Wednesday, December 13, 2006
There is a difference between being helpful and getting in the way
There is a difference between being helpful and getting in the way
Sometimes, I really dun understand why my boss likes us to be the middlemen when it doesn't help the situation and adds to our workload and frustration. I m really quite pissed off with thie fund transfer thing related to the projects approved by the IP. Firstly, I m not from Finance and I know nothing about their system, rules and regulations and their everchanging arrangements internally. I really feel it would be more effective for the finance side of the teams who need the money to liase with the Finance dept directly instead of us being the middlemen. Cuz it seems that both finance sides want to push their responsibility to each other and to me, a 3rd party who knows nothing about their stupid rules and regulations and yet have to act as a silly middlemen just because my irrational boss deems it good service!
And honestly, I thought they would have solved this longstanding issue during the period when I was away on no pay leave but apparently, everything is status quo. I thought that my boss said that they were gng to arrange a meeting with both finance sides just before I went on my no pay leave but it seems that nothing has been done.
Really wonder what's my boss's responsibility sometimes? It's really easy to just say to your staff "Just be the middlemen, we should provide good service." But look at the stupid problems, confusion and irritation it causes. Sometimes, I feel that we need to be more practical than service oriented. And anyway, it's not as if we would appear to be less service oriented if we cease to be the middlemen. I dun even think it makes a difference to the team so long as they get their money. And instead, with us as the middlemen, the 2 finance sides find it so convenient to just push the responsibility to me, when in the first place, it has nothing to do with me! I just feel so irritated. And my boss is so damn irrational. Even after telling him how I feel about the stupidity of the current arrangement, he sticks to his rigid way of thinking and doing things.
And sometimes, I also wonder why I got involved in all this shit in the first place. Cuz I dun even feel it falls under my area of work. As my boss pointed out to my partner before, this is an area that should be under her purview but I m doing it for her. And the thing that pisses me off now as I think about it, is that even when she handed it over to me, it wasn't done very properly or thoroughly cuz she herself was quite blur about it. So I could sense her relief as she handed it over to me. How then am I expected to continue from there, since in an organisation like this, I dun make the rules but have to abide by them?
This just reminds me of a recent incident..we had just gotten $300 from a project, which was completed some time back. And actually, I was not even involved in the project, but because I took over the product that came out of the project from the person handling it previously, I became responsible for spending this $300 among 7 members. Of course, this is nothing difficult or so I deemed, but this thing had dragged on from before I went on no pay leave till now. And I actually handed over the money to my boss before I left for no pay leave, since the conclusion as to what to do with the money was not drawn then, even after numerous discussions with him and the people involved. He then stupidly handed over the money to my partner to ask her to think about what to do with it. And well, she sat on it for 6 mths and passed it back to me when I came back from my no pay leave. These people!!! I really wonder why they can't just get it over and done with. Is it so difficult to know what to do with $300?
Actually, I think the biggest problem lied with my boss. Cuz I remembered the reason why the money was not spent was cuz he didnt agree with my proposals, which were actually pretty simple, to divide up the money or to buy vouchers and share among the 7 members. To me, that was the simplest and most hassle-free option. But obviously, my boss saw otherwise. He felt that the money should promote teamwork and hence, he suggested a meal together coupled with a gift. But apparently, no one was interested. And now that I m back after 6 mths, he still stuck to his stupid way of thinking and insisted that we spent the money on a meal. So to "appease" him, I sent yet another email to everyone, asking them out for lunch and I even chose a place and set a date. But I only got 1 reply from one of the members, who felt that a better option was to just split up the money. And sure, I did feedback to my boss, but as I said, he was fixeted to his stupid way of thinking and simply refused to change his mind. He insisted on the meal, so dun blame me if no one turns up?
