Anarchist Prime actually brought a folder of controlled documents back to me to file, instead of making me retrieve it from his desk (or his bookshelf!)!!!!!
Hooray!!!!
I'd like to think this is a sign of things to come, but, in terms of Beginner Trending: once is an isolated incident, twice is a coincidence. It isn't a trend until you have three or more occurrences in a row.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Friday, 24 April 2009
The sooner the better!
This winter is going to be hell - at least until the company gets around to putting a door in between Mistress Mouth's office and mine. The lady loves her heat. Unfortunately, I don't. Which means that, until that door is in place, I'm going to be wearing tank tops, whilst everybody else in the place are wearing fur lined jackets!
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
SNAFU
I just came back from a week off, and immediately wished I was still on holiday. Why? I sat down at my computer yesterday morning, and the network was down. Again. And had been going down on pretty much a daily basis all last week. Which is making everybody sullen and unhappy.
It did it again this morning. Not everybody's computers this time, though - just mine, Mr Big's and Principal Girl's computers were down. Growl.
On top of this, I am trying to audit my document control system. It needs it badly, and Mistress Mouth wanted me to do it urgently. By 3pm today urgently. It's quite a big job, and to get it done on time would involve me being interrupted.
Have I succeeded? Of course not! The network crash was the first attempt to nobble my attempt. I may have managed on time even with this, except that Quality, in the form of getting my document control system properly functional, is once again nowhere near as important as Appearances, namely getting QC tidied up.
I am doing my level best to deactivate my 'give-a-shit' when it comes to this, because for the current crop of managers, Quality is never as important as Appearances. If I keep giving a shit about it, I will have a major stress attack, because all I can do is shout, and it never does any good.
Therefore, SNAFU reigns, and I don't give a shit. Seriously.
It did it again this morning. Not everybody's computers this time, though - just mine, Mr Big's and Principal Girl's computers were down. Growl.
On top of this, I am trying to audit my document control system. It needs it badly, and Mistress Mouth wanted me to do it urgently. By 3pm today urgently. It's quite a big job, and to get it done on time would involve me being interrupted.
Have I succeeded? Of course not! The network crash was the first attempt to nobble my attempt. I may have managed on time even with this, except that Quality, in the form of getting my document control system properly functional, is once again nowhere near as important as Appearances, namely getting QC tidied up.
I am doing my level best to deactivate my 'give-a-shit' when it comes to this, because for the current crop of managers, Quality is never as important as Appearances. If I keep giving a shit about it, I will have a major stress attack, because all I can do is shout, and it never does any good.
Therefore, SNAFU reigns, and I don't give a shit. Seriously.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Snicker
Mistress Mouth commented to me today that they (as in she and Anarchist Prime) have decided that it's time to crack down on those who are trying to dodge their responsibilities - they mean, of course, the Leprechaun.
It all revolves around document review, of course. The Leprechaun has put quite a lot of effort into not reviewing his documents, and finding excuses for it, and frankly, his stories just don't cut it anymore. He's tried to foist the job off onto somebody else (yes, that's right - the company's resident 'lazy bones' who doesn't do anything important - me, naturally), and failed because not only am I in the wrong department, I'm not even qualified (I have an arts degree, not a science degree. Science isn't necessary for document control, just some sense of organisation) - and if I was would start making snide remarks about individuals who are only pretend managers. Just to provoke another row between us, of course.
It's definately a good thing. The Leprechaun has been making a nuisance of himself ever since he took over the role of Production Manager, and I was starting to wonder how long it was going to be before his cigarette smoking 'friend' Anarchist Prime decided to take steps - or if Anarchist Prime would prove himself a department traitor (thus jeopardising his job) and continue to apparently ignore the whole situation.
Fortunately for the rest of us, Anarchist Prime isn't stupid enough to endanger his job like that. Although it does mean that we shall have to continue to put up with him. Sigh.
