Job longevity and constant interruptions
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
You need to talk to your management about this - they are the ones who need to put a stop to this. They are doing nobody any favours, and are running the risk of losing valuable domain knowledge. I assume that your company has support contracts and structures in place. These need to be followed, otherwise there is no point in having them.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
One simple thing: refuse to do support (in-house or customer) in the morning. That's when your brain is sharpest, so use that time for your cool projects (big-brain activity). If management doesn't like this, give them another option.
Best wishes, Hans
[CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]
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One simple thing: refuse to do support (in-house or customer) in the morning. That's when your brain is sharpest, so use that time for your cool projects (big-brain activity). If management doesn't like this, give them another option.
Best wishes, Hans
[CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]
Hans Dietrich wrote:
If management doesn't like this, give them another option.
Try to avoid the option: "You're fired."
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
Pete has nailed things pretty well. For a business support group that I've helped establish and direct, the simplest thing done was to establish a generic email box that anyone in the business can send an email to and someone within our group will respond to those email requests. We now have four people in the support group, so each of us now spend only one week a month being responsible for the email. Additionally in consult with the business, we've developed change request, project request and production escalation documents that can be submitted only by supervisors and managers within the business. As bureaucratic as it sounds, having done all of this with the business group we support, it has gone a long way to help us stay organized and focussed on what we need to be doing day to day and in the coming weeks. We also have a defect tracking system that only we use to manage all of it. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra]
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
I had sort of the same problem once. They hired a tech support guy the day after I finished a tech support call by purchasing a plane ticket to Columbus, OH so I could go kick the guys ass. Oh yeah, I ripped a phone out of the wall and threw it out of my office, made a female co-worker cry (twice), and told our lead sales rep she could "kiss my redneck ass" (it was her customer whom I was going to meet in Ohio, and she wanted me to apologize to the guy for insulting him). For the record, I didn't apologize to anyone.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I had sort of the same problem once. They hired a tech support guy the day after I finished a tech support call by purchasing a plane ticket to Columbus, OH so I could go kick the guys ass. Oh yeah, I ripped a phone out of the wall and threw it out of my office, made a female co-worker cry (twice), and told our lead sales rep she could "kiss my redneck ass" (it was her customer whom I was going to meet in Ohio, and she wanted me to apologize to the guy for insulting him). For the record, I didn't apologize to anyone.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001"I didn't apologize to anyone."???? Surely that's the wrong tense.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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One simple thing: refuse to do support (in-house or customer) in the morning. That's when your brain is sharpest, so use that time for your cool projects (big-brain activity). If management doesn't like this, give them another option.
Best wishes, Hans
[CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]
Hans Dietrich wrote:
That's when your brain is sharpest
Not my brain. Mine does not function well at all in the morning. Much better for me at 1:00AM than 9:00AM.
John
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Pete has nailed things pretty well. For a business support group that I've helped establish and direct, the simplest thing done was to establish a generic email box that anyone in the business can send an email to and someone within our group will respond to those email requests. We now have four people in the support group, so each of us now spend only one week a month being responsible for the email. Additionally in consult with the business, we've developed change request, project request and production escalation documents that can be submitted only by supervisors and managers within the business. As bureaucratic as it sounds, having done all of this with the business group we support, it has gone a long way to help us stay organized and focussed on what we need to be doing day to day and in the coming weeks. We also have a defect tracking system that only we use to manage all of it. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra]
For organisations without dedicated support function, that's an excellent idea. The generic email address is a must (and yes it should be called support@....). The staff rotation is a pretty neat way to keep people focussed and give them some time away from the support function.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
we could be twins (except I'm working on 13 years) :sigh:
Steve
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Hans Dietrich wrote:
That's when your brain is sharpest
Not my brain. Mine does not function well at all in the morning. Much better for me at 1:00AM than 9:00AM.
John
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One simple thing: refuse to do support (in-house or customer) in the morning. That's when your brain is sharpest, so use that time for your cool projects (big-brain activity). If management doesn't like this, give them another option.
