Conference 7.286::digital

Maybe instead of having the problem fixed you should nominate this person for
the next round of TFSO's!.  If they don't want to respond, I'm sure a forced
response will not be what you or your co-worker want.  They have to want to be
a manager.  You can't make'm.

    
    Re:.1
    
    please notice it is HIS manager who fails to respond.
    
    Seriously it is not worth the trouble elevating this unless not
    elevating it could cause YOU damage.  Believe me,I've been there.  
    Making your boss look bad will simply make life miserable later on.
    Keep *ALL* the mail you sent him and make sure he does not accuse you
    of not keeping him updated.
    
    Even then, he'll probably end up blaming you anyway...
    
    -Ed
    

Re:                   <<< Note 2896.0 by CSLALL::DRUSSO >>>

>    1. When do you bring this lack of attention to employee needs to a higher
>    level?
    
When your manager's away (e.g. on vacation) and you can then go to his/her 
manager explaining that you need a response which wasn't forthcoming earlier.

Chances are that his/her manager will ask you a few more questions...  :-)

-  David

    always keep cool and professional.
    try to include "no reply till xx-xxx-xxxx is considered affirmative"
    try to put HIS manager on the CC list.
    
    bit first of all, try to talk, maybe he's got a reason.
    
    cheers, christoph                      

    Keeping copies of the mails is good advice, but I'd go further and
    suggest that you used READ RECEIPTS on the mails, and keep those too. 
    It outwits the "I've never seen that mail, how was I expected to
    respond to it?" response when the manager's finally challenged about
    his/her responsiveness.

    try looking at it from their side.  Maybe you are at your "terminal"
    and can respond instantly to the twelve or fifteen messages that you
    receive each day.  Your manager may not be near the terminal for more
    than 1 hour and receives 50 messages.  It takes time to decide which
    messages are more important, read each one and respond, etc.
    
    Suggest an office standard for message subject headers that will help
    prioritize messages.  "I" for Informational, "A" for Action required,
    and "U" for Urgent.
    
    Mark

    
    If you really need a response, go to them in person and ask for an
    answer or a response.  Although mail is a powerful tools, you cannot
    always count on it to get the job done.
    
    Some managers don't even read their mail until after it's been
    through a third party (e.g., their secretary).  I've had an experience
    where a manager let their secretary sort through their mail first.  I
    didn't receive a response because my mail was so short and contained
    virtually no information because I assumed that this manager would
    receive it personally (the message said something like "How are things	
    going?").  The manager did not respond because (I suspect) the message
    was thrown out as "junk mail".  Had the manager actually seen it, the
    manager would have understood it and replied.
    
    I finally got my reply by finding this manager and talking with them in
    person.  You must always follow through with your message.
    
    Dennis 
    

    
    Go to mgr's office.  If mgr not present, your organization may
    no longer exist, or your manager may have been TFSO'd, demoted,
    reorganized, or transferred.
    
    If mgr is present, but only stares blankly, check pulse before
    assuming death, which can be confused with mgr work postures.
    
    If mgr is present and alive, look for an electronic device in
    office.  If none, mgr may not be aware of these.  Use Voicemail.
    All mgrs have phone.  Same if electronic device, but not plugged in.
    
    If mgr has plugged-in electronic device, ask to example NACK of MAIL.
    
    Hope this helps.  bb :-)
    

    In response to some of your replies. This issue goes deeper than
    managers just failing to answer mail. They have reached a point where
    they fail to respond to the needs of their employees, period. When they
    have communication sessions and questions are raised, the answers are
    full of rhetoric. When approached in person they say that they have to
    run off to an important meeting, and leave it to you to attempt to
    schedule time with them. Then quite often they ask to reschedule
    because something more important, "has come up".
    
    Communication is generally difficult! My feeling is that if they've
    taken the time to read your mail, then to spend 30 seconds just to
    reply and say that the mail was received, is a good start. I am not
    suggesting a three page response to a mail message. How about the
    courtesy of a simple "I've received your message, and will take your
    suggestion under consideration. Please remind me of this commitment if
    you haven't heard from me in x days". Is that too much to expect?

>   <<< Note 2896.5 by ATYISB::HILL "Don't worry, we have a cunning plan!" >>>

>    suggest that you used READ RECEIPTS on the mails, and keep those too. 

  Is this feature available on VMS? I checked on-line help for Mail and
couldn't find anything like this. I have thought for years that it would be a
good to be able to set up VMS mail to auto-send a message to the sender saying
something like "I have read mail message titled xxxxx" when you read the mess-
age. Is that what "read receipts" does?
  I agree with a previous reply that most managers receive a huge volume of
electronic mail. I consider this the #1 problem with electronic mail in Digital,
that it is much too easy to send mail to large distribution lists and as a
result, people (especially managers) get a large volume of "junk" mail. 
  A good rule that I follow is to try to put as much info as possible into the
first 40 characters of the title, so that people can sort of tell what the
message is about when doing a mail directory. Those messages that people send
titled "FYI", "thought you might want to see this", etc. really bug me.

>>    suggest that you used READ RECEIPTS on the mails, and keep those too. 
>
>  Is this feature available on VMS? I checked on-line help for Mail and
>

Ah, maybe it is simlpy a technical disconnect.
You are clearly using VMSmail (no read receipts)
and perhaps your manager only know how to do ALL-IN-1 ?!

Naahhh...


Hein.

re: managers are busy, managers have other's read their mail, managers
    don't know how to use mail...