It all revolves around document review, of course. The Leprechaun has put quite a lot of effort into not reviewing his documents, and finding excuses for it, and frankly, his stories just don't cut it anymore. He's tried to foist the job off onto somebody else (yes, that's right - the company's resident 'lazy bones' who doesn't do anything important - me, naturally), and failed because not only am I in the wrong department, I'm not even qualified (I have an arts degree, not a science degree. Science isn't necessary for document control, just some sense of organisation) - and if I was would start making snide remarks about individuals who are only pretend managers. Just to provoke another row between us, of course.
It's definately a good thing. The Leprechaun has been making a nuisance of himself ever since he took over the role of Production Manager, and I was starting to wonder how long it was going to be before his cigarette smoking 'friend' Anarchist Prime decided to take steps - or if Anarchist Prime would prove himself a department traitor (thus jeopardising his job) and continue to apparently ignore the whole situation.
Fortunately for the rest of us, Anarchist Prime isn't stupid enough to endanger his job like that. Although it does mean that we shall have to continue to put up with him. Sigh.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Chaos and Confusion in the Workplace
Things are in chaos once more, over one of our newest contract manufacture products. The whole manufacture has been riddled with problems, right from the beginning. Media fills kept failing. Not enough people could be persuaded to take responsibility for writing and checking the batch manufacturing record. Chemicals were being tested at the last minute. When the BMR did get signed off, QC had to hide it to stop it from being stolen by Production before QC were ready to give it up.
And now, finally, it turns out that the formulation section had been changed (by the client, I understand) at the last minute, and the whole BMR has to be rewritten. The whole lot, apparently. Yes folks, you read that right. We are supposed to be preparing to manufacture this today, and we are frantically rewriting the BMR.
For once, it's QA getting the blame for holding up Production, rather than QC. Mistress Mouth looked rather bemused by that, but she hasn't had enough practice at being told she's to blame for holdups to Production to get angry at them for being blamed for other peoples' screwups.
I guess this sort of thing can't be helped from time to time. It's annoying, though. I'm going to have to reissue the BMR the moment it crosses my desk (which, personally speaking, is a minor annoyance rather than a major problem - especially given that I'm sitting here blogging about it rather than getting cross about having my work interrupted.).
You'd think that people would be well organised enough to stop this sort of nonsense from happening at all, wouldn't you? Especially in Medical Manufacturing.
And now, finally, it turns out that the formulation section had been changed (by the client, I understand) at the last minute, and the whole BMR has to be rewritten. The whole lot, apparently. Yes folks, you read that right. We are supposed to be preparing to manufacture this today, and we are frantically rewriting the BMR.
For once, it's QA getting the blame for holding up Production, rather than QC. Mistress Mouth looked rather bemused by that, but she hasn't had enough practice at being told she's to blame for holdups to Production to get angry at them for being blamed for other peoples' screwups.
I guess this sort of thing can't be helped from time to time. It's annoying, though. I'm going to have to reissue the BMR the moment it crosses my desk (which, personally speaking, is a minor annoyance rather than a major problem - especially given that I'm sitting here blogging about it rather than getting cross about having my work interrupted.).
You'd think that people would be well organised enough to stop this sort of nonsense from happening at all, wouldn't you? Especially in Medical Manufacturing.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
New office, new dynamic
I'm in a different office now. That is, my physical location has shifted. My job is remaining largely the same.
However, my new office is bringing with it a new dynamic. Previously, if somebody came into my office to get something off their chest, there was no chance of them being overheard by anybody. Now, however, it's changed. It is very, very easy to overhear what's being said in my office.
That fact obviously hadn't sunk in this morning, which meant that, for the first time ever, I actually got to hear both sides of a debate. It's something we shall all have to get used to - if anybody needs to offload to me before having a formal chat with the HR people, it shall have to happen offsite now.
For the record, the lady to whom I shall refer as Long Suffering R&D Technical Writer will sort out the packaging section.
The other major development in QA is that Mistress Mouth has finally realised what it means to work in a company as small as this one. Previously, I'd been fielding commands from above to specialise, because it was dreadfully urgent that the task of the day be done quickly. At the moment, there are two of these: batch document review (which had previously been labelled under 'somebody else's business') and archiving (which, to be honest, is what I'd rather be doing right now).
