Bosses just don't get IT

You should find a program like Ghost, put it on CD with a blank formatted impage FAT32 (22K) instead of waiting for a format of a drive.

Everything today is done by images. Images are dropped down to the PC in 15 minutes and with Active Directory, people get their mail when they log in. It might be time to start thinking about making a bit of a change to the infastructure.

Then, show that you are making decisions by presenting the information in a Powerpoint format to them. They love power points. You can tell them that the utilization will go up and down time will go down using these steps.

Your face is saved and they are impressed.

Jinn,
If I read your post correctly you state that you are an admin. Therefore you also have server responsibilities as well? I know that most of the IT shops I have been associated with never seem to have time to do the proactive and pre-emptive work that is needed to ensure smooth operations. Things like checking error logs on servers on a daily basis, verifying that back ups took place, documenting systems, networks, changes, performing routine maintenence on systems and servers...the list goes on and on. Whose doing this kind of work? Perhaps you have more work than you realize?

Good Luck

Ramon

I have experinced this issue in a previous job with "higher ups". Fortunately for me, my boss was of the intelligent variety. When the VP complained to him that the operations staff "didn't look busy," he replied, "If the system is up and running, then they're doing their job."

That's what you bosse(s) need to know: The fact that there are no problems and that you don't "seem" busy means that you are doing an outstanding job. You may have to document your work with a weekly report if they're truely thick-headed. But if you're like the rest of us, you're certainly pulling your weight and should be able to prove it without resorting to marketing tricks.

Even for a small network of 50 or fewer users, I'm sure I could make a very large list of items that a network administrator could accomplish in slower moments, and I'm sure you could too. The probable reality is that you don't want to do any of those things because they aren't 'fun'. Apply yourself to the less desireable tasks and get them done.

Take your supervisor's hints and find better ways to fill your time. TechRepublic and sites like it are great tools to have, but they should be used as tools, not as an escape from less desireable or mundane tasks that you could be completing.

I took the Help Desk Trouble Ticket form right from TechRepublic to document each and every request for assistance I receive. I also have a Request for Computer Service & Equipment Form for those "non-emergency" service requests (but it seems everything is an emergency!). So if my boss wants to know what i do all day, i have it in black and white! This helped me get a much deserved raise this year.

What is that? Free time? I stay constantly busy, have to work when I am sick, and choose my time off wisely because I am in such high demand around here. It's like, they could put one of those "take a number" wheels up on my door and it would be empty real quick. I feel guilty when I do catch a few online minutes to slow my mind down or take a quick break, (like right now) because there is always something needing to be done. I get scads of magazines and e-mails that go unread because there just isn't time. My workload is very demanding. I am usually the one the boss says works the hardest (and gets paid the least) around here. I consider the multitude of online knowledge when I have time to research or acquire to enhance my understanding and skills to be in the line of duty, and know of no other tech that would argue with me. Bring up the point that there is online research and investigation that further enhances your creditability and value as an IT support person. After all you are an IT person, and the Internet holds a great resource tool in technology information. Start shutting your door, turn your monitor away from the door, use some of the tricks gained from online to dazzle the boss. If you make more than me, ya wanna trade jobs? :)

Yes, it's perception not reality that counts. Some examples. When you move around the office carry a clipboard. Look irritated, people will assume your working on a big problem. If someone asks how it's going sigh and say "you don't want to know". They'll assume you're overwhelmed. Once I was at work early with a coworker, the boss came in, astonished he asked how long we had been in, my friend said "well I'm about ready for lunch". Reality, we had been there 5 min. Perception, we had been there several hours. One other thing, always be the one who sets expectations e.g.If you think something will take 10 minutes say it will take an hour that way when you finish "early" you're an effective worker who really knows the job. Are gimmicks like this childish? Probably, but then again so are most managers.

I worked for 5 years for a large corporate company downtown. I worked some weekends, was in early 7:00 every day (when most staff came in between 8:00 and 9:00 and sometime stayed late till 6:00 or 7:00. Usually worked lunch times between 12:00 and 2:00 as most users were of at these times or were not on their systems early or after hours.

Between 9:00 and 12:00 and 2:00 and 4:00 I would take my breaks, lunch, do errands (work related) and such so I wasn't around much or did not appear to be busy during these times. Some management person decided Outsourcing me would be cheaper as I "wasn't always busy".

They outsourced me for about 8 months and before a full year was up had hired someone full time again!! This person works their 8 hour shift and sometimes still needs help!!

I would have been better off to just work my 8 hour days and kicked staff off their computers instead of making it convenient for them by working before and after work hours and during lunch breaks.

Ever so often you need to produce "something major" to convince your boos that you are worthy of your fat paycheck.

Roll out a new intranet, put the company newsletter on the intranet, retire some old PCs, bring in a new printer, upgrade to a newer version of Office or something, produce a revised draft of your strategic IT plan for your boss to review, change some old cabling or old cards. do minor upgrades during the day, which would require the mail server to be offline for 10 minutes max.

