For two days I was thinking "Maybe that’s a Manhattan thing. Next time I go I’ll have to remember to keep a spare subway token in my watch pocket of my jeans… but wait, I bet they use cards like London by now… oh, wait, token… "
[sigh]
Yes coworker, I heard your comment about “welfare babies,” I was simply at a loss as to how you managed to decide that a racially-charged remark was the appropriate response to my comment about how your glass-encased tulips seem to be sprouting new bulbs.
(Nice mold colony you’re growing in that tulip vase, by the way.)
State courts hand down a new directive regarding certain cases and legal proceedings.
Fine. It was due to be implemented last December, but since the state office had to write procedure, I guess actually doing it only a few months late is just dandy.
Have mandatory training at the county level. We’re told we’re only ancillary to this new procedure, as only two teams in our area handle court processing.
Raises hand
Reminds management that I initiate 30-40 legal proceedings per month. There’s another worker in another division that does, too.
I received a row of blank stares from management. “We forgot about you”
Thanks.
Mad scramble from management to try and figure out what needs to be done with my cases that are currently in various stages of the process.
It was decided if the matter was with the court team, they would handle it. If the matter was with the county attorney’s office, I would handle it.
I went through all open cases and emailed the court team supervisor - hey, these cases need action by your team.
She responded that she wanted to learn how to do it, so she would personally handle them.
Guess who did nothing?
So I’ve spent today handling them. No major whoop, but still. These are very time sensitive things. Should’ve been done a week ago.
I did the required actions on the cases with the county attorney’s office. However, I am waiting for responses from the parties to the cases. It appears none of the legal secretaries were fully explained the process. I’ve been fielding their emails today: No, do not send me an affidavit, I have to wait. No, I do not have this court form completed, I have to wait. It wasn’t sent earlier as this is a NEW thing, and why are you in such a rush now, when the rest of the paperwork has been sitting in your office since 02/10/20???
My plan for today WAS to make a buttload of client calls. I received a client call report that, WHILE NOT MANDATORY, must be done and will be spot checked. If not completed, it will reflect on our reviews. This was on top of checking in the 15 new cases received today (three of which are completely screwed up and have required extensive emails to management and attorneys) and providing coverage to a teammate who is out with the flu. But was in Tuesday, in my cube, breathing on me.
What is with people that can’t handle more than one question/issue per email?
What is with people that send a whole bunch of questions in one email? – 'cause that’s the answer you’d get from some people. It’s like the annoying guy who peppers you with questions but never stops talking long enough for you to answer any of them.
My experience has been that emails with multiple questions don’t work well.
- The recipient sees this overwhelming pagefull of questions, feels they’re too busy to answer these now, and puts it aside to deal with later (and later never comes).
- Or the recipient can answer some, but has to look up answers to one – so they delay sending the response until they can answer that last question (and then maybe forget it for a while).
- Or the recipient answers some questions, and sends that response. But then your email goes into the ‘Replied To’ bucket, and that last question tends to get forgotten.
Either way, you don’t get a full response to your email.
I’ve found it’s much more effective to send an email like this:*
I have several questions about how we can best implement your XYZ proposal. I’ll send you emails with details on each question.* Then send several emails, with only one issue in each one. Change the subject line slightly to reflect the issue in each one.
That works much better. Some questions they can answer immediately, so they respond quickly on those. The others stay in their ‘unanswered emails’ bucket, not forgotten, and will get dealt with eventually. Meanwhile you can proceed with the answers that you have.
Heh, that’s a pretty standard email format with our customers for some reason. I think they’re trying to ensure they have someone’s attention. In my department, we’ll type a reply that says “[company name] responses are below in red,” then place our responses next to each question in the body of the original email.
Brilliant.
Now I wish I could do that with my co-worker/friend who can’t answer more than one question per day…
Me: Did you still want to get together? You said today or Friday - which is better? Lunch, or after work? Lombardino’s or your choice.
Friend: Lombardino’s is SO authentic! :D:D:D
Me: And…
…?
