Group Efforts by Email!

Group Efforts by Email
"I think MIller, Pierce and Barker are behind this"
- Tim Costello, Finance Director, J. A. Brown PLC.

About Group Efforts

Group Efforts is the fictional (allegedly) diary of Bernard Pierce, Planning Manager at J. A. Brown PLC, a medium-sized company located in the South East of England.

The series charts the highs and lows of office life, as Bernard struggles to keep his departmental team happy and productive while also meeting the heavy responsibilities of his role as leader of the JAB All Stars, the firm's unofficial line management brotherhood (sisters also welcome, registered offices The Canteen and Peg's Snug).

The All Stars' principle task is to resist the ambitions of Chris Llewellyn, the company's I.T. Manager. Llewellyn is keen to make a name for himself, although the names he gets called are sometimes not the ones he had in mind. Desperate to win kudos, he's ruthless in driving home IT innovation, regardless of whether it's in the users' interests or not.

A couple of years ago J. A. Brown was taken over by The Broadleys Group, a conglomerate with headquarters a few miles from JAB's. Although the company still operates autonomously on a day-to-day basis, Broadleys' notorious head office cost-cutters have brought many changes (including a new MD), and every move is closely monitored by HQ.

The Group Efforts Characters

Planning Department

Bernard Pierce, Planning Manager and diarist extraordinaire.
Late 40s, been with JAB for nearly 20 years, Father of Chapel of the Line Management All Stars. A good manager, but unambitious and prefers a quiet life. For various reasons (now lost in the mists of time), Bernard's department has become the company's de facto testbed for new IT projects, ranging from the early days of workgroup computing to the latest evaluation of Linux servers.

Rose, June and Sheila
"The girls" are all married, in their late 20's/early 30's, and have been with the firm (and Bernard) for a long time. Rose and June are Planning Clerks, and do the hard work of preparing and revising project documentation. Sheila is the Department Administrator, and keeps everything in place, including, on occasions, Bernard's sanity. None suffer fools gladly, which is unfortunate as their work brings them into contact with them on a daily basis.

Danny Moss, Junior Planning Executive
The oldest 'junior' in the firm, Danny (aged 27) is determined to grow old disgracefully, and is making a pretty good job of it. Known as J. Daniel SlimShady III on his larging-lifestyle website (which at one point ran on Planning's Linux evaluation server using the company's bandwidth), he has avoided the sack more times than his beloved Arsenal F.C. has missed the Premiership title.

Matt Smedley, Planning Executive
Brought in from Broadleys HQ to replace Cathy Reeve (see below), Matt quickly proved to be a very useful man to have around. His talents include the ability to charm the girls into re-entering endless spoilt dockets, armour-clad resistance to Cathy's inter-departmental bullying, and a magical ability to get the inside story from HQ on absolutely anything.

Also at JAB

C. J. Llewellyn, IT Manager
The Man The All Stars Love To Hate (and do), Llewellyn is ambitious and ruthless, although not always successful in his schemes to make JAB a leading-edge IT shop. He's come to see Bernard as his bète noir, mainly because so many of the pilot projects he's run in Bernard's department have turned into embarrassing fiascos.

Cathy Reeve, Purchasing Manager
Newly-promoted, Cathy was formerly Bernard's Planning Executive, but is now generally thought of as Llewellyn's ally. Capable and ambitious, she regards the All Stars as dinosaurs, and is determined to make Purchasing the most go-ahead department in the company.

Andy Miller, Contracts Manager
Bernard's sidekick and an All Stars stalwart, Andy was the Danny of his day as he worked his way up through the ranks. Nicknamed 'Teflon' for his ability to escape Broadleys cost-cutting exercises unscathed, he's the firm's chief unofficial bookmaker and rumour-distributor.

Tim Costello, Finance Director
Brought in to replace the infamous Roger Brison (see early episodes), Costello has proved to be a calming influence, especially at the weekly management meetings, which have a reputation for civil unrest.

David Chapman, Managing Director
Formerly Broadleys IT director, sent in (it's rumoured under protest) after Roger Brison resigned as MD for the second time. Like Costello, he tolerates the All Stars' louche management style so long as they get the job done, and doesn't trust Llewllyn.

Kay Bridges, Human Resources Manager
Non-nonsense long-termer, technically an All Star although she finds their Ceremony of the Free Tea a bit puerile. Can't understand why Bernard didn't sack Danny ages ago.

Colin Smiles, Training Manager
Unpopular former Llewellyn minion, promoted to management status after proving conclusively that he was incapable of doing anything else. Still trying to live down his famously unattended Windows 95 preparation briefings.

Solvents Stores
The company badlands, where cauldrons (OK, tanks) of toxic chemicals bubble and simmer, and unshaven men in overalls play cards on oil drums. Known as a hotbed of insurrection, it's a no-go area for the likes of Llewellyn and Smiles, and a sanctuary for All Stars who are trying to avoid them.

On the outside

Amrat Advani, Broadleys Group Systems Manager
Newly-promoted to HQ, Amrat began his career as a Planning Executive in Bernard's department, then switched to I.T., where he had a tense relationship with his boss, C. J. Llewellyn. He became Group Systems Manager after the Upgrade 2000 Fiasco, when Llewellyn's plan to convert the entire company to Win 2K went disastrously wrong - allegedly thanks to the involvement of one A. Advani as Deep Upgrade, the All Stars' secret mole.

The B2s, systems maintenance and software development contractors
Bill and Bob were formerly programmers in JAB's IT department, until Llewellyn made them redundant. Old-schoolers, they're among the region's last native COBOL-speakers, knew what a chad was long before Al Gore did, and can remember engineers patching the control panels of early mainframes with paper clips. Unfortunately their mastery of contemporary technology is less complete, and they've been sacked from a series of projects at JAB, with litigation (from both sides) often ensuing.

George Barker, Proprietor, Barker's Garden Centre.
Former JAB Purchasing Manager and All Stars FoC, George took early retirement in Broadleys's post-takeover clearout, using the money to buy a nearby Garden Centre in which he is now ensconced like the proverbial pig in straw. Bernard's long-time mentor, he keeps in touch with the old firm and is a regular at All Stars social evenings in Peg's Snug (see below). Still dubbed 'The Oracle', he retains an uncanny ability to predict developments at the firm long before anyone else sees them coming.

Peg's Bar
"Peg's" (actually the Rose and Crown) is a small pub near the JAB building, far too basic and homely for the likes of Llewelyn or the upper management echelons, and thus the natural home of the All Stars and like-minded people such as Amrat, Matt, Danny and the B2s. The old fashioned two-bar layout allows Peg, the landlady, to eavesdrop simultaneously on Snug (management) and Public (non-management) gossip, giving her an unrivalled reputation as a source of unauthorised information.

Now click "Group Efforts - the full story" to read the entire Group Efforts saga online here at www.paulspages.co.uk!

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