Conference 7.286::digital

    I agree. It should be done.
    Let's "empower" the employees.
    

    I started to write a reply to the effect that an electronic suggestion
    box (or is it more like something from Shockwave Rider?) was just
    prozac for the masses.
    
    However, maybe the masses need prozac.  I'm reading and writing in this
    notesfile (which usually I never do) as a result of someone forwarding
    around the reply from Bob to his Dear Bob letter.  And so are a
    number of people I know.  It may be a temporary blip (I know I'll be
    dropping back to real work next week).
    
    I don't think it really matters if there is some formal set of 
    "7 -ates" around it (in fact I don't think it's workable).  A
    HUMANE::DEAR_BOB notesfile, screened by someone on Mr Palmer's staff,
    and occasionally responded to by Mr Palmer or his staff.  A place
    where "Bob" can informally provide information and insights to the
    lower level employees directly, without the benefit/hinderance of
    being filtered by the layers of management, and something more
    informal than a memo cc to the world.
    
    I think it's the prospect that you can actually make your voice heard
    that is the important aspect.  They can ignore it, or act on it.  But
    nobody can say that they didn't hear about it.  A feedback loop in
    what is now pretty much trickle down information.
    

>A HUMANE::DEAR_BOB notesfile, screened by someone on Mr Palmer's staff,
>    and occasionally responded to by Mr Palmer or his staff.

Harry Copperman appears to be trying this concept out in the SBU conference.
As far as I can tell, it's not working.  Just my opinion.

--Scott

    Why is everyone complaining to Bob?    What makes everyone think
    Bob Palmer can fix EVERY little procedure and policy that does not
    work locally?     He cannot and we shouldn't be working the issues
    at that level.   Let the veepees sweat the big stuff.  In my opinion 
    the chain is a strong as the weakest link and every group needs to 
    buckle down and work smarter.
    
    It had been my experience that techies and people who do the job have
    the biggest stock in the business and for the mostpart understand
    what it takes.   These people often have great ideas but run into
    roadblocks when attempting to champion a cause.  In my world the 
    roadblock too many times is middle managment or information systems 
    which dictate business pratices and fail to empower the worker bees 
    to do the best for Digital.    This may or may not be true in your
    world. 
    
    Upper management takes care of alot of the big issues but alot of
    the day-to-day issues need to be work bottom-up as oposed to top-down.
    Bob cannot rip down all of the stovepipes which exist, although worker
    bees which talk to other people in other groups about getting the job
    better will rip down the vertical communication barriers. 

    Why complain to Bob... hmmm...
    
    	- Complaining to a middle management that is part of the
    	  problem is pointless.  They are not by-and-large interested
    	  in the information coming up from below, but only in the
    	  what appears to the troops as the whim-of-the-day comming down
    	  from above.
    
    	- There is a huge feeling of being completely disconnected
    	  from upper management.  On some level, people want to know
    	  what is happening, and why, from the horses mouth.  Do the
    	  problems and concerns reach Bob?  Or do they get filtered out
    	  by 8 levels of management structure?
    
    There is a huge information filter that works in both directions.
    Bad stuff is filtered on the way up, so you end up with a "suprised"
    Bob Palmer.  Information on the way down is doled out in the form of
    prepackaged memo's and scripted interviews, or filtered through the
    agenda's of 8 levels of management.
    
    Can or *should* Bob fix "every little procedure and policy"  of course
    not, I didn't even suggest he *read* everything.  But it's not
    unrealistic for someone on his staff to read everything, and to be
    able to provide him with the ones he should know about, or to get a
    sense of what the troops are feeling.
    
    You can be the greatest General in the world, but if the troops don't
    believe in where they are being led - or worse - don't *know* where
    they are being led - then you have to depend on their faith in the
    General himself.  And it's not pretty when the troops think they are
    losing the war.
    
    ...
    
    As to the "SBU" notesfile, I didn't even know there was one, and I
    believe that I'm someplace way down in the food chain in the
    SBU.  I'm too far down the food chain to have even seen or heard
    Harry Copperman, I woudn't even know what he looks like.  I only know
    what Bob looks like from the newspaper (don't have time for those
    DVN broadcasts).
    
    And I'm not sure what I'd say *specific* to Harry.  Because frankly,
    I don't know who really sets the strategy and agenda for the company -
    or for my organization.
    
    

RE: last few

>    	- There is a huge feeling of being completely disconnected
>    	  from upper management.  
>[some text ommitted]
>    There is a huge information filter that works in both directions.

And that is (IMNSHO) why Harry Copperman setup the KACIE::SBU notesfile:
to cut through the filters, let us ask our questions, take our temperature 
by listening to the tone of the questions/complaints/whatever, and maybe
get some answers back.

I think it is a noble effort by someone who is trying *something* to fix
the problems.  I will politely disagree with the noter a few back who 
said that he didn't feel it was working.  Again IMNSHO it is working.
Not perfectly maybe (there has been no official response to my latest
query), but I and others got substantive answers which helped solve our
problems in previous cases.  I never expected the notesfile to be perfect,
where we enter a complaint and 10 minutes later Harry waves a magic wand
and all of our problems are solved, and then enters a note to tell us so.

There is a place for official communications in both directions, and there
is a place for the electronic water-cooler conversations.  I think Harry
is doing a good job at trying MBWA in the notesfile.  But give the man time
to work: he has a few other things on his mind than reading notesfiles.

-- Ken Moreau

    
    Well, since I now have a pointer to the SBU notefile, I just went and
    read it.  I'll forgive it the startup hiccups.  It shows promise of
    being a useful tool once people figure out the pattern of usage and
    response - that is, I see a lot of good response from Harry and his
    staff - but since it's filtered up and back down, there is a slight
    delay that "noters" need to take into account and get used to.
    
    I'm still not sure exactly what the purpose of the SBU conference is,
    since it appears to have been opened as a channel between the ABU,
    and Harry's direct staff.  I don't remember seeing a message on this
    conference, but of course I only get a bizzilion mail messages a day
    that I need to delete before reading (like the 20 announcements of
    training that can't be taken anyway).
    
    Lacking complete knowledge of the purpose for the SBU conference, it
    *looks* like a fairly good model.  People just need to get used to the
    lag time that takes place when there is a level of indirect reading,
    responding, and posting... which in fact, I would expect at a high
    executive level.
    
    

    There was a Readers Choice message advertising channels for feedback
    about the SBU Integration process. That in itself was notable. That
    mail message announced the KACIE::SBU conference. I've seen it
    mentioned here too.
    
    It had some early hiccups because the folks running it are new to
    Notes. Some were technical (new conference accidentally created). Some
    were procedural (the lack of guidelines for what it's all about and
    what to expect - though maybe that's a good sign, "anything goes"?).
    
    I'm encouraged. It's better than we've had before. 
    
    regards
    john

    
    I guess since I wasn't integrated, that it got deleted along with 99%
    of the rest of the reader choice stuff.
    
    _Fred (who even though he deletes as much as he can, still has 6000
    mail messages in his mail folder that aren't yet filed in the
    appropriate place).
    

    
    That's good news to hear! For the SBU anyways. What about the rest of
    the company? Any notes, if monitored 24X7, can be REAL TIME solutions.
    Next unseen is a great option there. I'm not opposed at all to real
    time solutions.
    
    Question, does the KACIE::SBU offer step 7? Or does it reflect in your
    PR? Just curious. 
    
    Bob