My co-irkers should be happy I telecommute. RANT

[mrs.jacinthe]

Because I'm seriously about to STAB someone.

Right now I have approximately 15 things pending. ALL FIFTEEN are currently pending because I'm waiting on someone in our main office to pull their head out of their ass and answer a freaking email. Or send me something. Or both.

And now I get an email from new co-irker who's all "where's this project?" and I'm all "WHERE'S THE FILE I NEED TO COMPLETE THIS PROJECT? I'VE ASKED YOU FOR IT THREE TIMES NOW!"

Seriously. Rage.

If any of these people try to throw me under the bus because they're too stupid/lazy/incompetent to answer a freaking email, I'm going to start throwing things. Ugh.

/rant

[emoflamingo]

Good thing about emails is there's always one in your sent box showing you requested the item 3 times!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Oh, there'll be excuses. Usually they regard our email system - which is rage-worthy on its own - but is always a convenient scapegoat. I've been resending things.

[emoflamingo]

Or send them urgent and read receipt lol. Even if it's not urgent.

[thewop]

Nov 29, 2012 12:27:52 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

Or send them urgent and read receipt lol. Even if it's not urgent.

Ditto this.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Did I mention how crappy our email system is? Urgent and read-receipts are not possible here. Which is why email makes a convenient scapegoat.

[emoflamingo]

Oh that is awful!

[thewop]

What if you made a quick phone call after each email for a week? It would be super annoying and tedious, but it might get your point across. Do you put anything at the end of each email like "please confirm receipt of this email"?

[mrs.jacinthe]

Always. And I have NEVER ONCE received confirmation of receipt from any employee other than my immediate supervisor. She, interestingly enough, never has difficulty getting my emails. It's a very interesting phenomenon ... you know, my emails only go through on the first attempt to one person. Everyone else needs it resent over and over again. Huh.

Ugh. Some days I'm like "I NEED A NEW JOB" but the flexibility really makes up for a lot.

[ssmjlm]

I have that problem too....

except I go into an office everyday.

[mrs.jacinthe]

ANNNNND just got another email from the same jerkface as this morning. TOTALLY ignored my am response requesting information and being all "we're going to get fined if this report isn't out tomorrow!" JUST SEND ME THE EFFING INFORMATION, MOFO!

And I've just sent a desperation/pleading email to my immediate supervisor requesting her assistance because I just ... can't. I can't deal with another idiot today.

[emoflamingo]

If I have issues with responses, I start CC'ing their supervisors. I mean, if that person isn't having issues getting your emails, maybe it will magically go through then!

[lemondrop]

Nov 29, 2012 14:42:59 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

ANNNNND just got another email from the same jerkface as this morning. TOTALLY ignored my am response requesting information and being all "we're going to get fined if this report isn't out tomorrow!" JUST SEND ME THE EFFING INFORMATION, MOFO!

And I've just sent a desperation/pleading email to my immediate supervisor requesting her assistance because I just ... can't. I can't deal with another idiot today.

Did he respond to your reply? If so, :-| . Either way, I would lose my shit as well.

[tarheels]

When I was fresh out of college, I was in a similar deadline situation and my boss asked me for an update. I told him I had sent an email to X and was waiting on him to get back to me. He said (and I will never forget this lesson because I was brand new and he had about .0007% patience with me) "Technology is not the end-all-be-all you young things think it is. NEVER wait on an email when you can pick up the phone or walk down the hall. Now pick up the damn phone and get me an answer!" Point.taken. And it's stuck with me. It's easy to rely on email, but when stuff really needs done, gotta go old school

[mrs.jacinthe]

Tarheels, I did end up calling. Dude was all "I didn't know what you wanted!"



You know, because I carelessly didn't mention in 5 different emails that I needed [file]. And I just ignored all those reply emails he sent, asking for clarification. All effing NONE of them.

But my super-awesome supervisor hopped in, got it done and sent, and I got my report done. So all is well, but my blood pressure has STILL not returned to normal.

FWIW, while I'm on the phone with this person, I hear him talking to my supervisor and he's all "What's that? [File]?" Then to me "is [file] what you needed?"

No, of course not. I asked for [file] 5 times by name because I wanted some OTHER file.

[emoflamingo]

:drink: :drink: :drink:

[tarheels]

Nov 29, 2012 17:28:50 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Tarheels, I did end up calling. Dude was all "I didn't know what you wanted!"



You know, because I carelessly didn't mention in 5 different emails that I needed [file]. And I just ignored all those reply emails he sent, asking for clarification. All effing NONE of them.

But my super-awesome supervisor hopped in, got it done and sent, and I got my report done. So all is well, but my blood pressure has STILL not returned to normal.

FWIW, while I'm on the phone with this person, I hear him talking to my supervisor and he's all "What's that? [File]?" Then to me "is [file] what you needed?"

No, of course not. I asked for [file] 5 times by name because I wanted some OTHER file.

:-| :-|

I agree with emo: here ya go :beer: :beer:

[lemondrop]

I know your supervisor seems to be aware of some of this shit, but are you documenting all of this? I would for the immediate reason of showing your boss you're right, but also in the future if your CWs drop the ball and throw you under the bus. (I know they conveniently never receive your e-mails, but you could also note when you called them.)

[mrs.jacinthe]

Oh, I document everything. Because I telecommute, I have to answer for pretty much every moment of my day, or I can't bill properly.

[sailorgray]

I used to work from home and hated it. People think it's the ideal situation, but it pretty much sucked. Crap like this is just one of the reasons.

[moolarkey]

My H worked from our boat one summer. Problem was so many of our friends popped in and out of the marina and would see him sitting on the boat and stop to chat. He started having to stay in the cabin with the drapes drawn all during his work hours, it was like being in a cave. The only good thing was that when 5 o'clock rolled around and he shut his computer off - he was on the boat and not 2 hrs away at our house

And I'm in the
a) document everytime you send an email as to whether you received a repsonse or not. Copy their boss and your boss on emails when you have to ask more than once. This serves 2 purposes, it lets management know there is a repeated bottleneck and because the bottleneck should then realize their boss is aware of the issue, they will stop being a bottleneck.

b) pick up the phone and call - especially this one. I have to tell co-workers this all the time. We also have the option to WALK to the other person's office. Email is NOT the only means of communication we have but we have a bunch of people that like to think it is.