If you're like me you have a 100 item list of things to do, but you have to have time to research each of them (even though you could do most of them with your eyes closed). So your time spent on research sites (and working on your thesis, projects, upgrades to your car, home stereo) factor in as research time before you implement one of your endless list of upgrades.

Just use the fireman anology: You are waiting for fires to start (IT issues) and must be available when they do. What does a fireman do in his spare time? Lots of cleaning! Institute a schedule of spyware scans, compliance checks and system maintenance. You will never run out of work.

IT Staffers have always had this issue, all the way through time! It doesn't matter if you're in Corp or small bus, the issue of balancing face time with intrusiveness and functionality has always been an issue.
Usually, the reason for this is two fold: first, the IT Pro may be a little bit introverted or just have a quiet personality and, second, Execs do not see intricate value in a process that is pure cost (normally more prevalent in small business)? until it affects them.
Suggestion; Treat your computers as patients, and you be the doctor. Perform your rounds in the morning, following up on computers that you have worked on the previous afternoon. Then, perform your rounds in the afternoon after your lunchtime fix-a-thon, ask the user of the computer if they see benefit in what you did, if the problem is fixed, and if they are happy with the service they received, maybe give them a comment card with 3-5 questions about the services, using questions like ?Did your service require you to lose any productivity?? keep the comment cards and report to the execs on a regular basis. Remember, face time is important to them, whether or not it is to you is irrelevant. It will make you look like a part of the team; it makes you look busy and most importantly in will start to enable you to proactively manage your patients? users!

First, I haven't read all the replies, so if someone already suggested this, my apologies.

You said when you have down time you spend it on Tech Republic and other IT sites. You need to present this to mngmnt as research you are doing to help you do your job as efficiently as possible. Tell them you like to take a proactive approach and see how other people have solved problems that could happen in your organization. You want to do this for 2 reasons: 1) you might actually find information that you could use to prevent potential problems from happening to begin with and 2) if a problem happens, you can fix it faster, making the downtime for the company as short as possible.

Unfortunately a lot of people still approach business in general with a reactive approach instead of a proactive approach. In the long run, it is much better to be proactive because the company has better productivity and reliability but unfortunately a reactive approach tends to make average bosses think you are a harder worker. They don't realize that a great deal of work goes into keeping things running smoothly.

Furthermore, since IT is such a mystery to non IT people the bosses may have experience with IT workers who they respect for whatever reason, a relative or good friend who is actually rather lazy and sticks to the reactive approach and to defend themselves tells your boss that that's the only way the job can be done (which you and I know is crap). If that comes into play at all, that can be very hard to overcome. I don't really have any good answers for that one. Perception is everything, regardless of whether it's the truth or a lie.

So you see that glazed look everytime you even start talking to them. Trying to relate the information which they seem to be asking for but then don't seem to understand, common problem!
I assume you have a boss? Is this person unable to deliver the correct message to the management concerning your time and how it is spent? Thats where the problem is! If your line manager is unwilling or unable to intimate the structure of IT within the organisation then you have got two choices.
Number one choice - redirect any criticism of your activity/inactivity to your boss, I take it he/she is aware of your schedule and should defend you from this criticism.
Number Two choice - If you have not got any protection from the criticism, establish a daily work schedule, book in work as it comes in. In other words formalise the structure so the users (inc management) have to respect your schedule. You still have to react to some instances on the fly, but the bulk of it can be planned work.
If it was me I would do a bit of both, protection from your line manager until everyone is aware of your new formalised structure, I hope this helps!

I had a similar problem

I started with a company, as the 'IT' guy 'Fred'.
The company matured to 3 locations in 3 states, with 3 local networks, an intranet and 100 plus users. I ordered and installed it all. Plus did the programming and maintenance.
Eventually, the programming end suffered as hardware support needs grew and my boss (The President) was IT illiterate. He hired a friend, made him a VP Of Information Systems and fired me. The VP then hired 2 full time programmers and 2 high paid consultants. So, it took 5 people, each being paid more than me, to replace me. And they are still using the programs that I wrote.

My problem, I could never convince my boss that I was working at 100 percent.

You need to find someone who understands what you do and who the boss admirers, and have that person explain your value to the company, or you will be in deep trouble.

Good Luck,
Hap in PA

... baffle them with bullshit, as the old saying goes.

Just plop a few extra monitors of various sizes and types around the room, hook them up to a couple old 386s running Windows 3.1, and leave The Matrix Screensaver running on them all day.

Whenever the bosses come by, peer intently into one or two different monitors, point at something on the screen and mumble, then as the bigwigs are about to leave, jump up, pump a fist in the air, and shout, "GOTCHA, YOU VIRUS-SCROUNGING BASTARD! You won't get into 's email while I'm around!"