Both projects are long term: the former because nobody else has the time to do it (which slows everything down dramatically because nothing actually gets signed off without me pushing), and the latter because there are more than 20 years' worth of paperwork to archive, and there was no way that was going to happen overnight.
Finally, Mistress Mouth has come to her senses and realised that for the sake of her own sanity (and everybody else's), she simply has to let me perform a less specialised role, thus taking some of the weight off her shoulders.
This has come as a relief to me, because it means she's finally stopped moaning at me (and everybody else too, I suspect) about how things should be done, insisting that they be done that way, and then stressing out and moaning even more when it just plain doesn't happen because we're not that big and we don't have the personnel.
All in all, location change aside, I can finally relax and get on with things.
However, my new office is bringing with it a new dynamic. Previously, if somebody came into my office to get something off their chest, there was no chance of them being overheard by anybody. Now, however, it's changed. It is very, very easy to overhear what's being said in my office.
That fact obviously hadn't sunk in this morning, which meant that, for the first time ever, I actually got to hear both sides of a debate. It's something we shall all have to get used to - if anybody needs to offload to me before having a formal chat with the HR people, it shall have to happen offsite now.
For the record, the lady to whom I shall refer as Long Suffering R&D Technical Writer will sort out the packaging section.
The other major development in QA is that Mistress Mouth has finally realised what it means to work in a company as small as this one. Previously, I'd been fielding commands from above to specialise, because it was dreadfully urgent that the task of the day be done quickly. At the moment, there are two of these: batch document review (which had previously been labelled under 'somebody else's business') and archiving (which, to be honest, is what I'd rather be doing right now).
Both projects are long term: the former because nobody else has the time to do it (which slows everything down dramatically because nothing actually gets signed off without me pushing), and the latter because there are more than 20 years' worth of paperwork to archive, and there was no way that was going to happen overnight.
Finally, Mistress Mouth has come to her senses and realised that for the sake of her own sanity (and everybody else's), she simply has to let me perform a less specialised role, thus taking some of the weight off her shoulders.
This has come as a relief to me, because it means she's finally stopped moaning at me (and everybody else too, I suspect) about how things should be done, insisting that they be done that way, and then stressing out and moaning even more when it just plain doesn't happen because we're not that big and we don't have the personnel.
All in all, location change aside, I can finally relax and get on with things.
Friday, 27 February 2009
The Noobs are in town.
It's 4.25pm on a Friday Afternoon. Yesterday, the Leprechaun officially became Production Manager, temporarily replacing the Grand Visier, who is on maternity leave. On Monday, we are manufacturing a product of a type we have never made before. The batch record is not ready. It's not ready because the Leprechaun has, apparently, never written a batch document before in his entire life.
Nor have any of the R&D team, who originally wrote the thing. The batch record they originally came up with is shockingly awful. The one that will be issued to Production will also be shockingly awful. It isn't properly numbered. There are a couple of internal references that have been given ####'s. It never occurred to any of the people mentioned above that they had to include any steps in the process that went after formulation-related processing, until I, your humble Oracle, prompted them.
And I'm going to have to get the bloody thing formally authorised before I go home today. Ideally, I should have it issued by the end of the day, too, but I'm just plain not going to have time. First thing Monday morning will be fine.
It's 4.30pm, and I'm highly stressed and in a rush. I hate it when Fridays finish like this.
Nor have any of the R&D team, who originally wrote the thing. The batch record they originally came up with is shockingly awful. The one that will be issued to Production will also be shockingly awful. It isn't properly numbered. There are a couple of internal references that have been given ####'s. It never occurred to any of the people mentioned above that they had to include any steps in the process that went after formulation-related processing, until I, your humble Oracle, prompted them.
And I'm going to have to get the bloody thing formally authorised before I go home today. Ideally, I should have it issued by the end of the day, too, but I'm just plain not going to have time. First thing Monday morning will be fine.
It's 4.30pm, and I'm highly stressed and in a rush. I hate it when Fridays finish like this.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Every Good Oracle's Information Source - the Archive.
As the Document Control Officer in a small company, it is often assumed that I know where all the documents are - not an unreasonable assumption, and more so now that I am formally taking on the role of Archivist as well.
