When I last wrote, I failed to mention that things have been too crazy, even for me. Not only did the lack of information make me feel incompetent at doing my job, I was sure that those above me were definitely incompetent at doing theirs. Case in point, our office move.
Wow. I would not have expected such a circus sideshow. But it sure was funny. I wish someone posted a video on Youtube.
Our logistics organization consists of an executive director, some admin, some directors, some managers, some team leads, some buyers, some clerks at the level of buyer, and some clerks. The level of work done by the staff varies, based on their experience, lack of interest, desire to go shopping.... Everyone gets paid in accordance to their job class. And the discrepancy is huge.
Anyway, the director team decided to move everyone around the floor. Buyers were moving into shared offices. Clerks were moving to be closer their team. My team was moving well, way the hell to the other end of the floor. It would have been easier to move us into a completely different building.
Somehow, furniture wound up everywhere. A desk was propped up on its side and its legs stuck out. Robin Hood, our favorite director turned a corner too sharply, and sharply punctured his left eyebrow. Blood gushed out everywhere. I immediately rushed to pour soda water onto the carpet to avoid stains. Fortunately I made it in the nick of time and blotted up all the blood. No sense in wasting a perfectly good carpet that had just recently been laid in the last two years. Even I haven't been laid since then.
Eventually the dust cleared, and now buyers can hear each others' conversations with their loved ones, friends, medical receptionists, because there is now no more privacy.
And that, as they say, is that. More later.
Ta ta...
Love, Ivana
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
All things being equal...
I explained a little bit about management. I suppose I should explain a little bit of management structure. For the last little while I have come to equate everyone involved in the directionless leadership of our organization to Robin Hood and his band of merry men.
While trying to attribute the characters to the specific people, I found there was a lot of overlap. I guess the best way would be to describe them by body type. Let's just say that in the context of a director, a number of managers, and team leads, we have a Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, Wil Scarlet, and anyone else who comes to mind. I call the project manager for standardization Maid Marian, but she could really be considered "chicken little": not a day goes by without her stressing that the sky is going to fall from the sky.
The only difference is that in this case the merry men all work FOR the Sheriff of Nottingham, the despot ruler of Sherwood Forest, whose insane passion for "effective supply chain management" cause him to treat the worker bees cruelly, loading them with expectations but little or no direction.
Sorry that this isn't as long and lengthy as my usual rants. I only want to give you the idea that I'm still alive, and I'm working really hard to keep my head down to give you all the inside scoop. We'll talk more next time, k?
Love,
Ivana Nujahb,
Anytown
While trying to attribute the characters to the specific people, I found there was a lot of overlap. I guess the best way would be to describe them by body type. Let's just say that in the context of a director, a number of managers, and team leads, we have a Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, Wil Scarlet, and anyone else who comes to mind. I call the project manager for standardization Maid Marian, but she could really be considered "chicken little": not a day goes by without her stressing that the sky is going to fall from the sky.
The only difference is that in this case the merry men all work FOR the Sheriff of Nottingham, the despot ruler of Sherwood Forest, whose insane passion for "effective supply chain management" cause him to treat the worker bees cruelly, loading them with expectations but little or no direction.
Sorry that this isn't as long and lengthy as my usual rants. I only want to give you the idea that I'm still alive, and I'm working really hard to keep my head down to give you all the inside scoop. We'll talk more next time, k?
Love,
Ivana Nujahb,
Anytown
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Meet hole in ground
I have to admit, this is a tough blog to write. There is just soooo much material and not enough hours in a day. So today I will start by wishing everyone a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Of course, our office isn't closed during this time as most other places are, but the rest of the staff are virtually non-existant (myself included). But I digress....
Years ago we used to have a problem in the ladies washroom. We were not knowing of who the culprit(s) was or were, but for the longest time we had the most terrible messes left behind in the stalls. One of our co-workers even sent an email to all the gals asking the perp to wipe their pee off the seat, only to have someone from management get in her face calling her out of line, and that the water was just "backsplash".
I don't know about you folks, but I don't give two shakes if it's back splash, fore splash or side splash. If you squat and hover to keep your bum dry, and you splatter, for the love of Mr. Clean wipe the damn seat!
Anyway, that chick is gone and in the last year we have seen a complete shift in the Y-chromosome balance. Now we are overrun with men, well, at least almost on par with the ladies. Of course, with this great benefit comes the additional problems. Men are messier than women: they seem to lack the "neat" gene that double-XXs take for granted as instinct.
Every day for the past month we've had to call maintenance to the floor to plunge the toilet in the men's room. We suspect that one of the suits thought it was perfectly acceptable to jam paper towels in the toilet along with their daily business. What was he thinking? Why are we so sure we can pinpoint a specific individual? Because on the day he wasn't here, the toilet didn't jam.