Most of the people I work with prefer that I put all my questions in one email instead of bombarding them, because they generally get a couple hundred emails a day.
Most of the time I remember, but some of the time I think I’ve only got one or two, send them, and then discover that no, on thinking about those topics, I really DO have more …
By now, they’ve learned that even if I do send them just one with a dozen or so questions, I will be back with more. I always have more. 
This isn’t necessarily a rant, it’s actually some good news, but a large insurance company has been bugging me to open an agency with them, so I decided to initiate the process so I can see the agreements.
Part of what I have to do is basic job interview type stuff - fill out an application, put your resume together, list some references.
Which I did. And when I sent it off, I realized that on my references are:
My ex-wife
My current lady friend
:smack:
Thanks to being invited to participate in beta-testing a program, today I learned that the Windows OS build on my work computer (1803) is almost two years’ old. Microsoft will EOL it in mid-November for Enterprise versions.
I know that IT departments tend to be conservative when it comes to upgrading OS, but this is ridiculous. Who in hell waits two years to update an OS build? Who waits until it’s close to EOL for support? Oy, vey.
This isn’t a rant about my workplace, it’s just what I hear second-hand from my husband about his work situation.
About three months ago, he and another co-worker started working from home three days out of the week. Their supervisor, who had been dragging his feet on letting them do so, suddenly said okay and it has worked out very well for everyone concerned.
Then the supervisor was promoted. We think he said okay because he was being kicked upstairs and the work-from-home issue would now be someone else’s problem.
A month and a half ago, their new supervisor started. He’s very gung-ho and looks to be a micro-manager and a bit of a butthead. Before he could say anything about the work-from-home issue, the company’s CEO sent around an email saying that the company encourages anyone who can do so to work from home, due to COVID-19. New supervisor counters with an email saying that anyone who wants to do so has to clear it with him, and implied that few people would be given permission.
Then a couple of days later, new supervisor sends around a contrite email, conceding that he was directly countermanding the CEO.
Now my husband is frantic with work, because up until about two weeks ago, his company was mounting a “densification” campaign, cramming more workers into less space with that bench/hotel style seating. Because of worries about COVID-19, my husband’s new task is to start “de-densifying” everything. With his company having offices all over the world, that’s a lot of de-densifying and dickering with managers from many countries and cultures.
A bit of a happy with a bit of a blech:
This past Friday afternoon, my employer sent an email out regarding COVID-19. Basically stated no conferences, no outstate travel, etc for the time being.
I responded, asking how are they going to handle employees with compromised immune systems? I noted I am required to be in office 50% of the time and sporadically see walk in clients.
Received a response Monday morning, stating they’re working on a plan, but in the interim I should contact my supervisor and my HR contact. I ended up calling in Monday (damn insomnia and time change really messed me up), so yesterday morning I left a voicemail for the HR contact. My direct supervisor was out of office.
Well, hell, I’ve never seen such a large governmental body move so damn fast!
At 630 this morning, I received a message from my grand boss / division director, asking me to call her. I told her I had contacted my transplant coordinator, they sent me a letter suggesting six weeks working from home, no client contact. Immediately approved.
My direct supervisor comes in, I hand her the letter from my TC, told her I already spoke with grand boss and accommodation was approved: “I heard. I’m meeting with grand boss this afternoon”. Okay, what should I do about my coverage shifts? “I said, I’m meeting with grand boss this afternoon!”.
Okay, then. Damn.
Unfortunately, I cannot completely work from home, as I am not “special” enough to have a digital signature and sign a fair amount of affidavits and hand deliver documents. When I was on dialysis, I would kind of stockpile in office work and slam it all out quickly during my limited in office time. Worked out very well, and am looking forward to doing it again.
(FWIW, there is NO reason 90% of us need to work in office. If the courts close, none of us need to be in office. We’ll see how grand boss decides to flex her power should that occur)
You don’t always think of how critical the ‘little people’ in offices can be. My sister works as a legal secretary in a small law office (about a half dozen lawyers.) She and just one other secretary are assigned to the two lawyers who handle virtually all of the property purchases/sales. No one else there knows how to use the specialized programs involved in registering sales and whatever else is required. Because of the details of workflow, only a minor fraction of her duties can be done remotely.