Best wishes, Hans
[CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]
I am most creative after 5PM...at 9AM I am still trying to wake up from my all-night coding sessions. ;)
Steve
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"I didn't apologize to anyone."???? Surely that's the wrong tense.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Okay... I've NEVER apologized to anyone.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
For organisations without dedicated support function, that's an excellent idea. The generic email address is a must (and yes it should be called support@....). The staff rotation is a pretty neat way to keep people focussed and give them some time away from the support function.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
We also have some after hours support as well and rotate that through the group. It's been about 16 months since the group got going and the best part is that I used to somehow juggle it mostly by myself.
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra]
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
1. Write an expert system. 2. Populate the knowledge base with everything you know about all previous systems. 3. Host it on your Intranet. 4. Stop answering your phone when it's inconvenient for you. :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
David Kentley wrote:
it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour.
The trick is to avoid in depth trains of thought. They are all too easily derailed. Marc
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Hans' point is valid - noone is going to give you control, you have to take it. Sic 'em Wolverine!
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
Wolverines!
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
David Kentley wrote:
5 minute commute
David Kentley wrote:
I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week
David Kentley wrote:
It's frankly starting to drive me insane
Go on David! You're turning into a good manager. :-D
"In the end it's a little boy expressing himself." Yanni
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
My organisation has a similar person (not myself). What happened a few years ago was that they officially moved all the support for the legacy apps on to other developers and made the users go to someone else. Initially this wasted time as the others were unfamiliar but over time it has worked. The business benefit is that it avoids the single point of leaving/getting run over/winning the lottery. The original developer is still here for the few cases that others cannot work out, but are actively discouraged from doing so for common cases. As for proritising support requests, the rota mentioned by others is a good idea, as is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_tracker[RT]. A big advantage of using a recording system like this is that when similar reports come in you can search for the previous solutions, which also makes it easier for the less experienced to fix things.
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
My last job was like that. Are you being too helpful? I found that phrases like this quite useful: "I'm sorry, I did that years ago. I really don't remember" "I think Jimbob worked on that bit. He's gone now" "That's an interesting question. Let me know the answer when you figure that one out" "I'm sorry, I'm working on something else at the moment. Could you call be back on that one next Thursday" Three years ago an organisational reshuffle meant that I was forced to change jobs. Someone else took over my old job, and their world rumbles on just as well as it always did. Apparently, I wasn't as important as I thought that I was.
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So, I've been working at the same place for 11 years now. Way longer than I had originally expected, and I could get paid more elsewhere, but it's comfortable, I'm well respected and I get to work on cool projects. Not to mention the 5 minute commute. The problem is that, because I've now had my hand in so many projects and other software folks have come and gone, I get an absurd amount of support calls... mostly from in house testers and such, but frequently from customers and field service engineers as well (although, by rule, one of our product support folks has to be on the phone with them). Even if it's a two minute interruption, it can derail an in depth train of thought that sets me back an hour. It's frankly starting to drive me insane. Do others have to deal with this? My weekly timesheets now look like Sudoku puzzles... I almost never get more than 10 hours into a single project in a week, even my supposed "highest priority." Is this an inevitability after being at the same place so long?
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
I have a similar problem - and it is something you have to work on - the suggestions already made are pretty much what I have gone through but in combination. Main problem has been it has been easier for people to call me than working things out themselves - sounds like your position is similar - so you have to make it a bit harder for them so they don't just interrupt you with "non urgents". Make sure your phone has Caller ID and can be set to distinguish calls - mine will allow me to set it not to even ring on certain numbers coming in (straight to Answer phone) in set time slots - you might want to leave it accepting calls from an agreed manager though in case they really need you. Then make it clear that you do not respond to emails immediately and will review incoming email maybe once or twice daily (even set the times) so they should not expect an instant response. And work with the management to get them to impress on others that calls should not be a substitute for doing their own part of the job.
