Kathy, What would be the repercussion of just calling the user yourself? I've done this before and our "in between" people would scoff, but I think they secretly were relieved that I just got the info myself.
I sometimes go by the mantra "It's easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission" It's not about abusing situations but about knowing when to push the boundaries. Also, do you cc the PM's supervisor on your emails? Lisa -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Kathy Morris Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 1:08 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Remedy Support Team Hierarchy Your situation sounds like a typical Development scenario to me... We welcome and have no issue with the role of a teachable person as the liaison between the users and developers - that's normal business practice. You said something very important in your email below...." I give them a list of items to find out and they go and gather the information. " This is the problem in our environment. List? Forget it.. .that's not going to happen here... First of all, this person cannot handle a list. We are struggling to get this PM to follow-up on one simple process question with a user so that the Developer can get his task completed. Secondly, whenever the developers email the PM to make sure the PM really understands what is needed - of course no reply from the PM. Weeks go by, and the PM asks the developer "When is this going to be done?" Of course the developer replies, "Were you able to get the feedback from the user?" The PM (still unable to comprehend the process question) responds, "Let's follow the agenda, first things first... What do we need to do to get this done?" The developer has to start all over again and re-explain what is needed to fulfill the task. Then instead of speaking with the user, the PM will find someone (even if they do not know the process) to figure out the process answer. We have tons of serious work to do, and I am thinking how on earth are we going to get things done with this situation we have? The PM that we are reporting to does not even understand the basics requirements gather, nor the process itself. We do not need a person who knows Remedy code, just a person who can connect the dots. -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of pritch Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 6:37 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Remedy Support Team Hierarchy Maybe it's just a training issue - I don't think developers should be making a habit of dealing with end users. It takes time for the client facing person to learn (and in reality, they probably don't want to learn) what the developers knows or what they need to know to research a problem. However, a go between in most cases is not an issue. The situation I deal with currently is where there is a department of folks (4 of them) that do all the client facing on issues - anything they cannot figure out they discuss with me - I give them a list of items to find out and they go and gather the information. The interaction helps in them learning how to work with the clients, gather the information and eventually solve similar problems without bringing me in. The only time I speak directly to the users (besides when presenting a training class) is if we cannot solve it and I need to see what is happening (beyond screenshots). At that point the client facing folks set up a webex and lead the live meeting. When we first stood up the system I was very active in the troubleshooting but now I don't know about most of the calls they field. In fact, recently they've started taking on more of the adminstrative work such as adding users, maintaining menu lists, etc. Just takes time and patience to get those folks up to speed. Of course if the person that is performing the client facing activities isn't interested or capable of learning how to support the users, then that may be an issue that needs to be discussed with management. just my two cents. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lisa A DLA CTR INFORMATION OPERATIONS Kemes" <lisa.kemes....@dla.mil> To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 2:13:43 PM Subject: Re: Remedy Support Team Hierarchy Kathy, Sounds rough, but I think you are in good company with a lot of us. I'm a contractor and so when an end user says they are having a problem with "opening a form and saving it" there are about 1000 questions I have for the end user, but that's what the Project Manager writes down and communicates to us. Plus, I want to make sure I recreate the problem EXACTLY as the customer is experiencing it (so I know what workflow to look at). Can I just pick up the phone and contact the end user? Nope, I have to work with ANOTHER contractor that asks the Program Manager of Remedy the questions I have, who then asks the end user. This process can take up to 4 weeks. It's awful, plus, because I'm not part of the conversation, I can't ask follow up questions right then and there. It's painful. Sometimes, I'm able to ask the Program Manager directly, but what I'd really like to do is get to that end user. I think there are a lot of us in the same boat. Lisa -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Kathy Morris Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 4:53 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Remedy Support Team Hierarchy ** Hi, Our Remedy team is having its challenges. Our Management has placed a person who has no technical clue about Remedy, or any aspect of software development to manage the critical Remedy Projects. Management seems to think that you do not need Remedy experience to manage these type of projects, all you need is the ability to go out there and ask questions, chase info down. The problem is: 1) this new person does not even know the right questions to ask, and 2) cannot articulate the answers. When the developer explains things to this project manager.... It's like us talking to a piece of sheetrock. By the way, most of the "ideas and processes" this person has begun to build is without leveraging the knowledge of the Remedy Developers J No information, new processes are even discussed to the developers. Unreal. I have not even mentioned the fact that the individual does not get along with 95% of the team. This individual is completely different Management so they think they have rescued us J What is the Remedy team structure like in other organizations? What roles are there? My experience has been Director of Technology, Remedy Team Lead, developers, admins, business analyst.... These type of roles. _ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_ ________________________________________________________________________ ____ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org "Where the Answers Are, and have been for 20 years" ________________________________________________________________________ ____ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org "Where the Answers Are, and have been for 20 years" ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org "Where the Answers Are, and have been for 20 years" _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org "Where the Answers Are, and have been for 20 years"
