Page 1 of 1 [ 5 posts ] 

hmk66
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 20 Feb 2015
Posts: 408

11 Oct 2019, 12:48 pm

This week I had a talk with my boss and my team manager (her boss). She both told me that I lack of accuracy, and they are afraid of giving more complicated tasks.

I can be accurate, but I remember that I was less with a few tasks. I remember what tasks they were referring to.

The first task is: gathering forms, filled in by students. I must pay attention to the subject, because it every subject is a different tab in the Excel worksheet. Then on each tab the class, the name of the student and the type of the exam must be added in that sorting order, first on class, then on name of the student and then the part of the exame he/she wants to redo. There are several steps, but every step can be full of errors.

The mentor of the student can sign an incomplete form. The name can be partly missing, the class, there can even be no name. A lot of errors. The subject can be wrong, but I can't check that. And I can make mistakes. I can correct them of course but some information (task information) can be missing.

The second task is: enter the e-mail addresses of the relatives (father, mother or guardian) of the student. That is a bit complicated. There is no obvious way I can check everything.

And... there is no time to practice on accuracy and learn information that is needed to iron out mistakes from me or others. One of my previous bosses explicitly disallows me to learn. There were many years in which I could learn a lot, so that I can see errors myself faster, but he decided that won't happen. I had to make booklets, copying, and shouldn't worry about more advanced and interesting stuff.

Without learning and with discovering things from time to time, it will be very hard to know the needed info to do the work properly. Because of this, my boss and another colleague want me to learn more about the organization. Well... I am following a course and will then look for another job...They are both very late. They could ask me to do that several years ago, and then help me. They choose to do nothing and maybe they were expecting some wizzard that plant that info into my brain. Their choice. But after a year, I have enough of them, and I will quit.

About the first task: this is an outdated procedure which is prone to many errors, which could be avoided if it were computerised. But the administrative staff wants to keep the old way.

Now we are supposed to use OneDrive and Microsoft Teams. I wonder whether this will be used effectively. It requires a new way of officemanagement than we are used to (it should be noticed that I passed the exam about officemanagement a few times ago). And are the colleagues and the management ready for this?



blazingstar
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Nov 2017
Age: 70
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,234

11 Oct 2019, 12:55 pm

I find it difficult to do those kinds of repetitive, detailed tasks.

I don't know where you are working, but for my work, I have to use the state computer systems. Three of them.

The initial one, that we still use, is written in DOS. Depending on your age, you might not even know what DOS is. Dinosaur age.

The second one took about five years or more to iron out the bugs, but now, we still have to use that system for the budget issues but...

There is yet a new one, and we have to use that for demographics and medications, but not the budget stuff.

And then there are still forms that must be done on actual paper and scanned in.

It's really quite hilarious. Have to laugh about it, otherwise I would cry and go insane.

That said, I think you have a good plan. Work hard on learning the tasks and then get a new job with your new and enhanced skills.


_________________
The river is the melody
And sky is the refrain
- Gordon Lightfoot


hmk66
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 20 Feb 2015
Posts: 408

11 Oct 2019, 1:31 pm

DOS... I remember that. I remember some old operating systems. There is also CP/M, that I remember. I also learned a bit about OS/2. Even OS/2 2.0 (with Presentation Manager), 2.1, 3.0, 4.0 and 4.5 are systems I have worked with in the past (OS/2 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 though).

I am 53 years old, so I have watched the development of computers and operating systems since I was 12 years old.

I was interested in computers and ICT, but later on my interest moved slowly from computers to administration. Now I am following a course of Executive Secretary (in the Netherlands there are almost no male Executive Secretaries, just 1 %). Administration and computer science are very closely related. An office without a computer is very strange nowadays.



BTDT
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jul 2010
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,086

11 Oct 2019, 2:05 pm

I've fixed errors in a computer database after a couple people took a shot at it and simply gave up. Just too much work for the average person. 8O



hmk66
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 20 Feb 2015
Posts: 408

12 Oct 2019, 12:59 am

Especially prone to errors are telephone numbers, bank account numbers, ZIP codes, complicated user names, e-mail addresses.

But there are ways to reduce chances of errors.

Bank accounts from Dutch banks have ways of error reductions: the format is 2 letters for the country, 2 digits for the check sum, 4 letters for the bank code, 10 digits for the old bank account number. If that was smaller than 10 digits, it is preceded by zeroes.

There is a formula to calculate the right check sum. If that corresponds to the check sum in the given bank account number, you know the whole account number is correct.

ZIP codes can be checked with the street name, house number, district and place names.

I know there are more ways to check. Experience is useful too. If I lack experience I will make more errors. For managers that is a reason too, to block progression. Then I am not in the right place and it's time to look for another job.