Group Efforts 21

Group Efforts
The Diary of a Workgroup Manager

Episode 41 (1997)

Cathy's burning with anger, Danny's burning the midnight oil, and our hero's very nearly a burnt-out case.

Wednesday 1st
It's a tough life being a high-tech executive. No sooner have I finished my daily videoconference with Glasgow (weather fine, traffic terrible) than it's time to electronically schedule a meeting with Llewellyn, electronically sign last week's progress system summary, and electronically invest £2 in Amrat's new (and highly unofficial) Anglo-Scottish intranet-based lottery syndicate. After all that I'm grateful for the chance to interface with a real human, even if it is Danny asking for late-working chit in order to kill off the last of the Hounslow backlog. Impressed by the lad's dedication, I sign it, tell him to keep up the good work, and head for the canteen.

Tuesday 14th
The management meeting, and my monthly videoconferencing trial update. As before, there's little to actually report apart from the shocking state of Greenock's roads and Smithsons' canteen tea. Costello, clearly annoyed, says that this doesn't 'justify bandwidth', which apparently means he's fed up with paying for our permanent intranet link just so that Llewellyn can boast about it at seminars. Andy suggests a one-way conference camera trained on the female staff locker room, Kay Bridges suggests he grows up, and Costello suggests that Llewellyn produces quantified benefits by next time. Afterwards Llewellyn reminds me of 'the favour I did all of you earlier this year', and demands that I start quantifying immediately. Not for the first time, I bear the burden of repaying my fellow All-Stars' debts.

Thursday 16th
With four late-chits and a near-completed Hounslow to his credit, Danny really seems to have turned over the proverbial new leaf. Sadly less positive these days is Cathy, who complains, yet again, that I'm not taking her career development seriously enough, citing a list of courses, delegation opportunities and 'in-line skills development sessions' (on-the-job training) which she claims I've withheld. Things aren't helped when Danny, overhearing her, solemnly tells her to adopt a more constructive attitude if she wants to get on. Face like thunder, she heads for the door, on the way advising me that I should be worrying about Danny's after-hours antics, not her career ambitions. Dismissing it as pique, I sign Danny's latest chit, tell him he's doing well, and start my own homeward journey.

Thursday 23rd
A depressing week. Despite all our efforts, Alan Jenkins and I can't find anything quantifiable to discuss in our videoconference sessions, while relations with Cathy are now at permafrost level. The only bright note is Danny's inspiring achievement on Hounslow, which he says he'll finish in this evening's late-night session. Cathy, however, grins so widely (and maliciously) on seeing me sign the chit that I know something must be up. Returning that evening via the fire escape, I find Danny and the B2's Bob, armed with a VCR and parallel-port Zip drive, converting video tapes of a dubious nature to AVIs courtesy of my video-grabber card. More in sorrow than anger, I send them packing, telling Danny I'll deal with him later. For an idealist, life can sometimes be very hard.

Friday 24th
At our videoconferencing session, I tell Alan about my trials with Cathy and Danny. Surprisingly, he's full of advice, saying that if Cathy's that restless the best thing is to get her trained up and promoted out ASAP, and that at least Danny got Hounslow done, so that, plus good behaviour on pains of having the video business on his next appraisal form, should leave me well ahead on points. Thanking him, I offer my own tips on how to avoid being stitched up by Sales, a subject on which I am a recognised authority. The session lasts 45 minutes (ten times the average), and we agree that 'valuable exchange of problem-solving expertise' definitely qualifies as quantifiable. My cares suddenly lifted, I call Cathy in and tell her I want to talk about training.