February 18, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Did your friend happen to be a direct report to the CEO? That would help explain the curious behavior as well.
Otherwise - good discussion all around.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
February 18, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Steve Jones - Editor (2/18/2009)
I completely agree with the appraisal and notification for the CEO. Knowing about emergency or out-of-the-ordinary expenditures is important, and should be done. My point was the timing, the interruption for a relatively minor expense, doesn't make sense. He's doing a different job by responding to this and holding up work.The point about wanting to notify the customer or contact them makes sense, especially as in this case the customer is a Fortune 100 company. However, notification and review, or deciding on other actions is different than trusting your people and allowing them to make the decision. And then holding them accountable later.
My point was that the reasons for the review are not what matters. It is the fact that the action has some meaning to the CEO that matters. You can rest assured that the CEO's Big Picture looks different than your own, and that the position merits the choice.
I am choosing to ignore the fact that there are a few idiots up there that deserve some questioning of motive, because I think they are in the minority.
February 18, 2009 at 3:02 pm
What's this? Organizations wasting time and money and making poor decisions? Inconceivable!
James Stover, McDBA
February 18, 2009 at 3:05 pm
James Stover (2/18/2009)
What's this? Organizations wasting time and money and making poor decisions? Inconceivable!
You must work for a government office. Don't worry, this kind of thing only happens in the private sector. 🙂
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February 18, 2009 at 3:46 pm
GSquared (2/18/2009)
James Stover (2/18/2009)
What's this? Organizations wasting time and money and making poor decisions? Inconceivable!You must work for a government office. Don't worry, this kind of thing only happens in the private sector. 🙂
I wish... 😛
February 18, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I think the private sector and government are sometimes competing to waste money.
My friend isn't a direct report, 4 or 5 levels down.
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February 18, 2009 at 5:32 pm
I think doing what you are hired for or what you are good at might only work at bigger corporates. A mid size company (150 FTEs) like mine where the IT team is only 7 people, you are everything from the tech support specialist to the DBA trying to maintain a HA environment for the data warehouse!!
In fact, I think our HR gets away with it too because there is a clause in our contracts that reads "other duties as and when required". And moreover, in these economic times where everyone is worried about their job security, I don't even mind clearing a paper jam in the printer or trying to get the CEO's BB to synch up with her Outlook!!
That being said, in an ideal world though it would make perfect sense for any staff to do what he/she is best trained and hired for and the various managers/bosses should have some faith in their subordinates and let them take charge of performing and fulfilling their duties.
February 19, 2009 at 12:20 am
What is the probability that a CEO who requires final approval of any travel booked in less than seven days, is not micro-managing in other ways?
My SO is working for a company in a director level position, where the CEO has a strangle hold on forward movement, because she wants final approval of almost everything. That means her approval was required before he:
purchased two chairs for his staff (a room with four people had two chairs);
purchased a whiteboard for training;
was given information about the major revenue streams of his new department;
was allowed to know who the major customers were;
and so on (and on and on and on)
Now eventually she approves the requests, but not without a minimum of two weeks delay. She's so backlogged with work you see...
Regarding grammatical/spelling errors: Steve's likability quotient is high, he writes with enthusiasm about things he believes in or cares about and he's believable. That might be a reason I find myself reading--and enjoying--his editorial every day.
February 19, 2009 at 7:33 am
Leslieo (2/19/2009)
Regarding grammatical/spelling errors: Steve's likability quotient is high, he writes with enthusiasm about things he believes in or cares about and he's believable. That might be a reason I find myself reading--and enjoying--his editorial every day.
You have expressed my sentiments.
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Livin' down on the cube farm. Left, left, then a right.
February 19, 2009 at 7:35 am
Good points there on other issues. I've had CEOs do it both ways, micro manage too much, and trust people. Both are better than someone that does "drive by mgmt" where they sometimes want to approve things and sometimes don't.
In smaller shops you have to pitch in more. As a senior DBA I've moved furniture and built new network cables, but not regularly. Those are one-offs that you do when needed. However on a regular basis, you need to be aware of what is a good use of your time and what isn't. Making coffee is fine, if you're providing a bunch of tech support for people that want to change their wallpaper, you might be hurting mor than you're helping.
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February 19, 2009 at 12:24 pm
It's a balancing act. It's good to be flexible and willing to pitch in even when it's not part of your 'job title'. But we need to also be conscious of why the company hired us - what they are counting on us to do - which is usually at least somewhat related to job title!
When I worked at Oracle there were times when every new computer purchase had to be approved at a very high level. I won't say how high, but it was HIGH. :Whistling: And Oracle is a lot bigger than Steve's friend's company. When things like this happen, part of the reason is that management is trying to send a BIG MESSAGE - i.e. that cost controls are very important to the company right now, and everyone should be thinking of how to reduce or limit expenses. And yes it does make people think twice before requesting a new computer or a business trip. It doesn't mean you can't request them - and get them - as Steve's friend did - but it does have the intended effect of reducing the number of things requested - and therefore reducing costs.
February 20, 2009 at 9:24 am
I once found out such reviews were not for the "approval" per se, but the CEO wanted to know where everyone's going. It was his way of keeping track of where/what part of the country is the demand for services, and what kind. If I recall correctly, they never denied anyone travel, but this was their way. I'm sure there must be better ways to use a CEO's time, but some always follow the money.
February 20, 2009 at 8:38 pm
sjsubscribe (2/20/2009)
I once found out such reviews were not for the "approval" per se, but the CEO wanted to know where everyone's going. It was his way of keeping track of where/what part of the country is the demand for services, and what kind. If I recall correctly, they never denied anyone travel, but this was their way. I'm sure there must be better ways to use a CEO's time, but some always follow the money.
Hmmm. Old skool BI. So much for those fancy dashboards! 🙂
James Stover, McDBA
August 29, 2013 at 6:39 am
I believe that these types of rules are intended to discourage frivolous expenditure but inevitably indicate weak management lower down (perhaps the CEO is a micromanager). Unfortunately, they discourage all expenditure, even that which is obviously desirable, as in this case.
IMO, any policy which involves approval of senior management needs to be seriously thought through, as it gives an impression of how the company is run to competitors, customers, suppliers as well as employees.
Many years ago I worked at a company which instituted similar rules from time to time, possibly because it had grown faster than snr management could cope with. This company is no longer around.
August 29, 2013 at 3:46 pm
"Trust your people to do their jobs, and deal with things later if they don't, but trust them up front. "
Sounds simple, and it should be - but I've seen too many that do not. Instead of starting from a position of TRUST (hello, you hired them) - they take the X-Files approach and 'Trust No-ONE!'
Time is too short, and I'm too old - if there are questions of honesty or integrity, then it's a retention issue.
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