"They want my work load to be constant throughout the day like the rest of the employees."

This sentence is key to the problem. It seems the management is seeing IT like thier co-workers, a workinghorse who need to earn their paycheck by working, working and working.

As a IT professional, I'm a MIS Manager for a small Federal Program in Puerto Rico, I'm paid for my skills and knowledge, not for what I may produce. I'm in charge of overseeing everyhting is running smooth and without major problems. Management know I'm doing my job because all systems are on production and data is coming in without interruption, workstations are working flawlessly.

Management, in this case scenario, should enter into a proccess of educating themselves as how IT working environment is, vs the day to day job of producing workers knowing the fact their IT department is a one person job.

When I have slack time thats time to go into learning mode. My boss and I take advantage of any slack time to tighten up our skills.
Security tacktics can always keep you busy.
Reading anything we can get our hands on to further our education.This makes Bosses and employees more valuable.To bad your boss dont take advantage of the time to brush up on skills.

Several posts have pointed out the value of logged requests, priority setting and keeping records of work done. The method used should accommodate your own initiatives (such as online research, professional development, network audits, writing and distributing procedures, tips and updates) as well as jobs requested by colleagues.

A database is a useful tool for personal logs, because you can create reports for a variety of purposes and audiences, including, if you need it, a weekly overview for management.

Once the data is there, you will be surprised how often you can use subsets of this data in reports. Having it in a database makes it possible to recombine and analyse it in different ways according to the purpose, including cumulative totals of time spent on different projects, types of work or requests from particular sources.

Some fields that can be useful in logging tasks:

- Job ID (or Task ID, or Action ID)
- Date
- Start time
- Finish time (this and the start time can be used to automate tracking of time spent)
- Task description (what you did)
- Action mode (drop-down list linked to another table, eg Discussion, Meeting, Network troubleshooting, Workstation softare troubleshooting, Workstation hardware troubleshooting, Work process management [such as the personal log or a performance appraisal report], Work break, Leave day, Public holiday [these would show standard start/finish times for a day]
- Requested by (person - use a drop-down list linked to another table and if necessary include a field on the other table for the department the person works with)
- Contact (who else was directly involved with the job)
- Location (drop-down list eg Own office, colleague workstation, server room, offsite)
- Project (that the task belongs to - use a drop-down list linked to a separate table)
- Program (bigger picture, for a series of related projects - use another drop-down list)
- Issue or problem
- Priority level
- Decision, outcome or result
- Parent action (for a series of related jobs within a project or across projects, enter the Job ID of the first job in the series, include this entry in the parent job itself, enables reporting on a thread or series of related jobs)

This also gives you a tool for reviewing priorities and evaluating job requests. You can track the time used for particular types of work and relate these to the job description and company objectives. The research and professional developments should be accorded importance -several replies have given good reasons for this.

When I was interning during my last semster of college at my college, I did the following to fill the voids during the day with much success:
1. Face plant into a Cisco or Microsoft book. 'Nuff said
2. Clean monitor screens, mice,and keyboards. Blow dust out of machines (800 machines). Mind numbing but effective.
3. Hide somewhere. (optional)
4. Clean & organize the boneyard.
5. Clean and organize the shop.
6. Inventory.
7. Walk around with a clipboard writing notes.

Dear Jinn,
I think most of the IT dept?s have common problems but it may vary from place to place. I?m IT manger in a hospital where we have more than 150 users. We have daily problems from both the administration as well a normal user. It may happen that some times you should solve the same problem for the same user. Well as you see there is no difference between a normal user and any other user that may work with our applications for years.
Another problem I have experienced in this hospital is that the administration will never recognize what ever effort we may provide. Since we all member of the IT dept are foreigners they think that we should be busy for all the time (even they may ask you to do their own work what ever this job may be)
Finally I hope I have shown something has a value.
Mubarakahmed73@hotmail.com

Hi Jinn.
The perception in the IT industry is that you always have to look busy because many don't see IT as core Business.Ever heard of the phrase"the more you do the more you have to do".Unfortunately, it is true.I can only suggest that you prioritise your workload and ensure that it gets distributed more evenly. Something else I like doing is being proactive by going to the users and asking them if there is anything I can do for them,bosses included.Many users don't log faults as they think we are overloaded and don't want to "bug" us.I am in IT and trust me "I get you" as I sometimes have the same problems,difference is, I look for work.I make them so dependent on me that they realize that they can not without me.

Keep log of what you do with user problem resolution and negotiate some performance measurement parameters with seniors.

For the spare time you have to invent and work for development on cost saving projects. These would require you to give time for research and development. update management on monthly or quaterly basis.

I too am in the middle of this.

My "big boss" as I call him has a favourite saying ... "Too many green shirts" which implies that his support engineers (me included) who all wear green polo shirts with company logo, are sat at their desks doing vital nothing. However, he has a reverse attitude when he needs someone and like the proverbial bus, taxi or police - can never find one when you need one.

