1:34 a.m. - 2003-02-05
Choices
Arrived at work 7:20 this morning, birds carolling as we exited the trains - no one was in yet. No problem, went and got coffee. This company has flavoured coffees in individual packages and hot chocolate available for free. The chocolate almond coffee was very nice. Powered up my computer and sat reading company policies that affect me, ie "records management" and "electronic data", to make certain I'm aware of any special requirements. Email revealed a meeting of the team at 10 to discuss "key performance indicators" aka monthly work stats - no problem, RSVP'd.
At 8 one of the other consultants passed by my station and asked if I was aware that B was home dealing with a family issue for the day. No. Did I have enough to keep me busy and did I have any questions. Yes and yes but they'll keep. He was the one delegated to manage the meeting about the stats, so I asked for some background information to get up to speed on their issues. Not a problem, he gave me a spreadsheet he had created. Could he help with labeling? No, but thanks. This first project is for one scientist who is very worried about his material going missing - which is, unfortunately, a common problem in this industry - and he wants it stored offsite. When everything is properly researched and catalogued and has his seal of approval, then the labels can go on just before it's shipped away. Data control so I'll know for certain everything is in place. Too many staff would think that labels on the material - even if it is in storage boxes - means it is for general circulation.
Another of the consultants came by about an hour later. She tried to change every direction I had been given by B. Emailed at 9 am to check with my supervisor(s)if there had been a change in the liaison. At 11, A - my supervisor for the past 20 months - called to see if the supervisor for this project had cleared things up for me. No, and the consultant in question was becoming more aggressive trying to remove material and boxes that hadn't been catalogued, insisting that the records entered be mingled with data in the open area, demanding that I give her all the duplicate copies of data so she could decide how to handle it, trying to change the printer settings on my station, trying to find out my password, and hovering around me nattering constantly about non-work stuff - was I married, my wages, how long would I be there ... I finally put my headphones on because nothing else would make her stop. She finally got the hint and left. Ended up spending part of my noon hour talking to the company's tech support. When I tried to log in my password kept coming up as "invalid".
T called me just after lunch - she had been in meetings all morning - and confirmed that there had been no changes. She wanted a very detailed description of the consultant and her behaviour, but I sit in a very open area - there is no privacy to discuss touchy issues, like office politics, in that situation. I asked about my payroll paperwork again and was told one of the data management company's "other" staff was supposed to look after that. Anyway, I just confirmed with T that I would continue as directed by B; her supervisor is in Australia on holidays and I didn't think she would appreciate a call from me right now.
The "other" staffer, K, emailed me later about my paperwork - how about after the meeting on Thursday morning? What meeting? Usually only permanent staff go to those, but I'm guessing with the sudden departure of a VP that explanations are going to be offered. I asked K to confirm that I was was invited to attend. Yes, didn't you get the message? No. Oh well, I'm glad I'm not in the central office right now.
B had told me that I didn't have to help staff using the library, but with her not there today some one needed to, so I did some data searches to help out. That's not a bad thing since it gives me a break and clarifies how the company thinks about and orders its information. That helps me do my work better. The pesty consultant showed up at the end of the day with an inventory of the boxes in my project - would I like a copy? I don't understand the hierarchy in this work group, but I don't understand why she would choose to withold that data until I was half way through the work, and I'm not clear why she had it to begin with. Hopefully B's family is ok and I'll be able to connect with her tomorrow.
Last task of the work day? Had a meeting with one of the interviewers I saw last week. He wanted to know how long I'd be at this contract and if I wanted to continue pursuing work leads through him. Yes, thanks. I love working with the data in my assignment, but I don't know how well the new liaison from the data management company is going to work out - so far not very well but extenuating circumstances, right? I'm also a little leary about some of the office politics I witnessed in the 10 am stats meeting. I sat back and took notes, since one day isn't enough time to be making recommendations. It gave me the time to observe everyone else in context - a lot of tension, why?
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