Job longevity and constant interruptions
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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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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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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.
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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.
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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
Once where I worked each of the 4 of us were supporting our own bits of the system and it drove us nuts - We documented the lost time trying to get back into complex code and the result was a rotating support position. No calls could get through to the rest of us unless it was personal. The person in support that day was not required to churn out code unless they felt like it (some days the phone just doesn't ring) Like the others I suggest a phone with caller ID and a seperate email account for support. It will be surprising how well they will do if they know they won't get an answer for 48 hrs or more. Let it be known you only accept support calls from 3- 4pm on Fridays and you leave for the country at 5pm
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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've been in my current position for 9 years now - longer than I've expected and for many of the same reasons as you. I also experienced many of the same things as you. Things I did that helped: - set up a Help Desk that is the front line for all user calls. Even if I know the answer, I generally direct phone calls and e-mails to the help desk so people get accustomed to using them - use my call display and do not answer calls from clients who are not involved with my immediate project. I forward a lot of voice mail to the help desk - turned off my e-mail notification and only review my e-mail when I want to rather than when it comes in A good resource for this is Timothy Ferriss' book, "The 4-Hour Workweek." He's got a lot of these kinds of tricks to get people off your case.
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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
Schedule a meeting with yourself from 8-5 m-f duration 1 year, call it development, catagory is busy.
MrPlankton
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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.
I can sympathize! Can't tell you how many times I've seen this in my career. The more (and better) work you do, the more they go to you...to the point of burnout. At the same time, the slackers keep sliding by. I have someone sitting across the hall who does ZERO all day. Oh, she does surf the net, arrive late, leaves early, and takes 90 minute lunches (we're only allowed half that time). But the truth is, they're afraid to give her something for fear she will screw it up, or require other developers' time to help her. She is away from her desk (over talking to her old AS400 friends) more than she's at it. She has ZERO intellectual curiosity about her job - doesn't own a cell phone (but owns 2 Lexus autos so it's not about the $) - doesn't do any tutorials. Doesn't seem to know even the rudimentary things about a desktop so I assume she has no PC at home. She never discusses work-related topics. Basically she's a mid 50's sloth (with some AS400 experience) that collects a check for being here. And she seems oblivious if I'm deep in the middle of an issue. She just comes over and starts babbling. Typical: "I went to the doctor this morning and got a cortisone shot in the butt. In 5 minutes, I could taste it!" GOD! I said that was waaay to much info. :wtf: But who do they hold accountable for work? Not her. They almost treat her like a non-entity. I blame management for this - no guts for confrontation! :mad: And yes, my resume has been updated recently.
What does an agnostic, dyslexic, insomniac do? He lies awake at night wondering if there's a dog.
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I can sympathize! Can't tell you how many times I've seen this in my career. The more (and better) work you do, the more they go to you...to the point of burnout. At the same time, the slackers keep sliding by. I have someone sitting across the hall who does ZERO all day. Oh, she does surf the net, arrive late, leaves early, and takes 90 minute lunches (we're only allowed half that time). But the truth is, they're afraid to give her something for fear she will screw it up, or require other developers' time to help her. She is away from her desk (over talking to her old AS400 friends) more than she's at it. She has ZERO intellectual curiosity about her job - doesn't own a cell phone (but owns 2 Lexus autos so it's not about the $) - doesn't do any tutorials. Doesn't seem to know even the rudimentary things about a desktop so I assume she has no PC at home. She never discusses work-related topics. Basically she's a mid 50's sloth (with some AS400 experience) that collects a check for being here. And she seems oblivious if I'm deep in the middle of an issue. She just comes over and starts babbling. Typical: "I went to the doctor this morning and got a cortisone shot in the butt. In 5 minutes, I could taste it!" GOD! I said that was waaay to much info. :wtf: But who do they hold accountable for work? Not her. They almost treat her like a non-entity. I blame management for this - no guts for confrontation! :mad: And yes, my resume has been updated recently.
What does an agnostic, dyslexic, insomniac do? He lies awake at night wondering if there's a dog.
"I have work to do. This conversation is over." Put head phones back on. Turn back on idiot and resume work on PC.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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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
A strategy at one company that I worked for was to give each employee a small orange cone. When an employee was immersed deep in a project, under a tight deadline, or just having a really bad day, they would display the cone at the entrance to their cube. That won't solve the problem you're having. But, along with some of these other suggestions, it might help. The best solution: Train someone to back you up. Then you can then take turns (weekly) with support. This will reduce your Bus factor too. (If you get hit by a bus, there won't be ANY support.) A good manager should see the value of reducing the bus factor and freeing up your time to produce good work. This has worked well for us at this company. Though we could certainly be better at it. Scott
Scott H.
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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
Yes, I hear you completely. I work for myself so as a result there is noone else to do the support. I basically insist that my customers send all support requests by email (unless something is on fire). That way I can delve into the inbox every couple hours. I mark anything for later attention and reply or deal with anything urgent then and there. Maybe you can get management to agree to these terms. It is in everyone's best interest after all. Even the customer, who now gets a considered response as opposed to a rushed reply. Hope this helps.
The only thing unpredictable about me is just how predictable I'm going to be.
