Moreover, there may be times when you have to step up and be accountable even if the problems aren’t of your own making. Most often this happens when taking over a system from someone else who didn’t design, implement, or maintain it well. When this happens, there’s a formula for establishing a timeframe to make things right before those hand-me-down problems start making you look bad too. The timeframe is usually about 50% more time than it took for the other guy to mishandle things in the first place.
Obviously, this formula isn’t scientifically proven; it’s just how things always seem to work out. If it was a bad job done by another tech over a two hour period, you have your own two hours plus one extra hour of leeway to make it right again before people start to see you as part of the problem, too. After that, anything that goes wrong is on you and not the other tech. Whining won’t change this formula so don’t bother trying. Just be accountable and work hard to make things right until the job is done. That’s more than the other tech did before you took over so you’ll still come out ahead even if you don’t feel happy about it. This formula scales out to days, weeks, and even months for more complicated systems, but the math always remains the same.
Multiple system networks change this math somewhat by making it more calendar-based. There’s no paradigm for measuring how long it takes to fix many broken systems at the same time. However, if you’re taking over an entire network with big problems then the common rule of thumb is you have a total of nine months maximum to make everything right. Whether it’s human nature responding to the seasons of the typical fiscal year or the time window for practicable performance, that amount of allowed time remains constraint in virtually every situation. After that, your coworkers will begin to suspect that the problems are coming from you and not your predecessor. His/her legacy will be your legacy at that point; therefore, if the problems are not entirely fixed with the accepted timeframe, you should at least have a clearly defined plan that demonstrates how and when things will be made right. You can use the plan to show progress to management and coworkers when they question how the repairs are going. You only have so much time to make things right, so if you’re in a bad situation like this, don’t waste time whining about it. Instead, it’s best to just get to work and stay focused on the task until the appropriate results are finally achieved. Some ways to do this are:
Review and document everything in your own words and don’t rely on your predecessor’s documentation. It was likely written using the same poor performance level that created the marginal system(s) in the first place. Redoing the old documentation not only helps to clarify how the system(s) should properly work, it also provides a better foundation to affect change. Doing this step creates a basis for further understanding of the company’s overall operation. Digging in right away to work on understanding all aspects of the network from the start will allow you to modify items to your own liking much sooner than if you’d just sat and pouted.
Reverse engineer anything you don’t understand. Don’t allow any left-over mysteries to linger around like ghosts in the machine. Just because you’re able get something working the way the end-users are used to, doesn’t mean you can fix it if it breaks again in the future. While reverse engineering can be tedious, especially when you’re busy acclimating to your new job status, it’s still better to do this as soon as possible. Otherwise, any changes you make to the system(s) could interact with your predecessor’s legacy problems in ways you missed during the initial planning.
Prepare good arguments to give to management for funding any needed improvements. When it comes to good arguments, the only one that matters is the one that involves saving money. If you can’t cost justify the expense, then don’t even bother asking for it. The old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” will be applied every time by stingy management. If you know that the system is seriously dysfunctional and must be fixed immediately, still don’t whine. In fact, don’t even let a high note of frustration enter into your voice. Just go back to the drawing board and come up with a better…meaning more money oriented…argument to present to management. The importance of good communication skills will be mentioned frequently in this book, but suffice it to say, it’s not your boss’s fault if you weren’t able to convince him the expense is worthwhile.
You must remember that a system’s efficiency is one of the hardest things for companies to quantify. While they can easily add up the cost of every pen and box of staples in the office supply room, they cannot easily compute the financial cost of the difficulty involved with employees completing routine tasks with their computers. All those intangibles like morale, fatigue, and overall productivity must be clearly included in your argument when you’re explaining the true value of your request to your boss. You also must be thoughtful with how you present the subject of spending money when making your case to management. You can’t just toss in comments haphazardly when the boss isn’t expecting them. Like it or not, there’s a certain amount of salesmanship involved.
For instance, a good move when opening your argument is to use an old sales trick called Sign Posting. Salesmen have been using this trick for years. It’s where they tell the buyer ahead of time how they’re going to sell them something before they do it. It’s meant to put the buyer at ease so they’re less guarded when the salesman starts the pitch. For example a car dealer might say “I’m gonna sell you this car today and I’ll tell you how I’m gonna do it: by showing you that we not only have the best cars here at So-and-So Motors, we have the best prices too.” Of course you would use more appropriate wording for your work environment. The thing to remember is that if you’re in the boss’s office for a quick visit, passing them in the hallway, or even chatting in the cafeteria, you want to avoid ambushing them with a request out of the blue for something that’ll cost money. Some planning ahead with sign-posting first will go a long way to not being rejected out of hand.
There are other approaches you can try too. Instead of using sign posting like a car salesman, you could also try something more subtle, perhaps some little hints you throw into conversations with management as an aside while you’re discussing something completely different. Do it casually and smoothly enough every now and then and you may actually find them reminding you to pursue the upgrade as if it were their idea from the beginning. Regardless of which approach you use to sharpen your argument, be sure to always include the notion that the improvements being asked for will compensate for the costs.
At this point the whiner may complain, “Look, I’m a computer technician. Why should I have to learn about car salesmanship? It won’t make me better at fixing computers.” To which the reply is, “Get with the program.” It’s part of every IT professional’s job, regardless of how tiresome it may be. In fact, in a world where every system in production today will be obsolete within the next few years, having the ability to sell upgrades to management is one of the most important skills you can have.
Whiners may also feel they aren’t solely to blame for problems that arise. They may argue that it’s the company’s management that’s causing all the issues. Well, even if management doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on or what a good solution should look like, it makes no difference. You’re job as a professional is to get the systems you’ve been assigned to run at 100% operational efficiency by everyone’s standards. If management isn’t supportive enough in your efforts, then it’s up to you to find a way to cut through the confusion, politics, or whatever, and get the job done anyway.
There’s another approach that can also be used to get your way without whining. It can even work in companies that have unreasonable management. It’s based on the fact