General Discussion - super stressed out at work

Author

super stressed out at work

docmeyer

2002-03-18, 3:17 pm

We are having a telecom nightmare, and my name is mixed in with it. I called XXXXX and asked them to move (2) numbers from YYYYY to XXXXX, XXXXX called me back up, told me this or that, got confused and told them to go ahead and do whatever it took, well,,,,as it turns out XXXX took the (2) numbers plus completely ported out our T1 with YYYYY. Now our phone system is hozed, XXXX and YYYY are pointing fingers, boss is desk slamming mad, I am stressed out to the max, and still things aren't fixed. YYYY needs 45 days to turn T1 back up, can't waith that long...(not our data T1 Thank God!)

Call me stressed out in Virginia

Psydefx

2002-03-18, 11:55 pm

Talk with the cos, document, and do all that you can to get it up quickly. Then stop worrying about it, what's done is done. If anyone has questions, show them your documentation (he(or she) who documents the most, wins).
Never never never let a vendor decide for you again.

jombeewoof

2002-03-19, 8:46 am

I agree but just want to add one thing

Never let work stress you out that much.
If you do they win, so your boss is freakin out so what he makes enough money to have a heart attack at 50 and die miserable and alone you probably don't

all in all let the management freak out and die early we as IT people have to live long enough to get them out of their jams, problems they create for themselves and us, etc....

Pavlov

2002-03-19, 9:26 am

Jombee - I think I'm beginning to see why you still don't have a job in IT....

Stress comes for the ride. Anyone in IT who has not lived through a nightmare of this magnitude yet, will one day! It's pretty easy for us all to sit and say "don't get too stressed", or "Don't let them win", or "Never let them see you sweat". I say BULL! Let them see the sweat pouring off your brow. Let them see you are personally and emotionally involved for the good of the company. Let them see you are busting your butt to get things back up as quickly as possible. And humble yourself enough to say, "My bad. I assumed info from a vendor was accurate." Now that you know better, this probably won't happen to you again.

Documentation is the best defense when dealing with vendors - especially telecom vendors! They don't care if they screw up your entire phone switch. All they are going to ask is if those 2 numbers you wanted moved are moved and are they working? If you answer "Yeah, but", they stopped listening after the "Yeah". Now would be a real good time to document out your network and phone switch so that you have a better understanding of what feeds what.

Telecom can be tricky and if the upper management layer of the company (i.e., those who make the decisions) don't have a working phone then you may be out of a job. Period! That is life to an executive!

If telecom issues are beyond your comfort level, then you need to get some training in that area. Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to explain to your boss that some training would be beneficial for you and the company.

Best of luck to you in getting things back together. Perhaps on Monday you might want to try stopping at the favorite local bakery for some pastry to keep the beasts at bay. Keep the box of Danish on your desk - it's hard to be yelled at when they are eating your pastry

Bobby Digital

2002-03-19, 9:37 am

Don't stress yourself sick or stress yourself to the point that you question your ability. ALWAYS keep good and accurate documentation because down the road, you WILL encounter a major problem. I inherited a poorly designed network in my department and by my keeping good documentation I have kept my @$$ out of the fire with management as well as be able to justify repair and upgrade cost.

Also, you are not the only one with telecom nightmares which are the fault of the provider. I came in one morning with no access and after checking all the equipment and calling our "well known provider" found out that they "accidentally" switched our T1 line/service setting up a new T1 for another company. That was a days downtime.

Just remain calm and keep a level head while straightening things out.

Good Luck
BD
*I relieve stress at home on my Playstation 2 :-)

Nicole

2002-03-19, 11:12 am

quote:
Keep the box of Danish on your desk - it's hard to be yelled at when they are eating your pastry

ROTFLMAO!

I feel for you, Doc! Telephones are the lifeline of business... although people get just as freaked out over loss of email.

Stress and IT are joined at the hip. Eventually you get hit with a disaster of epic proportions and learn a lot about yourself by managing to work through it. I'm up to my ears right now, too, especially since all this work is interfering with my job hunting

Three things:

1) Stress relief is essential. Do yoga, go for a run, paint a picture, play an instrument, head to the shooting range: do whatever works for you to siphon off some of the heat.

2) Leave it at work. When you go home, be at home. I use the drive home to decompress, and by the time I get home I'm thinking about dinner, not work.

3) My personal mantra: "Teflon, teflon, teflon. I am teflon. Nothing sticks to me. I am teflon..." It helps me let go of the yelling and excitement and concentrate of fixing the problem at hand. You can panic later.

docmeyer

2002-03-19, 7:49 pm

Things are somewhat more relaxed at work. My boss' biggest peeve with telco "V" is because I was able to call, say move the numbers and volah, no problem, notice I didn't say anything about signing anything. Telco "W" gladly reminds me that because I did not sign anything Telco "V" could be obligated to move the T1 back to them and get it up, nice except it will take 45 DAYS!!!
We ordered 12 POTS lines from telco "V" that as it turns out needed to be trunk lines instead of POTS. It is taking forever to do it and they will not escalate it...

To compound my stress, got lost going to customer site in D.C., got more lost (1.5 hours +) leaving customers site in D.C, note to self, I hate D.C!

Kasor

2002-03-19, 10:50 pm

Stay cool and focus on the solution.

Forget about the pointing finger part. Do your part of the work first, then tell your boss what is going on.

Be Professional!

docmeyer

2002-03-21, 10:59 am

Just got ripped a new one by Telco "VerXXXX" for calling and asking for a faxed confirmation and for calling in to much. Their supervisor was monitoring the call and jumped in and basically told me that we were the ones who screwed up and if I call any more it can hold up the order.

I need a new job, maybe I should be a florist...

~d

docmeyer

2002-03-22, 4:23 pm

I kicked a hole in the wall, boss thought it was funny, still have a job. Coworker stressed me out royally.

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