Allow me to rant...

[devo]

For a few months I have been researching a topic to present to the "upper managment" types at work. I put together a bang-up presentation and have been itching to present it for quite some time.

The gent I'm working for told me the perfect date and I got really excited. I would finally get to present!!!!

But one of the key members of my audience had a conflict. Not a huge deal...just need to reschedule. I talked with him over a few days trying to figure out a good day to present. We settled on a date.

Fast forward to Monday. I get a phone message from someone (lets say his name is RM) that they need the conference room I booked, as a Lieutenant Colonel is coming in and they need to make a presentation to him. RM says that he booked another conference room all day for me to use. Shouldn't be an issue right? Turns out that they are presenting to this LC at the same time I am presenting, and my audience is going to be at RM's presnetation also. Need to reschedule again for later in the day.

Well today comes, and I notice someone is all setup in the room I was supposed to be in. And I'm due to present in about 15min. I walk in and say, "Excuse me, but are you guys in here for the rest of the day?" He replied, "Yes we are."

:Angry::Angry::Angry:

No conference rooms. My "upper managment" types are no where to be found. I am royaly PO'ed. When my senior engineer comes back tomorrow, I am going to tell him whats up...I got screwed out of a conference room....:Angry:

Thanks for reading. :biggrin:

 

[User]

Wow...sounds like you are really bad at organizing things. You need to work with the bureaucracy, not against it.

 

[devo]

The room was reserved all day. No one should have been in it.

What I think happened was that the LC's meeting got pushed back and the room that he was supposed to be in, he stayed, and those guys got pused into my room.

Oh and I sent out the outlook meeting makers. People responded. But these are extremelly important individuals....and I'm just too new to try and disrupt things.

 

[User]

So why not commandeer some other conference room?

I work for/with the gov't. The people who succeed are those who take all the problems and find sneaky ways to still get everything done that needs to be done despite the bureaucracy.

From a manager's perspective, it doesn't matter if it didn't happen because it was "your fault" or "someone else's fault." It only matters if it got done.

 

[mdnativ]

The room was reserved all day. No one should have been in it.

What I think happened was that the LC's meeting got pushed back and the room that he was supposed to be in, he stayed, and those guys got pused into my room.

Oh and I sent out the outlook meeting makers. People responded. But these are extremelly important individuals....and I'm just too new to try and disrupt things.

Devo,

I work for the US federal government and my agency's environment is fluid. Take it or leave it, it is what it is...

Don't take this personally because it all rolls downhill from the POTUS & Congress. Take the opportunity to tweak your presentation or work on other activities.

If it becomes OBE (overtaken by events), set it aside and work on the new activity. Chances are it may become the flavor of the hour next week. You can also set aside a few minutes with your senior engineer and present it informally.

Good luck to you.

 

[devo]

So why not commandeer some other conference room?

I work for/with the gov't. The people who succeed are those who take all the problems and find sneaky ways to still get everything done that needs to be done despite the bureaucracy.

From a manager's perspective, it doesn't matter if it didn't happen because it was "your fault" or "someone else's fault." It only matters if it got done.

I would have commandeered another room, except we dont have any...go figure.

Devo,

I work for the US federal government and my agency's environment is fluid. Take it or leave it, it is what it is...

Don't take this personally because it all rolls downhill from the POTUS & Congress. Take the opportunity to tweak your presentation or work on other activities.

If it becomes OBE (overtaken by events), set it aside and work on the new activity. Chances are it may become the flavor of the hour next week. You can also set aside a few minutes with your senior engineer and present it informally.

Good luck to you.

I hear you...it just ticked me off. But I'm a better now.

I just spoke with my Cheif engineer and he said we should be good for tomorrow....and I wont let anyone take my conference room this time!!!

 

[wgilles]

Wow...sounds like you are really bad at organizing things. You need to work with the bureaucracy, not against it.

Ouch...

 

[Philippe Roger]

I would have commandeered another room, except we dont have any...go figure.

