Sigh... What to do....

Been feeling frustrated lately at work, and getting questions like "Does the workstation (as in computer) needs graphics card?" does not do very well, especially if the person has been in the industry and was working in IT department before joining this company...

Frustration comes in 2 areas. One is that you have spend a lot of time working to creating materials, which contain almost your entire knowledge of the system (and since you are supporting more than 1 products, you would refer to it when necessary, which is why it was created in the first place - to ensure no knowledge is lost due to too many products). You place it out there and even encourage those who has to be involved, and has to follow what is in the materials, to download it and go through it. Well, they did download it, they follow it blindly and not even understanding what they are doing, and then when things goes wrong, without even referring back to the materials, start sending emails and throw the issue into your hands, or starting bugging you on the phone... When you look at it, it was already clearly stated and noted in the materials that you need to do certain steps and when you start asking if they refer to it, they say "no"! "Why not!?!?" Silence received, if not an excuse of "might have missed out"...

The other would be some work attitude towards the projects... I mean, if you are task to do something, you won't do it 3/4 way and then, ask someone else, who by the way is working on other aspects of the project and is not technically trained, to check it?!? You would make sure it's working fine, at least you had witness and make sure it's working before passing it onto the other person, right?!?!?! No?!!? Well, I had people who would work half way, did not even bother to check if it is correct, especially when the steps and what to take note is in the emails, and then just ask someone to check if it is working... Maybe he is overwhelmed with work, but then again who isn't?!?!?! And if you are overwhelm, all the more you should prioritized and ensure each job is finished before moving to the next! Work with your boss to ensure a smooth transition from 1 job to the other. I am certain your boss is not expecting you to do one job with left hand and another job with the right! If your boss do expect this... I think it's time to talk to him or leave... There is no way you can survive with this kind of demands...

The other frustration comes that while the company emphasis on customer satisfaction, and wanting to be the first to come to people's mind when they want to get a system, it counteracts with the other end of the company's emphasis - $$$$ and it's not just small margins of profits and growth, but huge ones. It can be come oxymoron as how can you sell something and promise to hit a target date, when internally you know you can't; and yet obtain high customer satisfaction?!?!? Especially if the end users of your system is not your customer?!?!? And to hit that target date, you remove all buffers, telling customer that there will be no customization, which basically means "you follow our work flow, not yours"?!?! Do you think that the end users will agree to that? Well, apparently the end users have not even been given that information as yet. So... I wonder... Do they think the end users would just go along with it? I know for a fact that in some sites, with demanding end users, this will ultimately fail. Do you really want to risk it? But of course, what do I know, I am lowly employee, and to some I am not working to contribute to the "bottom line" because of such questions that I raised...

So, now what?! Well, it becomes a ho-hum job, which you start to dread going into the office, because of such situations, and also getting those unbelievable questions... Oh, yes I did voiced out during my review of last year with my boss recently... I think this is the 1st time he is getting whack with all kinds of frustrations we (me and my colleagues in the same team) are having... Although I have to say, I think mine would be the mildest... Being in the same office, he can heard my loud rants at times - Yes, I do that often especially recently, and I think my office colleagues are used to it, although it can be rather intimidating for those new ones...

However, with the turn of the economy, with US having issues with sub-prime mortgage and credit crunch, and the rising cost of commodities like oil and even basic necessities like rice... Is this a good time to change jobs?

Come to think of it... I seems to be looking to change jobs in such environment... Got retrenched once when economy turns bad, and then at height of SARS period got into another job, and now, it looks like economy is also getting bad and here I am starting to look for job opportunities... Something is not very right... But I cannot put a finger to it...

Sigh...