April 24, 2002
Dear Everyone:
Things are starting to heat up on all fronts at work. There are two Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) that I’m getting ready to dive into with both feet. (OK, that metaphor got a little mixed up.) The thing is, in order to be able to recommend one product over the other to a customer, I need to know exactly how each performs a particular function. So two systems to learn stem to stern. Lest one fret that this may be regarded as a hardship, ripping systems apart to see what makes them tick is one of my favorite pastimes. Scary, huh?
Also, the Move/Add/Change system: Looks like the mailroom people and phone operators have caught wind that there’s a system out there that will tell them what room a person moved from and to over last weekend. This is information that they need to know long before it shows up in The System. (Part of the problem is that The System really consists of dozens of little systems, all making changes, and none of them talking to each other.) Since it is the large “managed moves” that cause the most trouble, we’re working on getting them set up with access and training in our application.
Speaking of training, I’m actually going to be training two sets of people this week in the records management system that’s going to be replaced by the (formerly) “Another Company” system at the end of next month. Seems they can’t wait for the “new” system to get started on something. Although, actually, a couple of these people were trained on the existing system last year, but they never got around to using it; and now their supervisor wants them to learn and get started (again).
These are the kind of people that I refer to as “Barnacle Bill” (or “Barnacle Betty”). “Barnacle Bill” is the guy who clings to the old ways with the tenacity of a barnacle. There’s always some excuse why he can’t use the new system. “We’re so backlogged and I just don’t have time to stop everything and learn something new.” “I need that report right now and I know how to do it the old way, but not the new way.” “I can work faster because I know what I’m doing (in the old system) already.”
What it boils down to is: Barnacle Bill is comfortable with the old way and won’t use the new way until you peel every one of his fingers off the old one. In our last Conversion, I knew we had a particularly feisty Bill in “Hobby” and expected his usual foot-dragging. But something unexpected happened. There was a holiday weekend coming and Bill took a couple of extra vacation days to go with it.
As soon as he was out the door, we simply told his
temporary replacement that the old system was gone and he would have to
use the new one. By the time
Bill returned, the old system was completely out of his reach and he had
to use the new one. Lesson
Learned: Plan for Barnacle
Bill (or Betty) to be on vacation, on a business trip, out sick when you
do your next conversion.
(“Hey, Bill! Free tickets to
And speaking of Conversions, the next one takes place right after our Information Management Conference next month. This replaces the Records Management Conference that we originally scheduled the year before last, but postponed because of (fill-in-the-blank) one excuse or another, the latest being the Merger. In the last two Conferences that we put on, I was always responsible for the technical aspects, setting up computer equipment, giving demonstrations. This time, I’m simply an attendee.
However, our group (latest name: Global Records Consulting) will have a poster board and a “booth” to advertise our services, with giveaway candy, pens and the like. And I may have to attend a dinner (or even “give” a dinner); but, apart from that, I just get to listen to the talks and network with over 100 people who are scheduled to come. It could even be fun.
With all this excitement going on, “Jeannie” and I
still found time to load some software on her “new” (my old) PC and take
in a movie.
My Big Fat
Greek Wedding was the only one listed that “Jeannie” expressed
an interest in and it was her turn to pay, so that’s what we saw.
It’s a bright, pleasant little gem of a film about a young woman,
living in a suburb of
The laughter coming from the right side of the theater led us to the conclusion that there was a large Greek contingent over there. They were clearly enjoying some jokes that may have been more “inside” than we realized. I’m sure “Richard” and “Marge” (who enjoyed their own Greek Orthodox wedding some years ago) would get a kick out of it.
A piece of trivia: Actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson are the producers. The reason: She’s half-Greek and they saw a lot of similarities in their own lives. Not that you have to be Greek to enjoy the film.
You enjoy Easter and you’re not a rabbit, are you?
Love, as always,
Pete
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