It’s those little problems at the beginnng, those minor workarounds or compromises made early on in the project. That’s what causes problems further down the line, exacerbated by a change of personnel and a change in (or lack of) technical direction. No wonder the client gets frustrated with an ever changing goalpost and the internal techies get pissed off at the constant pressure, barraging and over work.
It doesn’t help that the hotel I’m staying in hasn’t been up to standard. The Hilton nearest to my office from where I am currently working has to be one of the least desirable ‘premium’ quality hotels I have ever stayed in. I only the suffer the virtues of its tardiness due to its proximty to the office, else I wouldn’t bother and would rather travel the additional 7 miles to the Holiday Inn.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn aforementioned. They look after you. Ten minutes after you check-in they ring you up and ask if everything is OK and as expected. If you have a problem, they will rectify it or move you. The rooms are lighter, airy and much more amenable as a temporary home away from home. Compared to the drab, depressing and often non-functional decor at the Hilton the Holiday Inn is a breath of fresh air. The choice of firmness of pillows adds to the attraction further.
But back to the problem, we’re now nearing the coalface. People are stressed, over-worked. Mistakes happen, caffiene loading occurs and both performance and motivation suffer greatly. What is it about the monolithic multinational I work for that it cannot get the simple things right at the start?
It talks mightily of Coporate Social Responsbility, yet expects its workmen to stay miles away from home, from families. It’s a given that because you are away from home that you will work all hours god sends you, lest you find yourself in the stricken hell of that hotel room where the water will scald and the food is below par.
Yet if the planning at the begining had been appropriate and realistic. The resources allocated, the rights skills sourced. Oh these are but simple matters yet we get them so wrong time and time again. Then we would not suffer in loudness here amongst colleagues, our wives would not bleat our names and that yin for yang would be achieved in the work/life balancing act (maybe it’s easier to do the plank?).
We suffer now, surely only to suffer later.