The other woman’s husband went to the Biogen convention. As of Monday, that entire family is on voluntary quarantine.
Meaning, yes, my sister now has to handle 100% of the real estate paperwork for the whole firm, and has two lawyers practically fist fighting over whose cases should get priority. (I told her to she should hint about baksheesh.)
On top of that, with the recent cuts in interest people are raring to lock in better deals, and new cases are pouring in at a faster rate than she’s seen in at least five years.
It’s only been two days, she’s worked several extra hours both days, and she is already so behind they are having to cancel previously scheduled closings.
Yeah, they could bring in more help, but guess who’d have to be the one training the newbies? Leaving her stuck in the ‘faster to just do it myself than teach someone to do and then have to double check every bit anyway’ paradox.
She’s contemplating faking coughing fits and hiding out at home.
Most everyone in my department works from home now. As of now there are five of us still in the office for various reasons ranging from “nowhere we can work at home” to “internet is not fast enough for the job requirements.” No clue what will happen if the Powers That Be decide we all need to wfh.
And I work in the medical field. Nonclinical and with no patient contact, but there’s always a Yearly Crud that makes the rounds in the fall.
On the plus side, the cleaning crew makes sure the soap and paper towels are always stocked in the restrooms now.
Oh, yeah, and with several thousand people at Mr. brown’s company (it’s a big company) suddenly working from home, the bandwidth (or whatever you call it) isn’t up to the task. He’s getting frozen out a lot.
We needed more speed (really noticed it when I retired). Called up our ISP, they got creative (“We’re going to route your signal through a different substation…”) and bingo! Faster internet.
Now, with your husband being home more, YOU might need more bandwidth, too. Get out of the house, and get him out of the house whenever possible…
My wife turned to me after supper last night and asked “Isn’t there a basketball game you could go watch at a bar somewhere?”
WRT the bolded paragraph, can’t they courier a stack of the documents over to you in the morning, and have you courier them them back in the afternoon? In fact, it seems like something Uber is set up to do quite effectively.
ETA:Of course, document control might be an important factor in this kind of workaround.
Back in the 80’s we handled “document control” by using a bonded courier service, and eventually the local cab company was approved for transporting legal docs back and forth.
If need be, an employee would run them by. Sometimes on their way home, then swing by and pick them back up the next morning on the way to work. But often in the middle of the day… it was a nice break.
Or they just let you sign stuff electronically. Geez, America. These are 20th century problems. Haven’t we figured this stuff out yet?
Spoke with my supervisor late yesterday. They really do not want me in office for the next six weeks. At all.
I drafted a letter this morning outlining all the changes that would need to be made in order to be completely offsite. It would require cooperation from a specific attorney who on a good day has Wicked Witch tendencies. It would require the team that drafts all our documents and the team that drafts the documents in the attorney’s office to make changes to a number of documents. There is one document that cannot be PCL-PDF’d that I am required to add. Another form needs to be printed on a specific color paper. A few of the legal secretaries I work with are, sorry to say, dinosaurs. Unless the two that are tech savvy and willing to try new things are willing to accept the burden, I don’t know. We’ll see what they’re willing and able to do on such a short notice.
I have been of the opinion for a long time that the process needed to be streamlined. A paternity or establishment worker can do their entire processes electronically. What I do was something pushed very hard by a now particularly famous Senator, but the process never moved with the times. What I do now is almost identical to when I did them twenty years ago.
And overnight I seem to have become The Resource for my coworkers. I have been doing nothing but messaging with coworkers who are in my same health-related boat.
And as far as working from home, I love it. I do have business internet here to allow for speed. Every once in a while VOIP slows down, so calls can be difficult.
I’m wondering how will the current mess affect WFH and face-time-itis. Maybe some people will realize it is in fact possible to WFH? I’m probably being too hopeful, yeh?