Someone just handed me a copy of an article out of the New Yorker entitled
"E-mail from Bill", in which the author discusses his experiences  interviewing
Bill Gates via E-mail.  I haven't had a chance to read more than the first page
(of 13...).  On that page is Bill Gates' reply to the authors initial mail
message of "...could you begin by telling me what you thing is unique about
e-mail as a form of communication"

the text of Bill's reply was:
"
E-mail is a unique communication vehicle for a lot of reasons.  However email
is not a substitude for direct interaction...

There are people who I have corresponded with  on email for months before
actually meeting them -- people at work and otherwise.  If someone isn't saying
something of interest it is easier to not respond to their mail than it is not
to answer the phone.  In fact I give out my home phone number to almost no
one but my email addres is known very broadly. I am the only person who reads my
email so no one has to worry about embarassing themselves or going around peole
when they send a message. Our email is completly secure...

Email helps out with other types of communication.  It allows you to exchange a
lot of information  advance of a meeting and make the meeting far far more
valuable... 

Email is not a good wat to get mad at someone since you can't interact .  You
can send friendly messages very easily since tohose are harder to misinterpret.
"

If Bill Gates can handle his own email, every manager in this company should
be able to do the same.  If they can't, maybe they don't belong here.

Personally, I'd like to setup a VCR by each employee entrance.  To enter
the building, you must be able to set the time on the VCR (with or with
out the instructions, I don't care...).  If you can't get that done
in 5 minutes or less - you shouldn't be working for a high tech company.

       <<< Note 2896.12 by HIBOB::KRANTZ "Next window please." >>>

>Personally, I'd like to setup a VCR by each employee entrance.  To enter
>the building, you must be able to set the time on the VCR (with or with
>out the instructions, I don't care...).  If you can't get that done
>in 5 minutes or less - you shouldn't be working for a high tech company.

    gee whiz, i dont think this is a fair test, even me myself have no clue 
    how to set the timer on the VCR, so by your test, i wont make it in,
    i'd say this is the wrong test for the wrong purpose.

    ref. e-mail as a means for communizations.

    i heard that one can actually send Bill Gate e-mail just like
    you'll send email to a normal person and that he reads his mail
    directly. i myself like face to face direct communications because
    you can see the facial expressions, and as they say, facial expressions
    is worth a 1,000 words and you can't put these in writing.

    i'd also like to suggest vedio-telecommuncations as a compromise
    between e-mail and direct face-to-face verbal meetings.

    \nasser

Some managers (and other people) are completely verbal - they don't respond
no-how to electronic anything. Choices may be limited when this person is your
manager. The "electronic" folks have ranted and raved about this forever - and
the verbal folks rant and rave 'cuz we don't communicate "their" way, never mind
that verbal discussions have a funny way of being selectively remembered,
usually not in your favor. How badly do you want/have to communicate? You may
have to match styles - or at least move in that direction - to get your messages
through.

Others have counseled covering yourself - not a bad idea - one of my old bosses
used to keep a log of conversations which was quite effective in some
circumstances even if not legally binding. 

Disabling sending of ALL-IN-1 read-receipts is an option somewhere in some menu
someplace - so you can't depend on getting one i.e. not getting one may not
indicate non-receipt.

Best of luck.
Norm

>    gee whiz, i dont think this is a fair test, even me myself have no clue 
>    how to set the timer on the VCR, so by your test, i wont make it in,
>    i'd say this is the wrong test for the wrong purpose.
    
    This reply convinced me that it is worth a try. :-)
    
    		Alfred

    re .15
    
    Hmmm - I kind of assumed that the flashing time display on the VCR was
    a pretty good sign that the company building it couldn't afford
    competent industrial designers.  But maybe Dave Barry was right - if
    computers were easy to use, they would be useless for their prime
    purpose, which is proving that we're real "stud hombre cybermuffins".
    
    After all, we don't care if anybody BUYs them, obviously. ;->
    
    /Butch

    Well, personally, I only use the clock on the VCR to keep track of
    whether or not there were power failures while I was gone ...  
    
    Of course, in my house we use the smoke alarm as a dinner bell ...
    
    And, I use the keyboard, mouse and monitor on the PC at home to track
    what kinds of snack foods the kids are getting.  A little jam here,
    some peppermint candy goo there, cookie crumbs stuck between the "J"
    and "K" keys, can't quite tell what's stuck on the mouse ball, but it's
    sweet ...
    
    It's all very hi-tech.
    
    Steve

    Yeah,I know what you mean steve. I use the outside steps as a way to
    tell me when it's getting icy out. See when I hear loud noises and
    crashing of bodies as people slip and fall I can determine precisely
    what the weather is like. My house is sorta "low-tech".
    
    Ken

	So we are all in agreement?  When you send mail to a manager
and you don't get an answer it's time to find a new manager???

    Re: .19
    
    That's the impression that I've gotten from the replies. Does anybody
    know of a GOOD manager?

    I've got a good manager.  By far the most oustanding people person I've
    run across; oh, and with a keen business mind as well.
    
    I'm nominating Ramneek Bhasin, manager of the Western Region Business
    Partner Developers Assistance (WR-BPDA) group in Palo Alto.
    
    I'm hoping this gives some hope that they do exist!
    
    Chuck

    Terry Mc Cauley
    
    One of the best....EVER!
    
    
    

    i feel if i become a manager one day that i'll be a good manager, i'll
    give every one a raise like 20% every 6 or 7 months, whats the hick.
    
    every DECeee should ask themseleves this question, if they become a 
    manager, will they be a good manager too?
    
    \nasser
    a_potionally_good_manager

    \nasser:
    
    i wouldn't mind workin for you 'cept when it came to the Chess Hour!

    Right direction, wrong people mover...you probably want to
    escalate the issue...
    
    NitPicker Extraordinaire