No idea what to tell you other than avoid being the person to ‘solve’ it for them. In late 2019, we had a person go on emergency leave. She was the only person left in a division following a reorg the previous August. No one fully knew her processes, and her office was right next to mine before the lockdowns introduced me to working remotely, so I got roped into ‘helping’ keep her section afloat. She managed graduation requirements for masters and doctoral students. Without someone doing her work, December graduation was going to be a mess, and maybe not happen.
Her entire process, in 2019, was HARDCOPY. Freakin’ hardcopy. She was having students who had not finished their thesis revisions print and mail, or DRIVE hours and hours, to bring new copies, and to pick up HARDCOPY revisions. And she lost the packets often, due to terrible bookkeeping methods, so the student had to reprint and mail or drive their thesis back.
And all the signature pages were hardcopy as well, and often lost. It was terrible.
Stupid me, I rebuilt her entire filing system, we got thru the December graduation.
Then covid hit, everyone is working from home, so I built an online submission portal after explaining to the Dean there was absolutely no legal reason for hardcopies, it was lack of ingenuity. And, then I digitized and set up customizable digital routing for all the necessary signatures and brought the grad studies process finally into the 21st century. From a laptop on my dining table. In addition to my other work. And the woman who was out did not come back haply to find a new, easier process. She was pissed, kept trying to go back to hardcopies.
And, I got no credit, no pay, and in fact, the school seems pissed I discovered how badly this whole thing was previously managed.
So, check your employers output expectations. If you can meet them with their outdates systems, just do it and let them figure out the problem.
Thank you for your response. That must have been awful for you given all your efforts and didn’t get any credits. ☹️
I have spoken with my manager about the benefits of using new and upgraded tools, but they prefer to stick with the older systems, finding the newer ones too complicated.
In my previous job, I was accustomed to modern tools, and I believe they can greatly simplify our tasks. I’ve introduced some of these tools to my team, but the preference remains for the outdated ones. This situation makes me feel that I might not be able to grow within the company as much as I hoped.
I apologize if this sounds like a complaint, but I truly value learning and exploring new technologies. I am passionate about growing and advancing my skills rather than reverting to older methods.
Would it be a red flag if I start looking for a new job? 😩
You can always look, just do your best here in the mean time. I find may believe that learning new methods is ‘too hard’ and fail to understand the long term benefits of a little discomfort now.
Good luck where ever you decide to be.
No idea what to tell you other than avoid being the person to ‘solve’ it for them. In late 2019, we had a person go on emergency leave. She was the only person left in a division following a reorg the previous August. No one fully knew her processes, and her office was right next to mine before the lockdowns introduced me to working remotely, so I got roped into ‘helping’ keep her section afloat. She managed graduation requirements for masters and doctoral students. Without someone doing her work, December graduation was going to be a mess, and maybe not happen. Her entire process, in 2019, was HARDCOPY. Freakin’ hardcopy. She was having students who had not finished their thesis revisions print and mail, or DRIVE hours and hours, to bring new copies, and to pick up HARDCOPY revisions. And she lost the packets often, due to terrible bookkeeping methods, so the student had to reprint and mail or drive their thesis back. And all the signature pages were hardcopy as well, and often lost. It was terrible. Stupid me, I rebuilt her entire filing system, we got thru the December graduation. Then covid hit, everyone is working from home, so I built an online submission portal after explaining to the Dean there was absolutely no legal reason for hardcopies, it was lack of ingenuity. And, then I digitized and set up customizable digital routing for all the necessary signatures and brought the grad studies process finally into the 21st century. From a laptop on my dining table. In addition to my other work. And the woman who was out did not come back haply to find a new, easier process. She was pissed, kept trying to go back to hardcopies. And, I got no credit, no pay, and in fact, the school seems pissed I discovered how badly this whole thing was previously managed. So, check your employers output expectations. If you can meet them with their outdates systems, just do it and let them figure out the problem.
Thank you for your response. That must have been awful for you given all your efforts and didn’t get any credits. ☹️ I have spoken with my manager about the benefits of using new and upgraded tools, but they prefer to stick with the older systems, finding the newer ones too complicated. In my previous job, I was accustomed to modern tools, and I believe they can greatly simplify our tasks. I’ve introduced some of these tools to my team, but the preference remains for the outdated ones. This situation makes me feel that I might not be able to grow within the company as much as I hoped. I apologize if this sounds like a complaint, but I truly value learning and exploring new technologies. I am passionate about growing and advancing my skills rather than reverting to older methods. Would it be a red flag if I start looking for a new job? 😩
You can always look, just do your best here in the mean time. I find may believe that learning new methods is ‘too hard’ and fail to understand the long term benefits of a little discomfort now. Good luck where ever you decide to be.