeches about how all of us specialists should band together and fight her management as a team, what exactly is she doing? I mean I understand delegating tasks, but I'm really beginning to wonder if she works at all or just talks all day. I'm stunned. I'm also not about to say a word - why put myself in the line of fire when she's so openly endorsed by her bosses? I'm quite happy to stay out of the line of fire.

Worker morale - meet the toilet.

Comments

[telie13.livejournal.com]

still gummint?

i think of you when i'm on these interminable conference calls with sucky gov't clients bleating about how they need my work yesterday but won't have it back to me for 6 months.

ugh.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Add in the parts where they create more interim and status reporting requirements until a majority of your job becomes reporting on the work you're doing rather than doing the work itself.

Of course, that's based on revelations and paranoia about government waste, and the subsequent control mechanisms when further grind the gears to a near halt. Hoo. Rah.

[telie13.livejournal.com]

"more interim and status reporting requirements until a majority of your job becomes reporting on the work you're doing rather than doing the work itself."

ding ding, we have a winner.

for real, I keep wanting to tell them "my status would be a lot further on if I didn't have to waste my time with you assholes every week".

i'm sorry, just keep your head down and keep socking away those vacation days.

[joanarkham.livejournal.com]

Add in the parts where they create more interim and status reporting requirements until a majority of your job becomes reporting on the work you're doing rather than doing the work itself.

That's Government 101. Plus, since I'm a contractor, I have 2 sets of bosses I constantly have to justify my existence to!

[mreraser.livejournal.com]

If you focuse on what you're new boss doesn't do, it'll kill your morale. aat least that's the way it is here, my boss's boss works about 2 days a week, and we're never sure exactly which 2 days those are.

[eolh.livejournal.com]

I may have told you this before, but several years ago I was the webmaster for the department in charge of telecommunications for all of a major research university (including all internet connections throughout the university, and including all ~20 branch campuses throughout the state). The sub-department that I was a part of was the computer support for this entire (very large) department.

So one day, the database administrator and I are sitting in our boss's office (the guy in charge of this computer support sub-department), meeting with him about a major project that we've been working on. We've reached the point where some major decisions need to be made, and we feel that getting management direction and approval would be a good idea. As we're sitting there talking to him and explaining the issues, his eyes start going more and more blank. Suddenly he blurts out "I don't need to understand any of this stuff! That's what I have you geeks for!" Bill and I look at each other, look at him, and say "Ok, that's what we needed to know" and excused ourselves.

People tend to rise just to the level of their incompetence. Therefore, I never have faith in or expectations of management anymore.

[topaz720.livejournal.com]

I had a big wake-up call regarding my boss earlier this year, when I watched her type an email and had to keep stopping her to correct her spelling and grammar. She makes more than twice my salary. *sigh*

Out of the line of fire is often a good place to be.

[tehcas.livejournal.com]

She's a spy.

It's some spy job thing where they are trying to see which of you are competant enough to get promoted to something better. And more sneaky. Ninja spy work job guy.


Sometimes it's better not to let the facts get in the way of a good story. If my story makes you sleep better, then spy on! Try not to think of her as making twice your wage for napping all day.