This man is really just a boy. A young pup. Not sure how he managed to score a management job, but then we've been questioning a lot of decisions made around here... hence this blog. We think he was hired because he's cute and looks good in a suit, even though he can barely operate Excel and Word, which are the primary analytical tools used by... ahem... management. One of his other notable skills is that he can eat. He was the last person left eating at the buffet lunch to honor our staff. Figures. He eats like a horse — he probably dumps a load like one as well. But to add paper towel to the mix? What was he thinking????!!!
I've said it before, our company is nuts. They don't seem to know their asses from holes in the ground. And when the growing gets tough, they don't fill the holes. they just rotate the asses.
Love,
Ivana Nujahb
Anytown
Years ago we used to have a problem in the ladies washroom. We were not knowing of who the culprit(s) was or were, but for the longest time we had the most terrible messes left behind in the stalls. One of our co-workers even sent an email to all the gals asking the perp to wipe their pee off the seat, only to have someone from management get in her face calling her out of line, and that the water was just "backsplash".
I don't know about you folks, but I don't give two shakes if it's back splash, fore splash or side splash. If you squat and hover to keep your bum dry, and you splatter, for the love of Mr. Clean wipe the damn seat!
Anyway, that chick is gone and in the last year we have seen a complete shift in the Y-chromosome balance. Now we are overrun with men, well, at least almost on par with the ladies. Of course, with this great benefit comes the additional problems. Men are messier than women: they seem to lack the "neat" gene that double-XXs take for granted as instinct.
Every day for the past month we've had to call maintenance to the floor to plunge the toilet in the men's room. We suspect that one of the suits thought it was perfectly acceptable to jam paper towels in the toilet along with their daily business. What was he thinking? Why are we so sure we can pinpoint a specific individual? Because on the day he wasn't here, the toilet didn't jam.
This man is really just a boy. A young pup. Not sure how he managed to score a management job, but then we've been questioning a lot of decisions made around here... hence this blog. We think he was hired because he's cute and looks good in a suit, even though he can barely operate Excel and Word, which are the primary analytical tools used by... ahem... management. One of his other notable skills is that he can eat. He was the last person left eating at the buffet lunch to honor our staff. Figures. He eats like a horse — he probably dumps a load like one as well. But to add paper towel to the mix? What was he thinking????!!!
I've said it before, our company is nuts. They don't seem to know their asses from holes in the ground. And when the growing gets tough, they don't fill the holes. they just rotate the asses.
Love,
Ivana Nujahb
Anytown
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The more things change
I've finally decided that my employer is completely nuts. I work for an organization that specializes in logistics — acquisition and supply chain management, specifically. Over the last decade I have seen several management regime changes, three systems implementation changes, and little or no significant improvements to processes or philosphy.
This blog is called Logistics Nightmare, and will attempt to show that because the mentality of the organization is characteristically pyschopathic (and we're not even a private corporation) it has been a really rough ride working here, and that it is tiime to really push my search for a new employer.
First, a bit about me: I've always had trouble working here, as it's a dead-end desk job. It paid well when I first started, and because of this I was able to afford to do things like travel, work on my more creative projects, and do outside consulting work. Over time I eventually settled down and started a family, and this year I was awakened to the fact that for a family my salary is below the poverty line. I did some more outside consulting, took more courses, and since the summer sent out one resume every week, earning an interview every two. So leaving here has become a priority, though it's been tough. When one has worked in a unionized environment for over a decade the first question asked is always, "So why have you chosen now to leave?"
To my interviewers' credit, what didn't kill me has made me stronger. I now have better answers for this and other questions. One of my most recent favourites was, "On your resume, you list your outside consulting work over and above your current full-time position. Why is that?"
Unfortunately the only answer I could come up with was, "Because my current job sucks — it's a logistics nightmare."
Hope you enjoy the read.
Love,
Ivana Nujahb
Anytown
This blog is called Logistics Nightmare, and will attempt to show that because the mentality of the organization is characteristically pyschopathic (and we're not even a private corporation) it has been a really rough ride working here, and that it is tiime to really push my search for a new employer.
First, a bit about me: I've always had trouble working here, as it's a dead-end desk job. It paid well when I first started, and because of this I was able to afford to do things like travel, work on my more creative projects, and do outside consulting work. Over time I eventually settled down and started a family, and this year I was awakened to the fact that for a family my salary is below the poverty line. I did some more outside consulting, took more courses, and since the summer sent out one resume every week, earning an interview every two. So leaving here has become a priority, though it's been tough. When one has worked in a unionized environment for over a decade the first question asked is always, "So why have you chosen now to leave?"
To my interviewers' credit, what didn't kill me has made me stronger. I now have better answers for this and other questions. One of my most recent favourites was, "On your resume, you list your outside consulting work over and above your current full-time position. Why is that?"
Unfortunately the only answer I could come up with was, "Because my current job sucks — it's a logistics nightmare."
Hope you enjoy the read.
Love,
Ivana Nujahb
Anytown