That explains why your room got hijacked. Their presentation is probably more "important" than yours, so they got the only room they could have/take. What do you think should have happened? That they pushed that LC and his important meeting back, without this meeting taking place, just so you could have had yours? :wink: Did I mention that theirs was more "important" than yours? :smile:

If it's any consolation, that situation is quite common in the corporate world as well, when there are fewer meeting rooms than really needed... Just live with it.

 

[Muonic]

Unfortunately, people can be very rude. I'd tell them if they want to see the presentation, they can come find you....at your convenience.

Yeah, I've burned a lot of bridges....

 

[Joseph]

This is a great opportunity to be creative.... use the lunch room instead of the conference room and project a better, more relaxed atmosphere. People tend to become "tensed" when they're in conference rooms (not to mention boring). Use the lunch room and order a few boxes of pizza for everyone and then start the presentation. You'll be amazed how the crowd becomes more receptive when they are in a casual setting. This is like photography... it doesn't matter how the photo is processed, all that matters is you get the result you want!

If the presentation is TOP NOTCH, it doesn't matter if the meeting is held in the parking lot.

 

[Ed-Gein]

Sorry to hear that! Things can definatly be frustrating. dont let it fluster you, vent a bit, but dont vent at work. you dont want them thinking yer not a team player or anything.


:frown:

 

[Ed-Gein]

Wow...sounds like you are really bad at organizing things. You need to work with the bureaucracy, not against it.

wow, sounds like you are really bad at sympathizing. Sometimes people just need to vent about the bureaucracy, not be told they are bad at things.

 

[nephets0]

I hate it when crap like that happens. My job has more bureaucracy than the United States government and it takes an act of about 8 different departments to get one person approved for a day off, let alone get a conference room scheduled for a 45 minute team meeting...

 

[User]

wow, sounds like you are really bad at sympathizing. Sometimes people just need to vent about the bureaucracy, not be told they are bad at things.

As a manager, I told him exactly what I would have told one of my workers who was complaining to me. There is not much sympathy, yes.

 

[Ed-Gein]

As a manager, I told him exactly what I would have told one of my workers who was complaining to me. There is not much sympathy, yes.

Im glad yer not my manager. :wink: im prett sure the OP is glad yer not his manager either.... do you talk to everyone the way you talk to your employees?

lol

 

[TOLady]

Stuff like that makes me happy I'm self employed and working from my home office. I do not miss the corporate life at all (over 23 years ago). I run my own show, run my own meetings, and don't pay the overhead.

 

[NewBert]

Stuff like that makes me happy I'm self employed and working from my home office. I do not miss the corporate life at all (over 23 years ago). I run my own show, run my own meetings, and don't pay the overhead.

Stuff like that makes me happy that I'm retired. I can sympathize about bureacracy - I worked for the Federal Government for almost 33 years....

 

[User]

Im glad yer not my manager. :wink: im prett sure the OP is glad yer not his manager either.... do you talk to everyone the way you talk to your employees?

lol

I'm generally pretty friendly with my employees and we get along well. I just don't lie to them or sugar coat things and they appreciate that. And yes, in general, i speak my mind and don't sugar coat things when talking to anybody.

 

[Koran]

I have worked in about every office position from file clerk to Managing Supervisor of the third largest union in the US. The only advice I can offer is not to remind your audience of the negatives. Even comments as simple as,"Well, I tried to show this all to you last week but I kept getting bumped" can come across as whining! When you do finally get your audience, tell them that you are excited to be presenting to them today and hope they receive it as interesting as you did while putting it together. Smile and just remember, no matter how ticked off you are or what happened up until that point, you are going to be positive. Show you can go with the flow and that you have alot to offer. If you are new to a place you want your impression to be a positive, intelligent one. The last thing you want is to become that pain in the butt employee who may have alot to offer but your audience would rather hear chalkboard scratching while you sit and complain. Its good you got your feelings out here. Then you can go in with a clear conscience.

OH...that will be $65 ha ha Therapy is not cheap.....

Hang in there, everything happens for a reason.

 

[devo]

thanks for the advice / slap in the face / shoulders to cry on....I needed all of it!!! :biggrin:

I'm going to present today, and I'm going to borrow one of the marine guards to keep anyone out who wants to comandeer my conference room...

Thanks again!!!