Fortunately, I am still in the very early stages of this role, and haven't yet had the time or opportunity to raid everybody's offices for stray documentation yet, something which I am secretly hopeful I will get the chance to do.
One of the things that people are often asking me to find - in fact, it's second only to batch manufacturing records (BMRs) on the hit parade - are copies of the contracts we have with various other companies. Unlike the BMRs, tracking down the contracts tends to prove challenging. In fact, they often come under the category of "items we hope come out of the woodwork once I've finished with the obvious stuff."
Other items that can be categorised in this way include old validations records and initial Regulatory submissions.
I'm still early on in this effort, and still plotting the areas to search next - we've turned up one or two interesting things already, relics of such filing techniques as "putting everything into a big box under somebody's desk", a technique which one really doesn't expect to find in a modern manufacturer, but does turn up from time to time. (I'm hoping that one will disappear entirely once we've got the official company procedures on the archiving of documents in place.) In fact, it's a filing technique to keep an eye on, given that all sorts of stuff can turn up in them.
I do know of a couple of other boxes of random stuff, but they aren't actually under anybody's desks, so that's okay. In time, once I've worked my way through all the BMRs, and the other QA documentation, and have expanded my collection of modern lockable filing cabinets, I shall have a rummage through those boxes as well to see what I can find.
I'm rather looking forward to it.
Fortunately, I am still in the very early stages of this role, and haven't yet had the time or opportunity to raid everybody's offices for stray documentation yet, something which I am secretly hopeful I will get the chance to do.
One of the things that people are often asking me to find - in fact, it's second only to batch manufacturing records (BMRs) on the hit parade - are copies of the contracts we have with various other companies. Unlike the BMRs, tracking down the contracts tends to prove challenging. In fact, they often come under the category of "items we hope come out of the woodwork once I've finished with the obvious stuff."
Other items that can be categorised in this way include old validations records and initial Regulatory submissions.
I'm still early on in this effort, and still plotting the areas to search next - we've turned up one or two interesting things already, relics of such filing techniques as "putting everything into a big box under somebody's desk", a technique which one really doesn't expect to find in a modern manufacturer, but does turn up from time to time. (I'm hoping that one will disappear entirely once we've got the official company procedures on the archiving of documents in place.) In fact, it's a filing technique to keep an eye on, given that all sorts of stuff can turn up in them.
I do know of a couple of other boxes of random stuff, but they aren't actually under anybody's desks, so that's okay. In time, once I've worked my way through all the BMRs, and the other QA documentation, and have expanded my collection of modern lockable filing cabinets, I shall have a rummage through those boxes as well to see what I can find.
I'm rather looking forward to it.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Breathing heavily.
I just took minutes for my first Production meeting with Mr Big present. It was...an experience, and one that made me glad that I was there to take notes and keep my mouth shut.
It actually went quite quickly - Mr Big has the effect of keeping meetings moving, I've noticed. That's a good thing, given that there have been a few occasions when my inbuilt meeting-limiter (ie the battery on Mistress Mouth's laptop) has ticked over and stopped meetings that were going overtime on more than one occasion. (As an aside - it's a good idea to have a meeting limiter like that in place, if you can manage it. It keeps things moving along and cuts down on idle chatter.)
The other side effect is that he makes meetings pretty intense. The Leprechaun is proving to be good at standing up for himself, even when he's dealing with Mr Big, and I'm still not entirely sure if he's being brave or foolhardy. I suspect both. Time will tell.
It actually went quite quickly - Mr Big has the effect of keeping meetings moving, I've noticed. That's a good thing, given that there have been a few occasions when my inbuilt meeting-limiter (ie the battery on Mistress Mouth's laptop) has ticked over and stopped meetings that were going overtime on more than one occasion. (As an aside - it's a good idea to have a meeting limiter like that in place, if you can manage it. It keeps things moving along and cuts down on idle chatter.)
The other side effect is that he makes meetings pretty intense. The Leprechaun is proving to be good at standing up for himself, even when he's dealing with Mr Big, and I'm still not entirely sure if he's being brave or foolhardy. I suspect both. Time will tell.
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