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Well, at least your boss gets the look from personnel, and not you...
The way I was *taught* to handle problems like this was to go to the
person in charge and ask "is there a problem?" If this person says "no,"
get a schedule for action. If nothing happens by that schedule, go to
the person and state "there is a problem. I need <x>. If I don't get it
by <y>, I have to do <z> (usually notify your manager)." Keep your
manager in the loop.
If this doesn't do anything, look for the most competent person in
Purchasing's management chain. Identify that person but don't contact.
Then start up the chain. If it's a peer, contact the peer. If it's up
one level, have your manager contact. If it's a manager's manager...
etc. Go up until you reach the competent person. *That person* will
address the problem.
I have sympathy for the Purchasing person, but only some. I don't know
why she didn't do the order. Could be that she didn't do *anyone's*
orders. Could be she was *told* not to do it. We don't know. Still,
there are ways around most problems, and sitting there hoping that they
will magically disappear is *not* one of them!
Joe
Joe Malin
Technical Writer
(408)625-1623
jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com
www.tuvox.com
The views expressed in this document are those of the sender, and do not
necessarily reflect those of TuVox, Inc.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Cathy MacDonald
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 6:27 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RoboHelp Baby
I, too, feel the pain of being ignored and put off by The Great and
Powerful Purchasing Department. As a fairly new employee, I decided to
be more assertive than I had at the 15 or so companies I had worked for
previously as a contract employee. All I had to do was fill out two
purchase requisitions for software and training courses, have the reqs
signed by 3 mucky-mucks, and then submit them to the Purchasing Wizard.
I'd heard that Purchasing was run like some sort of clandestine society
that refused to divulge their demonic practices and timelines, so the
day I submitted the reqs (Nov. 22), I made it very clear that they had
to be to the vendor by December 23, after which the vendor's price would
double (which was 100% true).
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help 2005 now has RoboHelp Converter and HTML Source: Author
content and configure Help in MS Word or any HTML editor. No
proprietary editor! *August release. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
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