I just think it's so stupid to argue over something so trivial like this. But my boss is simply being very rigid and irrational, once again. I asked him why then, during the recent teambuilding activity we had, the prize was vouchers to be divided among staff? And he was heading that particular committee somemore. So what's so different from the case of the $300? Why can't we just buy vouchers and split them up? It's really the most convenient and effective way I could think of to spend the $300. But he again insisted it was different and babbled some rubbish, which I couldn't fully comprehend. But well, the conclusion is, we still have not found a good way to spend the $300, thanks to his rigidity and fixeted school of thoughts.
And honestly, I thought they would have solved this longstanding issue during the period when I was away on no pay leave but apparently, everything is status quo. I thought that my boss said that they were gng to arrange a meeting with both finance sides just before I went on my no pay leave but it seems that nothing has been done.
Really wonder what's my boss's responsibility sometimes? It's really easy to just say to your staff "Just be the middlemen, we should provide good service." But look at the stupid problems, confusion and irritation it causes. Sometimes, I feel that we need to be more practical than service oriented. And anyway, it's not as if we would appear to be less service oriented if we cease to be the middlemen. I dun even think it makes a difference to the team so long as they get their money. And instead, with us as the middlemen, the 2 finance sides find it so convenient to just push the responsibility to me, when in the first place, it has nothing to do with me! I just feel so irritated. And my boss is so damn irrational. Even after telling him how I feel about the stupidity of the current arrangement, he sticks to his rigid way of thinking and doing things.
And sometimes, I also wonder why I got involved in all this shit in the first place. Cuz I dun even feel it falls under my area of work. As my boss pointed out to my partner before, this is an area that should be under her purview but I m doing it for her. And the thing that pisses me off now as I think about it, is that even when she handed it over to me, it wasn't done very properly or thoroughly cuz she herself was quite blur about it. So I could sense her relief as she handed it over to me. How then am I expected to continue from there, since in an organisation like this, I dun make the rules but have to abide by them?
This just reminds me of a recent incident..we had just gotten $300 from a project, which was completed some time back. And actually, I was not even involved in the project, but because I took over the product that came out of the project from the person handling it previously, I became responsible for spending this $300 among 7 members. Of course, this is nothing difficult or so I deemed, but this thing had dragged on from before I went on no pay leave till now. And I actually handed over the money to my boss before I left for no pay leave, since the conclusion as to what to do with the money was not drawn then, even after numerous discussions with him and the people involved. He then stupidly handed over the money to my partner to ask her to think about what to do with it. And well, she sat on it for 6 mths and passed it back to me when I came back from my no pay leave. These people!!! I really wonder why they can't just get it over and done with. Is it so difficult to know what to do with $300?
Actually, I think the biggest problem lied with my boss. Cuz I remembered the reason why the money was not spent was cuz he didnt agree with my proposals, which were actually pretty simple, to divide up the money or to buy vouchers and share among the 7 members. To me, that was the simplest and most hassle-free option. But obviously, my boss saw otherwise. He felt that the money should promote teamwork and hence, he suggested a meal together coupled with a gift. But apparently, no one was interested. And now that I m back after 6 mths, he still stuck to his stupid way of thinking and insisted that we spent the money on a meal. So to "appease" him, I sent yet another email to everyone, asking them out for lunch and I even chose a place and set a date. But I only got 1 reply from one of the members, who felt that a better option was to just split up the money. And sure, I did feedback to my boss, but as I said, he was fixeted to his stupid way of thinking and simply refused to change his mind. He insisted on the meal, so dun blame me if no one turns up?
I just think it's so stupid to argue over something so trivial like this. But my boss is simply being very rigid and irrational, once again. I asked him why then, during the recent teambuilding activity we had, the prize was vouchers to be divided among staff? And he was heading that particular committee somemore. So what's so different from the case of the $300? Why can't we just buy vouchers and split them up? It's really the most convenient and effective way I could think of to spend the $300. But he again insisted it was different and babbled some rubbish, which I couldn't fully comprehend. But well, the conclusion is, we still have not found a good way to spend the $300, thanks to his rigidity and fixeted school of thoughts.
Kimmie scribbles
5:38 pm |