Group Efforts 21

Group Efforts
The Diary of a Workgroup Manager

Episode 72 (2001)

Previously in Group Efforts:
Llewellyn and Amrat were both suspended while Group IT conducted an investigation into the Upgrade 2000 Fiasco. Things looked bad for Amrat when Llewellyn returned to work looking smug, and even worse when Amrat was escorted in to clear his desk. But the former Deep Upgrade emerged triumphant as he was appointed Broadleys Group Systems Manager, with authority over divisional IT departments (including Llewellyn's) for all operating systems matters.

Now read on, as Llewellyn's broken, Cathy's eager, Andy's an idiot and Danny's unauthorised...

Thursday 11th
The place seems empty without Amrat, even though he is only a few miles away and still with us via email and Notes. The word is that Llewellyn's taking his former underling's promotion to HQ hard, and finding it very difficult to come to terms with having to report to him on systems matters (a situation made no easier by Danny loudly asking him if he's required to call Amrat 'Sir' at Group IT meetings).
Llewellyn's former ally, Cathy, is also a shadow of her former self, having spent ten days without her server while the B2s tried in vain to reconstitute it. The situation was resolved by a now-routine eviction of the B2s from the premises followed by an equally-routine day-saving act by Broadleys contractors, but I fear that the experience has broken her, and despite our past differences I hope she'll recover. Llewellyn, however, is a different matter, and the general consensus is that the longer he stays broken the better.

Tuesday 16th
The management meeting, and no less a personage than Group Systems Manager Amrat himself graces us with his presence, prompting Andy to tell Llewellyn that 'your boss is here', and Costello to tell Andy, with surprising bluntness, to 'cut it out, you idiot'. Everyone settles down, and Amrat tells us that Win 2000 Professional will, after all, become our standard client platform, but this time on a progressive functionality-pull prioritised timescale moderated by case-specific technology-push impact assessments.
None of the All Stars has a clue what he's on about, and even Costello looks baffled, but over Llewellyn's face there comes a look of recognition tinged with an almost unbearable wistfulness. Suddenly I realise that Amrat's talking HQSpeak, the elite dialect reserved exclusively for graduates of the Broadleys Group Management Induction course. Knowing how bitter a pill that must be for Llewellyn to swallow, I feel for him. Then Costello, keen to get on to decommissioning overspends, obtains a translation (it means "whoever needs it most gets it first"), and the moment passes.

Wednesday 17th
Cathy's a young and inexperienced manager, and it's understandable that she was taken in by a wily operator like Llewellyn. Accordingly we decide to give her another chance, and invite her to Share Tea at the All Stars table. She accepts with almost pitiful eagerness, and, all traces of her former disdain for Line Management discourse gone, joins enthusiastically in the conversation.
The talk turns, naturally enough, to recent events, with everyone agreeing that Llewellyn was slightly (but deservedly) unlucky, while Amrat's a bona fide superstar for turning a close shave into the break of the century. Cathy agrees too, saying that although what Amrat did was technically a serious breach of company rules, she realises now that he was, in fact, acting in the firm's best interests. We concur, and as she orders more teas all round, I reflect that it's good to see my former protégée back in the fold and taking a proper Line Management viewpoint. It also occurs to me that, with his sole ally gone, Llewellyn is now completely isolated. Despite everything that's happened, it's hard not to feel some sympathy for him.

Monday 22nd
Excitement fills the air with the arrival of the department's new DVD reader/CD-rewriter. I've approved its installation in Danny's machine, a controversial decision dubbed "a bootlegger's charter" by Rose and June, but which I'm maintaining has no connection with the lad's promise to pipe the remastered edition of Casablanca into my office. Llewellyn turns up to watch, and seems more cheerful, even managing a hint of his old smug superiority as he explains the CD writing process to Danny (who, for some reason, seems more interested in the unit cost of blank discs at bulk-buy volumes).
Everything's going smoothly until Llewellyn's spanner-man says he needs authorisation to install the drivers. Llewellyn prepares to sign the docket, but the spanner-man takes it from him and explains that drivers come under Systems Upgrades now, which have to be signed off by Amrat. Llewellyn puts on a brave face, but it's obvious that he didn't know about Amrat's edict. Twitching slightly, he makes his excuses and leaves, leaving me wondering if this time Amrat hasn't turned the screw just a little too far.

Friday 26th
Matt's back from his Exec 2 course, with a creditably large sheaf of notes and an enjoyably full quota of uncomplimentary anecdotes about Training Manager Colin "Felt Tip" Smiles. His sterling service in the Deep Upgrade campaign won him Associate All Star status (an honour not granted since the young Andy Miller saved the day in the Tolworth Tiling Fiasco), and he joins the Comrades for a lunchtime meeting in Peg's. Cathy joins us too, but her displeasure at seeing a non-management person there is obvious, and after sitting in near-silence for a few minutes, she leaves.
I tell Matt that Cathy's just a bit obsessive about management status, but he says he's heard something at HQ, and asks if she's been quizzing us about Amrat's Deep Upgrade role. We quiz him, and he says the word is that Llewellyn's hell-bent on vengeance and has spies out looking for evidence to nail Amrat for the Upgrade 2000 Fiasco. All eyes turn to Cathy's empty seat, and a chill descends on the Snug as we realise that treachery has been in our midst. Grimly, we raise our glasses and toast to our absent friend.

Next in Group Efforts:
Have the All Stars unwittingly betrayed Amrat to Cathy? What terrible vengeance has Llewellyn got planned? And what is Danny going to do with a bulk supply of blank CDs? Find out in Episode 73!