What he forgets is that he has authorised ?1000's to purchase remote control software, etc to reduce mileage and time in responding to calls.

However, my situation is different and I am funded in a weird way and he sees my role as being never here - until he needs me here - and so recently he had a go at me about "always being sat at my desk" and "did I understand my job". During this random rant - he was meant to be talking about me - we covered 4 or 5 other engineers and what they didn't do and I was compared to a colleague who has a similar job and he was listed as being "my highest mileage claimant". Well it comes as no surprise for me to discover that I month in, month out claim at least twice what he claims ..... read into that what you want ...

Anyway - point here is that I am going to read this thread with interest and to let you know that you aren't alone! Finally, at the end of the day this boss is still the best boss I have ever had - faults and rants included - in 20 years in the industry, which is a sad indictment of managers in general I fear!

Agree.

Pursuing the "firefighter" analogy will put any employee in the 'reactive' basket: its a big basket. When not actually reacting, employees that want to stay employeed or get ahead a bit should be looking for ways to avoid the next crisis and improve things from their own angle (adding value). Step two is to ensure the value is recognised.

Of course professional reading is a requirement, its just a matter of how much is done on company vs personal time and appearance is 95% of everything ;)

I have had a job where there was exactly 34.5 hours of down time a week. I was Net Admin at a training facility that had 3 35 node computer based training labs, 50 staff users, 10 remote users, and one computer controlled trainer. One hour a day I checked logs, verified backups, and otherwise did all of the routine, mundane things that any net admin does daily. 25 minutes a week were spent updating training files. The final 5 minutes were spent updating anti-virus software. It was so routine and dull that I spent my free time finding a more challenging position.

The goal of any admin should be that their product provide uninterrupted service with a minimum of maintenance. In my boring job I replaced a young man who had attained that very thing. There were never complaints from users, everything just worked right all the time. Of course, that was back in the day of Novell and Windows for Workgroups. I think that with today's "improved" software, operating systems, and hardware we have become numb to the fact that the goal is supposed to be systems that simply do what the business needs done without interruption and relyably. We have become so accustomed to having to "fix" things and monitor our systems that we now think that is the norm. I can assure you that is not the case outside the IT department's doors.

I would venture to guess that Jinn is a fairly new net admin who has not had the pleasure of working for an IT manager before this position, and may not know what she should be filling her time with. I am sure that she does not need indignant responses from folks who do not have nor ever enjoyed her point of reference.

We also do not know what her employer's expectations are. For example, in one past job I was expected to maintain meticulous inventory of physical assets. I was not, however, permitted to spend any time inventorying software assets. This wound up playing a major part in my decision to leave an otherwise excellent position.

With these things in mind I would like to offer her the following suggestions:

1) Document your network. Create documents that reflect every aspect of your network the front door to the back.

2) Develop your disaster plans, and test them.

3) Develop procedures and user guides based on company policies.

4) If you do not have policies, develop them.

5) Learn your company's business, what they do and how they do it. It will make you better at your job.

6) Get your software inventory in order.

These are just some things that should be done for Jinn's employer. I am sure it is what they want but may not have accurately articulated.

Jinn, go to TR's downloads section and search on checklists. It is a great place to start for these things, and you get the benifit of having someone else do much of the groundwork for you.

Cheers!

Try to explain that the nature of the workload you have isn't so different from their own. Try using examples of any recent events in the company that had them swamped (if there's nothing that comes to mind then use a hypothetical that almost happened) to relate to your most recent overload. Then try to explain how you aren't sitting idle so much as you are monitoring the network to ensure performance, or overseeing a procedure to guarantee that it's done right, and just like them you don't have to spring into action unless something that shouldn't happen does. Then tell them what could happen, were you not as vigilant as you are (for example the possible negative effects of having and end user take over an install after you get them started, and leaving them do it). Again try to relate it to the work they do. Don't think of your down time as down time at all - you are "effectively managing" or "vigilantly overseeing" - making sure whatever it is that you happen to have in front of you is operating trouble free, just like they do. I'm not sure what position it is that your superior holds, but considering you are at the top of your companies' IT food chain, I would think that your bosses have the same type of peak and valley workload you do - and simply don't see it that way. I doubt you'll be telling them anything new, but see if they aren't a bit more understanding.

Your boss is suspicious of your activities when you're not "putting out the fires". This speaks of his inexperience as an IT manager, or that he really doesn't value the research and developement aspect of your job.

You might consider looking at your spare time as an opportunity to improve the company's IT operations in a proactive way, using it to look into ways of making the user's 'experience' even better; evaluating new solutions or work methods.

Are Open Source solutions for example something suitable for your company? How about Firefox? StarOffice? OpenOffice? Linux?

