What. The. Fuck?

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

For the past week and more, we've been completely hammered by incoming calls at work, because of the stupid series of other team's fuckups detailed here. We know exactly how screwed over were are because we have monitors hanging from the ceiling displaying the incoming call queue length and number in 4-bit colour. A long line of red is bad. No red is good.

The red line for the past week has been so long they had to increase the maximum software display limit to show how badly we were being reamed.

This afternoon, management came up with a BRILLIANT solution to the problem.

They turned off the monitors.

Comments

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

Already posted this on your personal journal, but they'd do that at Dell after Christmas (before they outsourced us). If there were more than 200 calls in the queue, monitors go off!

[thalionar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I used to work in an environment like that... after 150 or so calls in queue, they'd turn it off. *I* at least found it less stressful. I knew there were calls in queue, but not how many. *shrug* It didn't *fix* the problem, but it made me less freaked out.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

It irritates the hell out of me, because the switched-off monitors are a constant reminder that the people who should be fixing the problem are, instead, choosing to let me and my co-workers swing in the wind while pretending that our crippling workload has somehow vanished into pixie-land. Despite what is obviously happening on the ENTIRE FLOOR right in front of their faces.

When the management doesn't care about the callers, I ask myself why the hell I should.

I am intimately familiar with the last seven years of operation of our helpdesk, the stats, the fluctuations, the staffing levels, our own abilities to cope, and exactly what needs to be done to address the current problems. But I'm being deliberately screwed over, and not only that, my above-and-beyond contribution is being deemed to not exist.

At this point, I start doing whatever the hell I like. Breaks are supposed to be ten minutes only? Bite me. I've been given extra paperwork or email to address? Don't look at me, apparently I DON'T FREAKIN' EXIST according to management.

Supervisor tried to ask me to do something the other day and I tore his head off for it. I figure either you're taking calls, or you're actively fixing the incoming call problem, or you can go stuff yourself into a hat and stop bothering me with inconsequential trivia.

One advantage: anyone - ANYONE, from the CEO down, who tries to put me on a task which is not one of the above two options gets asked what they are doing right now to fix the problem. And I don't accept diversions, excuses, or anything other than a genuine, fully-completed result.

I also don't like being cut off from information about how my job's going, whether we're coming back down from a queue maximum, or how incompetent, impotent and/or lazy our management is. Our job is based on having the maximum access to the maximum information, not stumbling around deliberately blinded because management thought it would be a good idea. What's the next bit of information to be concealed 'for our own good' by someone who has no idea what my job entails?

"Yeah, manager? I just thought I'd take away your cellphone, pager, any other communication device including pen and paper, and lock you in a soundproof closet for eight hours a day. And you're not allowed to talk to anyone out of hours, either. And I'm removing the lights. I think you'll be less stressed that way. What? No, I've never done your job, I'm doing this on a total whim. And by the way, you'll be getting new projects assigned to you at the rate of one every five minutes, with no pauses. I could do something to stop this incoming wave, but instead I'm going to blindfold you. I think it'll help."

...I think I'm exhibiting less patience than usual at work :(

[thalionar.livejournal.com]

aiee...

I understand how frustrating that can be, and yeah, if no one's *fixing* the problem, and it's something that *can be fixed,* I'd be pissed as hell, too.

thalionar gives the_s_guy a valium salt lick and backs away slowly.

[geekgrrl-ca.livejournal.com]

sounds like the last days @ dell before the went to india. 100+ calls in the queue, queue is green (used to be anything under 5 was green) and management was handing out time off like it was candy. "you wanna go home? ok go home".

[mcity.livejournal.com]

I hate it when people try to treat the effect of the problem, rather than actually fixing it.