I'm not a big fan of corporate politics. I realize that they exist, understand that they're not going away, and can play corporate politics as well as anyone. But the fact of the matter remains that I don't like it. Corporate politics impede progress company-wide, provide too much power to certain people that don't deserve it, and undermine the endeavors of competent, loyal employees. Though I realize that corporate politics is a fact of life if you're merely a cog in a company's wheels, I honestly can't think of any real benefit from that type of environment.
Well, corporate politics bit me in the ass today. Before I tell the story though, I've got to give a little background about my job. I'm an IT guy... the type that does a little bit of everything. I do everything from answering questions about how to perform a certain function in Microsoft Word, to configuring laptops when they arrive from our vendor, to making sure that email works properly, to making sure that our network talks to other networks. Like I said, I do a little bit of everything.
As an employee, I think I'm pretty damn competent in my job. Sure, I don't know everything, but considering how many hats I wear, it's nearly impossible to do and know everything. I'm a little bit irreverent (sometimes I'm a flat-out smart-ass), but knowing what I know about corporate politics, I know who I can be myself with, and who I have to play the game with.
Yesterday we had a new V.P. start. Through a comedy of errors, we didn't have his new laptop, cell phone and blackberry waiting for him when he started. Now in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a big deal. New hires always spend the first day or so learning the ropes. So the fact that his laptop wasn't ready didn't cause him any lost productivity.
I'm not going to say who, in case some of my co-workers read this blog entry, but somebody, somewhere in the company got her panties in a bunch that everything wasn't perfect when our new V.P. arrived. Now everyone in our department knew that we dropped the ball by not having things ready when Mr. V.P. arrived on the scene, and we jumped through hoops to make everything happen in less than one day. Our company is just large enough, and our department is just short-handed enough that making this happen in one day is no small feat. Though we deserved to get hassled for not having everything prepared before the new guy's arrival, we should also get kudos for making this all happen in less than eight hours.
Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch certainly didn't help things along with her constant "Is it done yet?" phone calls and emails. But I will give her credit, she was polite every step along the way. I should know, as I was the one she was calling and emailing for the status updates. Now, Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch is one of those people who not only likes corporate politics, she thrives in that environment. You know the type... she's a little overly friendly in your presence, dishes just a little scoop on what's going on with the higher-ups, knows all the gossip on all of the people in the building, takes her position a little too seriously, but because of her political savvy, she's got more power than she deserves. I know it seems like I'm digressing, but I'm going somewhere with this.
The point is, I know how Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch operates. She's personable, so I can't say that I don't like her per se, but I don't trust her, and consequently I don't have any respect for her. I do, however, realize her position in the political game, and give her the respect I need to give her in order to not make my life a living hell at my job. So, when Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch called or emailed me with these status requests, I quickly and thoroughly responded to the best of my ability. In the cases that I didn't know where things were at, I asked the person who did know to contact her and let her know where we were at. It was the best that I could do under the circumstances, and it was the best they could do. At the end of the day, the new V.P. had everything delivered to him, and I gave him a quick tutorial, providing him all of the information he'd need in the short-term, and giving him my business card so that he could contact me over the long-haul with any questions or concerns. He was very cool, and I look forward to getting to know him better.
So I come in to work today, and my supervisor pulled my department in for an impromptu meeting. Apparently, we were giving Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch attitude. Apparently, we "weren't positive enough," we offended her, and Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch contacted the Human Resources department about our collective attitudes. Our supervisor had to call us in to give us a little pep talk about our attitudes, and to make sure that this didn't happen again.
The supervisor is a great guy. I've got a lot of respect for him as a manager and as a person. He understood going into this meeting that the whole thing was bullshit. I was blindsided by the whole situation, but kept in mind the fact that it was Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch that instigated H.R.'s involvement, and took it with a grain of salt. It was a stark reminder that Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch apparently has some deep-seated insecurities, and that I need to continue treating her with kid gloves, but I didn't take anything personally. My co-workers, however, took things a little more personally. I mean they were upset. My supervisor and I reminded the co-workers who were involved, and tried to get them to understand that they can't possibly please Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch. We explained to them that the whole scene was an informal discussion, not a formal H.R. reprimand, and that this situation was nothing but reinforcement that Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch was to be treated like the queen she believes herself to be. I also reiterated, for the record, that while we dropped the ball and didn't get things delivered as expected, we still did the best we could under the circumstances, up to and including treating Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch as respectfully and courteously as we could. I reminded everyone there that sometimes it's possible to do your best and still fail... that it's possible to take a little failure, do the best you can with it, and still have it be a colossal failure in the eyes of other people.
