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    ISO-9001

    Consider the following:

    I got an e-mail from a client that went something like this:

    Hey Bryan,

    Did you manage to plan in that work for me as agreed?

    Thanks,
    John
    I e-mailed back:

    Hi John,

    Yes, we've planned it in for you in the second week of September as agreed.

    Thanks,
    Bryan
    Now I've gotten shit from my company on three fronts.

    Firstly, I didn't run my e-mail by my supervisor before sending it, despite the guy just asking about an agreement that had already been made.

    Secondly, I didn't print out a hard copy of the e-mail conversation and place it in the project folder on the second floor.

    Thirdly, I didn't register the e-mail conversation in the digital project database.

    This, apparently, is all down to the ISO-9001 system, the purpose of which, it would seem, is to increase employee turnover. Because I can't take this kind of shit any longer.

    #2
    ISO-9001

    I used to work for a company like that. You have my sympathy.

    (I don't have any advice to give because it's actually one of the major reasons I left that job)

    Comment


      #3
      ISO-9001

      Commiserations: we get that kind of crap at work the whole time.

      ISO-9001 and the like are all about "process" rather than "product": as long as you fill in the right bits of paper, you're following the right process; never mind that your product or service might be absolute shite.

      In our industry it's CMMi which is Capability Maturity Model (integrated) and is exciting as it sounds. There are 5 levels where 1 is Chaos and 5 is Perfection. Our company spent a lot of effort trying to get to Level 3; management congratulated itself when we only got level 2.

      Meanwhile our counterparts in India have been at Level 5 for several years. Apparently 85% of the world's CMMi Level 5 companies are in India. Having been working with them more closely in recent months, I'm more convinced then ever that cash in brown envelopes was involved. If only we'd done the same...

      Comment


        #4
        ISO-9001

        Femme Folle wrote:
        I used to work for a company like that. You have my sympathy.

        (I don't have any advice to give because it's actually one of the major reasons I left that job)
        The scariest thing is that I seem to be the only one at the company who thinks it's a waste of time.

        Comment


          #5
          ISO-9001

          Tell them ISO140001 is miles better and would frown on printing out emails!

          Comment


            #6
            ISO-9001

            Printing out emails really ought to be illegal.

            Comment


              #7
              ISO-9001

              Kinda defeats the point, doesn't it?

              Comment


                #8
                ISO-9001

                It can be handy sometimes, but printing out any old email as a matter of procedure seems absolutely idiotic.

                Comment


                  #9
                  ISO-9001

                  It's all "Lean", nowadays, anyway. That's the emperor's new, new clothes. ISO was discredited some time ago when a small boy pointed out that the programme managers were all walking around naked and he could see their hairy bottoms.

                  Under "Lean", which places the focus on spotting which parts of a process add no value and should be removed, filling in forms, photocopying them and having to walk them to the second floor, would be ripe for a "Rapid Process Review", where you could say to your bosses, "look, this is all bollocks, isn't it! You're paying me £45 an hour to walk forms from one place to another when I have this thing on my desk called a computer?!"

                  You'd beome a "Lean Dragon", or whatever they call themselves, in moments.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    ISO-9001

                    Heh. I have to file printed emails all day long.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      ISO-9001

                      why on earth, Inca?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        ISO-9001

                        Well, it's not just printed emails. But that's a lot of it, along with letters and internal forms--I'm a file assistant in a university contract & grant office. Thankfully some people there let me do things that are more intellectually stimulating, but believe me, after being unemployed for 7 months, I really don't care as long as I'm getting paid.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          ISO-9001

                          Fucking hell.

                          I mean, I'm glad you have a job, and all that, but really, filing paper shouldn't happen.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            ISO-9001

                            TonTon, I can't tell you the number of times having a printed e-mail absolutely and positively saved my backside when something goes wrong and the powers that be are looking to hang you out to dry.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              ISO-9001

                              If it happens that often, I'm not surprised they're trying to get rid...

                              Comment


                                #16
                                ISO-9001

                                ip - I guess you delete emails?

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  ISO-9001

                                  Ah, but they did.
                                  I outlasted them, though.
                                  They paid me a good amount of "fuck off" money to sling my hook.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    ISO-9001

                                    No, more about the mountainous amount of e-mails and the dysfunctional and overbureucratic corporate system that I had to deal with at the time. I didn't print out everything, mind, just the ones I thought could come back and bite be in the ass if I didn't have it ready at hand.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      ISO-9001

                                      I've always found emails easier to find on a computer than in a paper file, meself.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        ISO-9001

                                        I'm old school, it's the opposite for me. I'm getting better, though.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          ISO-9001

                                          Mind you, I really can't be arsed to file anything, ever, so that will have something to do with it.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            ISO-9001

                                            Thing is, I had to pull together various bibs and bobs of critical info for compilation and later referral and cross checking, so it was easier to print them out and staple them together in one stack than having to click thru a dozen or more different e-mails. And if I didn't have it filed and ready at hand I'd be seriously FQD.

                                            Comment

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