Every day I come in to the office at 08:30. I sit down at a desk that is too small for me.
I cannot sit at the desk correctly because my draws dont fit under the desk.
I have to sit at a funny angle due to the fact that my monitors dont fit on my desk properly. My desk is also taken up, in part, by things that are from other peoples desks, such as monitor mounts, cables and paper, etc.
In this cramped confined desk, I no longer have sufficient space to write in my notebook, let alone any space to test equipment.
In addition to being sat at a cramped desk in a cramped office, which will once again be downsized to accompodate more people in to the team, a cupboard upstairs is being renovated into another office. This is done during the day, during work time, so not only am I cramped into an awkward position, I have to put up with driling from above and the side. I have a headache most days.
There are eleven of us in this office with at least four to come. So, I am not alone in my discomfort and it will soon become a lot more cramped.
There is talk of my current office also being renovated at the same time as upstairs. There has been no mention of where we might go, having already been moved out of the main office space.
In the nine months I have worked for this company, I have engaged and been involved with many projects, from business process to infrastructure configuration.
I am not aware of any of these projects being completed.
I am constantly chasing pertinant parties, including my direct management, senior management and more recently directorship, for updates and to raise concerns.
I sit at my cramped desk most days wondering what I can do next, going over all the projects to see what work can be done, yet frequently I am reduced to chasing people for updates, only to receive words of conjecture and hearsay.
I would like to do some work. I would like to set up a project, plan for the project and do work to implement a finished product. This doesn't seem possible however, what with indecision and micromanagement. I would like to feel like I've achieved something at the end of the day. I would like to have a sensible conversation with someone, without shaking my head in dismay or holding my head in my hands out of sheer mental exhaustion from the lack of any coherent, logical, fundamental practice.
Three months passed after writing the above lines.
Our team have been moved into the upstairs room-formally-known-as-a-cupboard.
There is no air conditioning and so, being summer, it can be extremely hot.
I managed to aquire a spare large fan from the warehouse, but that can no longer be used as it gives of a distinct burning smell. There is a small, portable conditioning unit, which does cool the place down, but is extremely noisy.
This is drowned out every so often with the drilling and banging from the refurbishment of our previous office downstairs, so despite the move, the situation remins the same.
It is at this point I updated my CV and started looking for a new position. I'm a guy in my mid-thirties, with a broad knowledge of the IT industry, with varying experience that gives me the ability to see a bigger picture and guage outcomes with a level of accuracy.
I have rarely had difficulty finding the next challenge or opportunity to learn a new skill.
By now, I have been taken from all projects but one. Due to continued lack of scope, I am unable to work for more than a day or so, before needing conversations with management about what it actually is they require. The head shaking continues.
Until yesterday, when management decided they could no longer cope with the arguments and they no longer wanted me to work for the company.
By both periodical review and management admission, my work output is first rate, so they are unable to simply dismiss me, so they offered me a months additional pay to walk away.
Suffice it to say, I took the money, along with my belongings and walked.
I remain ambivelant about the entire situation and indeed the time I spent at the company.
If management conceed that I am right, why am I wrong? Why is my opinion ignored if it is considered to be the right course of action.
A friend of mine said some time ago that it was never about the technology, its probably got something to do with that....