I might even go so far as to consider ways of undertaking projects which decrease the need for dealing with breakdowns so you can use even more time to delve into these kinds of projects which increase the company's ROI/efficiency.

Then use the math of the issue. Sine waves work nicely. Use it to explain that the upcurves and crests are inevitable and that what you are working toward constantly is to deepen and elongate the troughs/downcurves. Press home that the longer the downcurves and wider the troughs the higher level of effectiveness your department actually displays.

If that fails, build a work bench and get a few old PCs, tear them down with exception to 1 or 2, keep these running and reloading. Meanwhile you can get down to product/tech research or whatever "on your can" work you need to be about and makes you look lazy. Oh, to go one better, cycle through the machines so that they all get torn apart and loaded in cycle, makes for realism.

Just wanted to agree with Doug Doyle. Keep track of time spent training and include it in your activity reports. It might not hurt if you can keep a general breakdown of topics you're researching, too.

I have been in IT for over 20 years. Every place I have been to (with VERY few exceptions) the documentation has been sorely lacking. If you have hours in a day that you do not have any fires to be put out, spend 30 min and document what the problem was and how you solved it. This can be put up on the internal web in a FAQ format to help the user help themselves. This also is then a way to show your manager how you are helping the company for years to come.

I work in a japanese company my boss is mexican and he thinks i do nothing couse i go out 30 min after my work time (he usually work around 14 hours) i recently start to fill a registry to keep him off my back, besides when i program, he want to start the operation of the new software a few days after i start lol i'm not cokking.

I've read about half of the posts from this thread and noticed that nobody from "management" has put in comments. I have had this problem with my superiors before and just one day gave up and gave in. One vice-president explained it to me once. It's all based on metrics. With a salesperson, you can say I payed them so much and they produced so much. With us ITers you can't put a metric on our productivity. We get paid so much, but how does one measure what we make/save the company UNLESS something goes wrong. He explained it as working in bizarro world. He told me not to keep things running in tip top shape, because then they won't get a chance to appreciate your abilities. He said that if they don't see anything going wrong, then why is he employed here. Wouldn't you wonder why a company had a janitor if all you saw was them sitting around all day and the place was spotless.

With me it was a spam issue, I knew the problems associated with it but did nothing about it. Only once it got out of control for one of the other VPs ( about 500 emails a day of junk ) did I install a remedy.

Basically, we see ourselves in the IT field as important for the company yet they see us in the maintenance department. That's why we need "messes" even if they don't exist. It might sound crazy or unethical to some of you but it will ensure your job and $$ increases.

Jinn, I wouldn't personally say anything until he or she says something. If they do, just explain that your company isn' t big enough to have you busy all of the time. If they say banything else, just respond that you are the IT Pro here, and it took a lot of schooling to get to where you are. I don't think that they will get that upset. If they do, tell them to go to school to get their BIT Degree or whatever the job calls for.
Jamiea@shaw.ca

My boss once made a similar comment and I compared my position to that of a firefighter. I would rather watch the guys next door to our office washing the fire trucks and playing basketball than having to be out doing their jobs where lives and property are at stake. When those of us at small firms are "goofing off", the company is running smoothly and making money. It is when everyone is yelling for me to "fix it" that the company has a problem. Just do your job well and enjoy the slack times, because if your firm is like mine, when something breaks, you more than make up for it.

It sounds like your role is well-defined, and that your employer has no right or ability to manage what you do as long as you fill that role.

It's not just tech support personnel. Most IT workers feel the same way. We were 'empowered' in about 1990 and, ever since, we've had autonomy. Whether we work as a service tech, help desk agent, developer, analyst, manager, executive, or network admin, we all seem to have the right to run our own personal R&D or training department.

This works great, until the organization is forced to become more efficient or effective. Then they may realize that: a) they don't even know how they are spending a large portion of the resources; and b) they haven't been in the business of managing those resources for 15 years.

For now, the inmates are running the asylum. It's not our fault. We didn't invent "EMPOWERMENT".

Just don't assume it will last forever.

Jinn,

I have been in your position, and I have been in your boss's position. I understand both sides of the coin.

I understand that you feel your primary job is to support your users, and that when your users need no support, then you have no "real work" to do. You said in one of your posts that you have some days where you literally only do two hours of support work.

What YOU have to understand is that your boss(es) has a job also -- and in the role of "boss", one of his responsibilities is to make sure that the company gets the very most possible out of what it pays for. From his/her point of view, if you only appeared to have worked two hours out of eight, then the company just spent four times as much money on something than it needed to.

What you need to realize is that, frankly, if the perception is that you are regularly only working a certain fraction of the day, then your position is replacable, either by a part timer (with no benefits), or by outsourcing (again, with no benefits). This will save your company a bundle of money -- on paper anyway, which is where managers look.

You seem to be annoyed that your bosses are doing what they're doing. You should be happy. Many people only find out that the bosses are thinking about this when they get the pink slip saying their job has been outsourced.

