We have a new manager who insists on everything being done her way. And only her way.
Without going into too much detail…..we use a particular piece of software that is used by over 2000 companies in the country. Of course, not every company has the same needs, so the software company develops the software that will meet the needs of all 2000 customers as much as possible.
One of our reports is a weekly checkoff sheet, and the report gives five blank boxes….one for each day of the work week. The thing is….they’re not labelled MTWTF. Some companies use this sheet five times a day, and some companies have a work week other than MTWTF, along with a list of other uses this report could be used for.
Well our new manager was not happy that this did not automatically label the boxes MTWTF for her, and asked if I was able to generate the report with the boxes pre-labelled. I told her that that could not be done because the report is meant to be used in a variety of different ways.
So she asks me to reprogram the software and add the MTWTF labels. I tried to explain to her (a) I am not a programmer, (b) I do not have access to the source code even if I were, and (c) it would be illegal for me to do so anyway. She did not like this answer.
“You’re the computer guy. Isn’t this stuff what they’re paying you for?” she says.
“No, they pay me to troubleshoot and support the software. Not rewrite it. There’s a difference.”. I said. She of course continues to have absolutely no clue what that difference is.
I was then asked if I had contacted the vendor about this “major” issue, and I explained to her that the reports are specifically made that way because other companies use these checkoff sheets in a variety of different ways; pre-labelling the sheets MTWTF would screw up the companies that have a different work week or that use the sheet for a different purpose, and there’s no way the vendor could possibly program all the possible ways that 2000 different companies use the sheet.
“Well find a way to do it. This is completely unacceptable.”, and she stormed out of the room.
She doesn’t quite get the concept that (a) what she’s asking for is not possible, and (b) she’s not my boss.
I hate my job sometimes.
via: [Reddit\TalesFromTechSupport]
That’s awesome. Sometimes I just lie and say I’ve submitted the issue to the vendor as a feature request but typically these things take a year or two before they make it into the released software.
Give her a pen…
Does this report do some other special stuff though? Why not just make a spreadsheet..
Typical example of a manager unfit to be manager..
Actually, I’d side with the manager on this. Her request isn’t unreasonable. It may seem silly to you but if you won’t be open minded enough to explore it for her, then that would be a problem. I’m a sysadmin and I work with software customization often enough to know that it’s possible. Chances are that out of 2000 other customers, she’s not the first to request this. This could be a very simple .rpt file that has already been modified or could be modified for a price. I know some requests can seem obtuse to you but you may not see all benefits from your perspective. Its best to be open minded and tell her that you’ll check into it. When you’ve confirmed that it’s not possible, then you can tell her confidentially without guessing.
No offense intended but, I’d recommend re-evaluating the attitude. A better one will carry you much further.
aaaaand we have this jackass! stop being a dick. You have no idea what job or program this dude uses.And NO you are not better then rest of us. Now put that system admin up your ass!
My comment encourages the OP to keep an open mind. In the effort that it took to write this article he could have communicated with the developer and possibly had a resolution or a truthful response that it isn’t possible and documentation from the developer to back it up. I don’t need to know anything beyond the above stated facts to know that this is the best course of action.