holy shit my work is dysfunctional.
so when I started working here like 2.5 years ago the place had a couple of quirks. The main one that I faced every day was the extreme hatred between 2 of my coworkers, which predated me by at least a year, was spawned by a simple misunderstanding and has been perpetuated by general personality clash and stubborn pride on both parts. I get along very well with one of the women involved, and not at all well with the other (see the post "downwind of lunch"), but the feud is by now so ingrained that it has become part of the office culture. These 2 people never EVER speak, and this is an open office with common space and equipment. They have learned to work around each other, and luckily their duties do not overlap at all. Sometimes I wonder at our bland acceptance of this unacceptable situation.
Lately, the quirkiness has accelerated into what I can now classify as full-blown dysfunction. There has been a lot of staff movement over the past year or so. First, the woman I do NOT get along with, who also happens to be my backup for when I'm on vacation (and vice-versa) went away on an extended leave. Another person from the library stepped in to fulfill her duties during her absence, since his job is kind of seasonal and doesn't keep him busy all the time. That was fine, he seemed fairly competent, although there were a few gaps and errors that occurred, which I chalked up to sloppily executed training of inadequate length.
The woman returned to her job and was NOT happy with how it was done in her absence. She proceeded to stop talking to the guy who was filling in for her. Which was fine, because his regular job didn't have much overlap with hers.
Six months later, another woman went on leave, and it was arranged that this same guy (who still didn't have enough to do) would step into HER position during her absence. Unfortunately, his motivation and abilities seem to have severely deteriorated over the past several months, and he spends most of his time reading gaming forums with his headphones on, and his work is shoddy or left undone. People are always cleaning up after him.
Meanwhile, underlying all this is the complete lack of leadership in the library. There is a head librarian who has been "temporarily" promoted at the head office. Speculation abounds that she is in line for a permanent promotion, and will likely leave. Instead of hiring an acting head, the management temporarily promoted another librarian, who has worked here for many years but who did not WANT to be the head, and is not an effective leader. The supervisor in my department was likewise thrust into her position, by virtue of her job classification and seniority, although she lacks assertiveness and communication skills, and her sphere of authority has never been outlined clearly.
In the near future, the one effective supervisor, in a completely different department, will be going on maternity leave. It remains to be seen whether someone from this branch will be slotted in to fulfill her duties during her absence, or whether they'll bring someone in from outside. Obviously, given the history here, the management prefers to fill leave replacements internally. The only person from this branch who could do her job...is me. There are others who have more seniority and at least equal knowledge of the operations of the various departments, one or two who have the capacity to learn new duties quickly, retain the information and build on it. However, with the aforementioned communication problems, there is nobody else who actually possesses those qualities who also is speaking to everyone else in the library.
Sometimes it drives me crazy to come to a workplace every day where so many interpersonal problems exist. Maybe I'm too lazy or too something else to allow it to bug me too much, day to day, but sometimes I want to tear my hair out at the tension and the seemingly insurmountable conflict. Other times I just want to laugh with the ridiculousness of it all. I mean, we are ADULTS! I see my 7-year-old daughter having more mature relationships with her friends and colleagues than some of the people I work with. I find myself dwelling on the time, sometime in the future, when the people who do not "play well with others" just finally decide that they've had enough, and leave. Or I fantasize about the time, sometime in the future, when I decide I have had enough, and leave.
Lately, the quirkiness has accelerated into what I can now classify as full-blown dysfunction. There has been a lot of staff movement over the past year or so. First, the woman I do NOT get along with, who also happens to be my backup for when I'm on vacation (and vice-versa) went away on an extended leave. Another person from the library stepped in to fulfill her duties during her absence, since his job is kind of seasonal and doesn't keep him busy all the time. That was fine, he seemed fairly competent, although there were a few gaps and errors that occurred, which I chalked up to sloppily executed training of inadequate length.
The woman returned to her job and was NOT happy with how it was done in her absence. She proceeded to stop talking to the guy who was filling in for her. Which was fine, because his regular job didn't have much overlap with hers.
Six months later, another woman went on leave, and it was arranged that this same guy (who still didn't have enough to do) would step into HER position during her absence. Unfortunately, his motivation and abilities seem to have severely deteriorated over the past several months, and he spends most of his time reading gaming forums with his headphones on, and his work is shoddy or left undone. People are always cleaning up after him.
Meanwhile, underlying all this is the complete lack of leadership in the library. There is a head librarian who has been "temporarily" promoted at the head office. Speculation abounds that she is in line for a permanent promotion, and will likely leave. Instead of hiring an acting head, the management temporarily promoted another librarian, who has worked here for many years but who did not WANT to be the head, and is not an effective leader. The supervisor in my department was likewise thrust into her position, by virtue of her job classification and seniority, although she lacks assertiveness and communication skills, and her sphere of authority has never been outlined clearly.
In the near future, the one effective supervisor, in a completely different department, will be going on maternity leave. It remains to be seen whether someone from this branch will be slotted in to fulfill her duties during her absence, or whether they'll bring someone in from outside. Obviously, given the history here, the management prefers to fill leave replacements internally. The only person from this branch who could do her job...is me. There are others who have more seniority and at least equal knowledge of the operations of the various departments, one or two who have the capacity to learn new duties quickly, retain the information and build on it. However, with the aforementioned communication problems, there is nobody else who actually possesses those qualities who also is speaking to everyone else in the library.
Sometimes it drives me crazy to come to a workplace every day where so many interpersonal problems exist. Maybe I'm too lazy or too something else to allow it to bug me too much, day to day, but sometimes I want to tear my hair out at the tension and the seemingly insurmountable conflict. Other times I just want to laugh with the ridiculousness of it all. I mean, we are ADULTS! I see my 7-year-old daughter having more mature relationships with her friends and colleagues than some of the people I work with. I find myself dwelling on the time, sometime in the future, when the people who do not "play well with others" just finally decide that they've had enough, and leave. Or I fantasize about the time, sometime in the future, when I decide I have had enough, and leave.
posted by infobabe | 11:15 a.m.
2 Comments:
during school i worked part time in a university dept. full of disgruntled lifers who had worked together for years...the amount of petty feuding, backstabbing, grumbling, personality crisis/clashes, was pretty frightening..the manager was more a babysitter than anything else..argh...
Sometimes I am so happy to not be in the working world (yet) and just involved in clubs where leadership positions are outlined clearly in manuals available for all. Naturally of course shit happens anyway, but when I was president I could haul those two in and get things out in the air. Same thing with the sorority. Even though we're in university we still haven't become quite "adult" enough for such actions to get on our nerves (too much). And of course we have adult advisors as well.
Blah. I'd have gone crazy ages ago. :-D
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