You absolutely must find work to do in your downtime that produces results. This will not only result in your bosses not thinking you are being a slacker, but it will usually result in promotions and pay raises.

Here is primarily what you should be looking for -- and I am putting most important things first.
1. Ways to automate your job.
2. Ways to automate other people's jobs.
3. Ways to turn existing cost centers into profit centers.
4. Ways to develop new profit centers.

The first two may seem like they should possibly be swapped with the second two, but if you get the first two down, then there's more time to do the other two. That's why they are first.

Turning a cost center into a profit center is the single most important thing you can do as an IT worker. Most PHBs see IT as a hopeless cost center, a tax. IT is something they can't live without, but it's a drain on the bottom line. Can you imagine the thrill when the IT department starts adding net revenue to the company? You will be a hero. It also has the added benefit of being an incremental change; you are already running the existing cost center, it's probably no loss to try things a little different to turn it into a profit center.

Developing profit centers is self-explanitory, but it's higher risk, because it will involve signifigantly more investment than modifying an existing cost center to be a profit center. However, you will still be a hero if you come up with a big money maker.

As someone who has been on both sides of the coin, it is YOUR perception that appears to need adjustment. A company cannot afford to pay to have you sit idle. And if you are not willing to alter your perception and adjust your behavior so that you are always working on something while you are at work, then they will either find someone who will, cut your hours, or outsource your job. That's just a fact.

And I do understand about researching on the web. I had that exact problem; you just have to communicate to them that you are in fact researching something, what you are researching, and why it is relevant.

get up a quick form on A4 paper
User Name:
Date: Time Requested:
User Request: (can be any thing not just problems)

Date Commeced: Time Started: Time Finished:

Resolution:
Parts Required etc

Research & Development: Check MS patches for unexpected results on Lab PC etc etc
Log Times etc against PC if hardware to create patterns to validate replacdement machines etc

This person hasn't been to school for as long as you have been. This person, man or woman, IS NOT an IT PROFESSIONAL, but their devoted Employee, Ginn, IS! When I used to work physically, I was always getting trouble from the freakin' Owner for not working hard physically for 8 hour's every day. He wasn't paying me much better than Minimum Wage (7.15 CAD at the time).

Create an analysis paper with financial figures showing what the total cost of ownership for Dilbert-level management.

Recommend that the company outsource these Dilbert-level managers' positions to some hungry third-world college graduate.

Bind it and send it to CFO and CEO.

Set up a meeting.

Develop a plan.

Get aggreement from top management and become the program manager.

Sign a large contract.

Hire some shmuck to implement the plan.

Retire to Florida or other destination of your choice.

If this plan fails, my advice is to vote with your feet. In other words, go somewhere they appreciate you...

Tell them the reason you are so efficient when a problem arises is that the time you spend on the computer is spent doing research (due diligence) for resolution to common problems. I would point out that learning about issues and avoiding them (risk avoidance) instead of experiencing those issues keeps the company employees working efficiently which saves the company money.

Most techs I know hate paperwork, but that's what management understands. Detailing your tasks in a time log will take up some of the spare time and will give your managers something to look at. If the logs are sortable by client, problem machines or people will then be easily singled out for replacemnet.

One thing I like about IT has been the fact that I can decide on how to 'approach' my work. Usually that can mean mulling stuff over, walking around thinking about it, going down for a coffee, sleeping on it or whatever. I just took this for granted as part of the job. I can tell you that this appraoch is far better than sitting at a desk slogging something out without a plan. Unfortunately at my current job I also have a non-tech manager, this is a first. He manages it like hes supervising a bunch of clerks, strolling by all the time, peering in, surprising you to see if you;re 'working', there's an odd twist here though in that he doesnt give the go ahead to do work so he can be doing this when he and I both know full well that he hasnt given me a project in months and has stalled every initiative I have put forth so its extra wierd here in that sense but the supervising thing sucks. When he is not here some weeks, so much MORE gets done, it might not be on the schedule he wants you to think by but the work is way more efficient and productive. I feel for you. Smaller places may be more like this. I don;t know how you would approach it either. Just stop feeling guilty about it and keep faking!!!

You'll not change their mind. Too many bosses sit around spitting out orders because everyone comes to them, else they'd be doing the same thing as you, having some slack time. If they're smart they understand that. Your boss has to understand the good job that you do and lay off the BS. If he can't, find some one who does. Screw them, they are egocentrical jerks that think they are the stars of the show. Most don't even know how to load a copier. If you're good, you'll always have a good job.

HI,

I am the only IT for a 50 users accounting office.
As you can imagin working for accountants; they count every min' and ask all the questions.
One of the thinks that I have found is to give you boss a repoert every month of what you have done.