In the end though, it was a matter of Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch flexing her political muscle, playing the system, and spanking our department's collective pee-pees. Let the daggars fly.
Well, corporate politics bit me in the ass today. Before I tell the story though, I've got to give a little background about my job. I'm an IT guy... the type that does a little bit of everything. I do everything from answering questions about how to perform a certain function in Microsoft Word, to configuring laptops when they arrive from our vendor, to making sure that email works properly, to making sure that our network talks to other networks. Like I said, I do a little bit of everything.
As an employee, I think I'm pretty damn competent in my job. Sure, I don't know everything, but considering how many hats I wear, it's nearly impossible to do and know everything. I'm a little bit irreverent (sometimes I'm a flat-out smart-ass), but knowing what I know about corporate politics, I know who I can be myself with, and who I have to play the game with.
Yesterday we had a new V.P. start. Through a comedy of errors, we didn't have his new laptop, cell phone and blackberry waiting for him when he started. Now in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a big deal. New hires always spend the first day or so learning the ropes. So the fact that his laptop wasn't ready didn't cause him any lost productivity.
I'm not going to say who, in case some of my co-workers read this blog entry, but somebody, somewhere in the company got her panties in a bunch that everything wasn't perfect when our new V.P. arrived. Now everyone in our department knew that we dropped the ball by not having things ready when Mr. V.P. arrived on the scene, and we jumped through hoops to make everything happen in less than one day. Our company is just large enough, and our department is just short-handed enough that making this happen in one day is no small feat. Though we deserved to get hassled for not having everything prepared before the new guy's arrival, we should also get kudos for making this all happen in less than eight hours.
Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch certainly didn't help things along with her constant "Is it done yet?" phone calls and emails. But I will give her credit, she was polite every step along the way. I should know, as I was the one she was calling and emailing for the status updates. Now, Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch is one of those people who not only likes corporate politics, she thrives in that environment. You know the type... she's a little overly friendly in your presence, dishes just a little scoop on what's going on with the higher-ups, knows all the gossip on all of the people in the building, takes her position a little too seriously, but because of her political savvy, she's got more power than she deserves. I know it seems like I'm digressing, but I'm going somewhere with this.
The point is, I know how Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch operates. She's personable, so I can't say that I don't like her per se, but I don't trust her, and consequently I don't have any respect for her. I do, however, realize her position in the political game, and give her the respect I need to give her in order to not make my life a living hell at my job. So, when Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch called or emailed me with these status requests, I quickly and thoroughly responded to the best of my ability. In the cases that I didn't know where things were at, I asked the person who did know to contact her and let her know where we were at. It was the best that I could do under the circumstances, and it was the best they could do. At the end of the day, the new V.P. had everything delivered to him, and I gave him a quick tutorial, providing him all of the information he'd need in the short-term, and giving him my business card so that he could contact me over the long-haul with any questions or concerns. He was very cool, and I look forward to getting to know him better.
So I come in to work today, and my supervisor pulled my department in for an impromptu meeting. Apparently, we were giving Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch attitude. Apparently, we "weren't positive enough," we offended her, and Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch contacted the Human Resources department about our collective attitudes. Our supervisor had to call us in to give us a little pep talk about our attitudes, and to make sure that this didn't happen again.
The supervisor is a great guy. I've got a lot of respect for him as a manager and as a person. He understood going into this meeting that the whole thing was bullshit. I was blindsided by the whole situation, but kept in mind the fact that it was Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch that instigated H.R.'s involvement, and took it with a grain of salt. It was a stark reminder that Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch apparently has some deep-seated insecurities, and that I need to continue treating her with kid gloves, but I didn't take anything personally. My co-workers, however, took things a little more personally. I mean they were upset. My supervisor and I reminded the co-workers who were involved, and tried to get them to understand that they can't possibly please Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch. We explained to them that the whole scene was an informal discussion, not a formal H.R. reprimand, and that this situation was nothing but reinforcement that Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch was to be treated like the queen she believes herself to be. I also reiterated, for the record, that while we dropped the ball and didn't get things delivered as expected, we still did the best we could under the circumstances, up to and including treating Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch as respectfully and courteously as we could. I reminded everyone there that sometimes it's possible to do your best and still fail... that it's possible to take a little failure, do the best you can with it, and still have it be a colossal failure in the eyes of other people.
In the end though, it was a matter of Ms. Panties-in-a-bunch flexing her political muscle, playing the system, and spanking our department's collective pee-pees. Let the daggars fly.
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