What exactly is a manager?

[Felix Atagong]

Just 5 minutes ago a senior sales manager (who is supposed to send tariffs to clients) asked me:

How do I open Excel?

So I put my greasy finger on his monitor to show him the little icon with a big X.

 

[yee388]

My question is, if he didn't know how to open it, how did he plan on doing anything in it? Surely being able to open the program is more basic knowledge than writing a formula...

 

[Todd Bardoni]

So I put my greasy finger on his monitor...

I love it! I hate when people do that to me and now I know its a little piece of revenge.

 

[Legacy 12630]

My question is, if he didn't know how to open it, how did he plan on doing anything in it?

The best first step if planning to do something in Excel is probably to find out how to open it.

 

[steve case]

Not an Excel story, but a true one:

A manager I know printed out a series of simple line drawings and proceeded to color code various sections of them with crayons and asked the minions to scan them back in. The suggestion that the "Paint" program we all get with Microsoft Office would do the job with one mouse click was met with contempt and stubbornness. These embarrassing coloring book renditions are still part of the company’s working documents.

 

[Smitty]

These embarrassing coloring book renditions are still part of the company’s working documents.

I could see the validity to that if you worked for Toys 'R Us or LegoLand...

Our HR Department recently issued a decree from Corporate that all employes must wear ID Badges, so they hauled out the 1970's Polaroid ID makr that was stashed in storage and away they went. (I made better fake ID's in High School ). Aparrently no one is to be admitted into the building without one or signing in and receiving a "Visitors" tag (someone's business card with the name whited out and "Visitor" marked over it, then laminated). Hmmm...Maybe the HR Manager should check into locking all of our Receiving and PressRoom bay doors that anyone can walk through first. Now there's a sign: "Entry doors will be locked promptly at 5:45 P.M, after that you will need a key to enter". (Right next to 17 open bay doors).

Dilbert fer sure...

Smitty

 

[Felix Atagong]

My question is, if he didn't know how to open it, how did he plan on doing anything in it? Surely being able to open the program is more basic knowledge than writing a formula...

Quite right, I suppose he always opened an Excel file directly by going to the 'My Documents' folder and double-clicking on the file (and then mailing it without changing anything). I've got two more stories on the same person, here I go:

1. One day a 'big' managing director from abroad visited our offices in Brussels. The manager complained about the computer software because everytime he had to send a mail he had to change the word FAX into MAIL. The explanation is simple: before the mailing days every manager had a Word template to send faxes to a client. On this template was written (in big): FAX. We still use the same template today (even I do), but apparently this person had never thought of opening his personal template, changing the word FAX into MAIL and saving the template again.

2. I came back from a 3 weeks holiday and had to listen to the same man complaining that his printer was already broken for 2 weeks. Of course he had never thought of phoning the maintenance company. Well in fact that was a good thing, because I had a look at the back of the printer and put back the electricity cable in it.

Make a movie out of this and nobody believes it!

 

[Felix Atagong]

Sorry because you will all think I make this up.
This morning, about 45 minutes ago, I had to 'fix' a broken computer because the cleaning lady had taken out the plug yesterday to put her hoover in...

 

[yee388]

Imagine, electronic devices requiring electricity! What will they think of next??

The good part is that it doesn't seem like it's too difficult to come out looking like a genius in your office!

 

[Zack Barresse]

Sorry because you will all think I make this up.
This morning, about 45 minutes ago, I had to 'fix' a broken computer because the cleaning lady had taken out the plug yesterday to put her hoover in...

I had the same problem, only it was with a co-workers speakers. She said her speakers were broken, so I go through her driver's, the software and yes, even the cables for it. The last thing I checked - the volume.