Dilemma in the workplace

[dinowuff]

Will the grass be on the greener side?

Sorry, No - not in the I.T. field. However, the more exposure you get to the different work environments (Manufacturing, retail, Medical, etc.) the better off you'll be. Seasoned I.T. Pros are worth their weight in Gold Pressed Latinum. Computer certs are worth almost as much as the paper they are printed on.

[Cider]

So dinowuff are yousaying that Job hopping say every 6 - 8 months is a good idea?

[brokencrow]

You need to convey to your boss, and the sales mgr, that there's limits to what you
can do. You definitely want to ask them what takes priority: IT or sales. Be emphatic
on that point. Unless you can prioritize, time management will suffer.

One of the toughest things about IT is there's few good metrics regarding performance
outside of a ticket system like Remedy. And those pose issues in and of themselves.
Stay positive and open to doing the sales work, but document (time study?) what you
can. Do you have a ticket system there? Documenting what you do will help you articulate
the issues you're having in doing two jobs.

[dinowuff]

So dinowuff are yousaying that Job hopping say every 6 - 8 months is a good idea?

Every few years - other wise your tech skills will get stale, and worse - others will think you've been in the same job so long you no longer have what it takes to support current technology.

Stupid, I know - but then the ones hiring you are the same lusers the law forbids us from killing.

Also, the next job always (at least should) pay more than the last.

Once you get into senior roles - management, you should be at a pay rate that fits your lifestyle and in a job you love.

THen - stay as long as you like.

[JPnyc]

I agree with you however when i mentioned this in the meeting I was told to manage my time better. And this was from my manager so he clearly has no problem with this @ss pushing work onto me.

To:Ouroboros - I could do that but there are so many variables.

Ive found a few Jobs to mail my CV too so I will do that and take your guys advise.

Will the grass be on the greener side?

I would still do it, I would make sure that my primary work was all done and there was nothing left to do involving my primary job description, before I moved onto anything this person gave me, and if they complained about it, I would offer my rebuttal and then quit.

[Spyrus]

Two words: TIME STUDY.

We use them where I work to determine budgeted hours per department. (I work in a manufacturing plant where I am the lead in a particular department). Basically, you would just have to put together a spreadsheet of your tasks in the IT area and the time it takes to complete such tasks (server maintenence, hardware support, support tasks, etc.) Add up the total time for your IT responsibilities, and subtract that time from the hours that you are expected to work each day (8-10 hours, I suppose). Do this few times to establish a variance on the necessary time for your primary responsibilities, and present your findings to your supervisor. Whatever time is left over, is time that you could spend in other departments. (Don't forget to include your break times in the calculations). Hopefully, your boss will see that your "free time" is so sporadic and inconsistent that it would be useless to try to force you to take on sales tasks as well.

Make any sense? Hope it helps or at least gives you something to ponder.

O

I think this is the best option I have read in here yet. A lot of management types (especially onese that are tied to sales) understand Time Studies and work around them. You might not be able to go this entire route by showing your time is sporadic because that will just prove that you need to manage when you do things better. I would focus on creating a daily/weekly task list of what you are working on and the time it takes to complete the tasks. Sort of like a project reporting setup where you would have a list of tasks down the left side and dates across the top then plug in time to each task.

This will show what you spend time on and you can say this is how i am spending my time and I cant effectively complete x task for you. Just state you really want to give the best performance you can and you are using this tracking method to manage your time and dont feel you can give it the attention that you think the sales force would require.

Keep in mind most management loves to see metrics

[nihil]

Hi Cider old chap,

1. Ask for an assistant/gopher................. there must be trivial stuff that can be taken off your hands.

2. Sales/Marketing? whoa big fellah!............ you need training for that

3. Check out the pricing of a Musgrave

[gore]

Ahhh quit you're whining and just get her fired. Put some pr0n in her email, show it to a manager, and.... maybe reading BOFH and giving tech advice isn't the best idea but it sure is funny

[Und3ertak3r]

Hi there

Seeing as though I am working in the IT field I thought I would get your views.

I was employed for "technical support" as my primary role but obviously they put a clause in the contract that management can ask you to do other roles.

So now they started pumping me with "sales" work.

However there is this one lady in the office whom is sales hoever she keeps pumping me with her work.

She does this infront of the boss which he says nothing so I assume he sees nothing wrong with it.

When I speak to my boss and explain that I have alot of technical stuff to do and if I do this sales rubbish I will not give the clients that need help my full attention.

His response was that I must manage time better.

What to do ?

I also feel that if I neglect that clients it isnt right. I dont want to. But this lady keeps pumping me with work.

Confront her? Bomb her pc ?

Your story is typical of many workplaces.. The issue is that your existing roll is not considered as requiring any effort or time.. I would wager that your employer is also not willing front with cash for any training you need to do.. and like an idiot.. you have self-funded trained? If that is the case they do not need your time.. Your friendly co-worker is possibly a typical salesperson, and all that IT people do is punch buttons on the PC.. their view is IT people in reality do nothing, play games and fiddle and fart. The time management crap is again from a person who is not fully understanding the scope of your work. BUT.. there is a point.. #1 Ignore the bitch.. But.. Have a look at what work your doing group it into areas.. prioritise the areas - IT Staff Support, Sales, Client IT Support, Self Training, Staff training, Network Administration. Then prioritise the tasks in each area.. Factor in your breaks.. (this will depend on industrial workplace laws in your area) Once your comfortable with that list .. accept tasks on the basis of the above.. show your manager your flexible..BUT.. the important gets done If he disagrees with your newly prioritised work life, ask for a meeting.. show him your priority list.. If he feels training is unimportant in work time, and he expect you to self train.. Smile.. Thank him for his time.. and leave his office.. VNC into his and the bitches PC's.. hide their desktop icons, move their documents.. create some fake emails between them showing a torrid love affair.. and forward copies to all other staff.. or.. Just find a new job (in my case .. I replaced the employee's bookmarks with Grey gay porn. and set all out email to mirror to all on local domain.. then accepted a job as a manager building a power station.. from $14hr to $130/hr and swear all I want)

[Und3ertak3r]

Hi Cider old chap,

1. Ask for an assistant/gopher................. there must be trivial stuff that can be taken off your hands.

2. Sales/Marketing? whoa big fellah!............ you need training for that

3. Check out the pricing of a Musgrave

in some countries.. you need no training or licences.. even to sell real estate.. In OZ you can walk in off the street and sell computers or cars and know nothing about either.. all the managers see is the sale.. and all is good until a customer complains..