Of course there will be the days that nothing needs to be done, but as a IT person by yourself I am sure that study is a major part espcaily in IT. I have found that when I am not busy fixing problem I am busy preventing them. So cheaking the network learning and drilling more into areas that will improve the network and my expertise.
When I sit in my office all day and no one comes and need support I always use some of this time as maintenances and impovement.
What you are facing is something that every It personal faces when working for a small company that just need a full time IT Administrator.

Explain your boss that like them you need to keep up to date and in IT that by itself can be a full time job.
I am very busy and making sure that even when no support is needed I explain my time as improvemnt and learning.

I'm also the main IT person in our company and I always make a point of making certain my bosses know the times I've been in the office until 3AM or stayed all night fixing some IT problem. Also when updates are needed I make sure the proper people know the updates and testing are taking place after normal business hours. This keeps the company running during the day plus gives me the opportunity to let the bosses know I'm working while they're home......

I absolutely agree. Key Performance Indicators are very useful to show how productive you are. But i think there is another issue here. IT pros have to constantly document their contribution to the business. If you try to point some problems you have resolved and what was the contribution to the budiness in these cases it might help too i think.

I've seen this type of attitude towards IT for the past 12 years. The real problem is not just that you don't always appear busy; it's that they see dollars going "out the window" with what is defined as a "cost centre".

IT is perceived to be a "necessary evil" by the vaste majority of non-technology focused businesses. So, it eats away at the "C-level" individuals if they don't see you "utilized" 100% of the day 100% of the time.

To change this attitude will actually require more effort by you in an area that most IT people are either unfamiliar with, or uncomfortable with -- putting a dollar-savings/recovery on the work you do. For instance, say you assist an individual get their system "fixed" in 15 minutes instead of, it taking 1 hour if there were no IT support (the same applies to server "maintenance" etc.). There's 3/4 of an hour the this person is productive that they otherwise would not have been. What is this person's hourly charge-out rate? The 3/4-of-an-hour that they "got back" because you were able to fix the issue in 15 minutes is a "recovery" of lost profit.

Track this statistic for a period of, say, 3 months. Then when someone "complains" you not only tell them that the apparent "down-time" is being used to hone/keep current your skillset, but that the efficiency you have brought to the job has recovered what would have been x-dollars worth of lost productivity from those individuals/systems that you support.

This flips the equation, you are now a cost recovery centre, so long as the "lost" productivity is more than your salary (if it isn't, I'd suggest you learn to live with the grumbling and hope they don't do the analysis and decide to outsource...)

setup a lab, play on it, look busy when they're looking

This also works well when budget time comes around and you need to justify more workers &/or equipment. I have an Access database that I leave open on my screen and just add to it all day. Let me know if you would like a copy!

Pure genius and exactly correct. The only thing I will add is that Managers, in the traditional sense, will no longer be necessary and being PowerPoint certified will no longer constitute as "learning without walls."
Future organizations will be relatively flat and the old school, Henry Ford model of office management extinct. In fact, despite all of the buzz-words and overzealous optimism of the 90s "Reengineering The Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution" is still an accurate prediction regarding the future of work and corporate America.
In terms of the specific old school criteria you mentioned: perfect attendance, prompt return from breaks, and always being busy, are all irrelevant to current IT objectives in supporting the core business functions, blatantly derived from obsolete factory or manufacturing based objectives, and mostly used to perpetuate the existence of obsolete Middle Managers "supervising" workers in a physical office. Personally, I have avoided all of this via contracting and burning bridges (their term, not mine) like a crazed arsonist **** bent on annoying the Army Corps of Engineers.
Thus, I am always busy either on site or at home testing new Oracle, PHP, Linux, Solaris 10, etc. features yet never busy beyond what is necessary to bail out that honorary Krispy Kreme veteran...rinse, repeat. Sure, it is a lonely, hectic life of an IT heretic who pays for his own books and lacks a good plastic hip savings plan but until the Mayo clinic has a run on baboon hearts or the Insurance industry puts a cap on the number of plastic joint replacements, old school bosses and even many frontline real estate agents, Amway salesmen, and part-time hotdog vendors (yes, I witnessed this within the ranks of an old school IT department) posing as IT employees love the smell of hot doughnuts in the morning and have been making a go of looking busy ever since their asses went numb in that anti-ergonomic office chair over 40 years ago.
On a side note, even if the evils of telecommuting had finally been recanted by the Vatican as well as expert IT Managers still confused by the acronym "ISP" I am not sure the war in Iraq could have been avoided as (1) what about the fact Jesus wanted the war (2) just because we don't "need" the oil that doesn't give us the right to speak for Texas (minus Austin), and (3) Saddam was thinking about WMD's...you could see it in his eyes...you have to look at the satellite photos real closely but you can tell he was thinking about building them or at least posting the "how to" or even the "where" docs on the Internet like the NRC.
By the way, your reply could be cut and pasted as a universal explanation of virtually all complaints, woes, and strange odors associated with IT Management in America.

