Asking for the moon
Jun. 27th, 2008 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msmemory_archiveAnd as long as I'm at it, the stars and planets.
Boss called me yesterday to ask for suggestions of things I thought needed improvement in the company and/or with her or our department.
I told her #1 thing was that I wanted a budget line. She already knows (and had declared off-limits) that I want more money for resources - this wasn't about the dollar amount per se, this was about knowing what the dollar amount is. Do I have $10K/yr for new materials? More? Less? I do realize that everybody's line items are subject to reduction or cancellation at the company owner's whim or in straits, but I want to know what the theoretical planning number is.
I also brought up the problem of the dual purpose of the library space in the Wilder building. It is both a library and a video/conference room, and people holding meetings in there don't want library browsers making noise or overhearing their meetings. Folks hunting for library materials get told to go away til the meetings are over - which can be after close of business, and holds up their work. (Sometimes it's faster to have me pull the Woburn copy, scan it, and email it.) We talked about several space alternatives, including moving the library collection to the lower level and turning the present library space into a small conference room and 2 or three offices or cubicles. Also possibly partitioning off part of the classroom into a conference space. C was interested to hear that I thought the bookcases in the library were inadequate (yes, our own documentation binders cannot stand up on the fixed shelves on the north wall!).
Today, following up on C's request that if I had more to say I should send it to her, I made two more suggestions.
One was the recurrent one, that we need more information and especially more reassurance from upper management. The CEO and owner should resume holding their quarterly all-hands meetings, whose current absence makes some of us worried. Or they should post their remarks about the State of the Business on the intranet on a similar basis, or issue statements at the monthly Management Review for trickle-down through department meetings. We all want to hear that we're going to weather the economic turndown together.
The other item I brought up was a request rather than a corporate policy suggestion. I want the library walls painted. As I pointed out, it hasn't been done since some time before 1989 when I came here. (Frankly, the fact that Ron P just had Brad's office repainted for the third time in my memory is what brought it to the fore.) It would be a whopper of a project, because we'd have to move the bookcases, but it would also be an opportune time for a drastic weeding and overhaul, which is sorely needed and much postponed.
We'll see if ANY of my suggestions bears fruit, or if I come up with any others while C is in her brainstorming mood, but at least I feel like I vented thoroughly.
Boss called me yesterday to ask for suggestions of things I thought needed improvement in the company and/or with her or our department.
I told her #1 thing was that I wanted a budget line. She already knows (and had declared off-limits) that I want more money for resources - this wasn't about the dollar amount per se, this was about knowing what the dollar amount is. Do I have $10K/yr for new materials? More? Less? I do realize that everybody's line items are subject to reduction or cancellation at the company owner's whim or in straits, but I want to know what the theoretical planning number is.
I also brought up the problem of the dual purpose of the library space in the Wilder building. It is both a library and a video/conference room, and people holding meetings in there don't want library browsers making noise or overhearing their meetings. Folks hunting for library materials get told to go away til the meetings are over - which can be after close of business, and holds up their work. (Sometimes it's faster to have me pull the Woburn copy, scan it, and email it.) We talked about several space alternatives, including moving the library collection to the lower level and turning the present library space into a small conference room and 2 or three offices or cubicles. Also possibly partitioning off part of the classroom into a conference space. C was interested to hear that I thought the bookcases in the library were inadequate (yes, our own documentation binders cannot stand up on the fixed shelves on the north wall!).
Today, following up on C's request that if I had more to say I should send it to her, I made two more suggestions.
One was the recurrent one, that we need more information and especially more reassurance from upper management. The CEO and owner should resume holding their quarterly all-hands meetings, whose current absence makes some of us worried. Or they should post their remarks about the State of the Business on the intranet on a similar basis, or issue statements at the monthly Management Review for trickle-down through department meetings. We all want to hear that we're going to weather the economic turndown together.
The other item I brought up was a request rather than a corporate policy suggestion. I want the library walls painted. As I pointed out, it hasn't been done since some time before 1989 when I came here. (Frankly, the fact that Ron P just had Brad's office repainted for the third time in my memory is what brought it to the fore.) It would be a whopper of a project, because we'd have to move the bookcases, but it would also be an opportune time for a drastic weeding and overhaul, which is sorely needed and much postponed.
We'll see if ANY of my suggestions bears fruit, or if I come up with any others while C is in her brainstorming mood, but at least I feel like I vented thoroughly.
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-27 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-27 05:41 pm (UTC)