Hi - Last 12 months.....I have upgraded from NT4 to 2003, upgraded the main Legacy application ( 2 stage and just about as frought with patches as MS!), set up a 20Mb link to the nearby city for offsite recovery/VoIP/webserver etc, set up a wired and wireless network topology against all odds at the front of our concrete maize of a building, created a backstage internet solution via a Linux server/router that gives the users a front end to schedule usage and then receive a full usage report via email with an invoice....... plus system upgrades, printer upgrades etc etc. End result, a huge workload to provide the necessary functionality to do our business...... Higher management and users alike complain that they can't open up a jpeg file, or "How do I put an Excel Sheet in to a Word document" - It's a great life but it would be much easier without users!!

I'd love to be in your shoes... In my office I am expected to know when we are about to have a fire and be ready with steps to correct it fast or pervent it. I currently have 98 Items on my list and never have slack time.

That's right on th Document,document,document posted. I've create tickets and when a finish, I tell user to sign my ticket for a sign of conformity. So, in this way I have all documented.

Most of us are in the same boat.
I am a qualified network administrator, who does basically everything else, from website design to digital sign printing.

From this week I have to give a list to my Boss of what Im going to do during the day. This has to be given to him every morning.

I used the insurance card. My boss had bought a new car and I ask him if he would like to have to call his insursance company everyday to say someone has crashed into his car. Of course he said no. I told him you need to think of me like insurance and a mechanic. The mechanics job is to ensure the car runs smoothly but it does not take much work to change the oil on the other hand you want to make sure you have insurance for the time when the unexpected happens. So, if you see me running around like a crazy man someone has pulled out the insurance policy and you might want to know why. I also wrote out a daily task schedule of things I do on a daily basis and was very anal about it to include things that I automated. Because regretfully, some managers need to see a scope of responsibility. If they don't have an idea of what you do it makes them feel uneasy. Using both goes a long way.

I agree with liamothelegend..

You need to learn how to talk and present yourself by the language that they can understand it. Creating a solid measurement tool that works for you and help them to understand the value of your work would be a effective communication channel between you and your Bosses.

Jinn, a planned approach to IT is the same as a planned approach to any other part of a business.

What are the expectations of the business of IT?

Once you have met those base expectations then what are the additional services that you can be bringing on board that will further enhance your company through the use of technology?

Figuring out the answers to the above is at it's simplest a form of IT planning. The start of the planning process is to talk to your boss. Get their permission to talk to others in the company about what they are trying to do and how IT can help get them there. The written summary of these discussions will be the basis for your IT plan. The plan should talk about what information technology is currently in place, how it meets the business needs, and then talk about what additional things needs to be done that are not yet addressed by the current IT services delivered.

Once there is agreement to the contents of the plan then you can spend your, ?free time?, researching and developing the additional services that are required. The plan also gives you the vehicle to discuss additional resources be they people or technology that you need to carry out the plan.

Going forward with a planned approach will get you management buy in and tasks to fill your time. My one caveat would be, those who plan and execute well often end up been the very managers that would seem not to understand IT! Learn to talk the language of your business, other then the caveat above it will serve you well. It may even get you the lab mentioned in some of the other replies to your post.

Phil

Get a subscription to Microsoft Technet. Not that expensive, you get monthly shipments from Microsoft. You will allways have something to "research". The tools and resources on the technet site are invaluable.

another idea, Look at Microsoft's events in oyur area, 90% are freee. Any boss would agree to free training. See if your other vendors have educational events. Invite vendors to the office to talk about currrent implementations and future growth.

have you been snooping around my workplace? I discovered this by accident. I generally kept my spot all nice and clean, one week all hell broke loose, the server went down, we blew all of our backup batteries and to top it off cards in the PBX were blowing left and right (not good for a cardiac monitoring facility). Crap over about a 2 week period just kept mounting on my desk as little by little everything got repaired. Oddly, after all the fires were out and i was starting to catch up to my regular work the boss' visiting my office almost looked as if they were sorry they were disturbing me. Weeks later i cleaned up the area and wouldnt you know i got the "what exactly is it you do all day" talk. Cluttering the area again has kept the "BS" away. As long as i get things done and move my mess around i do not get too many problems.

I make it a point no matter where i am going to carry a used legal pad. Makes it look better if you have "tech scribble" all over it. I know most people cant read my writing, and on a whiteboard they just get lost. Anytime i leave my desk i have a legal pad in one hand and cup of coffee in the other. If i see someone in the hall i do not want to talk to (or someone who looks as they want to see me) i start "reading" my notes and walking a little faster. Generally if they say something responding with "let me get back to you right after this" works wonders.

Have you ever heard of thinking?

Since many managers want you to do and not think, thinking has become a nearly lost art...

Do Something who cares if it isn't right you'll be doing something...

I take the Hipocratic oath "First do no harm..."