Conference 7.286::digital

    Is this really a new topic, or is it a continuation of 111.*?
    Also, I sense a distinct possibility that this discussion can
    degenerate into the type for which SOAPBOX is (in)famous.  My
    apologies if I misinterpret the intent of the writer.
    
    Please continue the discussion of the issue of non-work-related
    conferences in topic 111, or, if you prefer, SOAPBOX.  The issue
    is one which is very upsetting.  However, I urge that we be calm
    and not overstate the case.  Thank you.
    
  --Simon
    

    I have changed the title of the topic from "NEXT!!!" to "Usage of
    company resources" which I think is more appropriate, given the
    intent of the author.  I have also re-enabled replies to this topic.
    However, given the emotional state we're in over the SEXCETERA issue,
    I would like to request a cooling-off period for this topic.  What
    we don't need right now is another discussion of potential ways
    for the company to interfere with employees' freedom when there
    is no evidence that this is being contemplated.  The only apparent
    issue right now is the one over note files, and let's focus on that.
    
    I'm really taking a chance in leaving this topic open.  Please heed
    my request.
    
  --Simon
    

    This topic is open, should you wish to discuss usage of company
    resources other than notes files.

Let me start with an anecdote...

Memo: Everyone working on this program is now required to work 50 hour
      weeks and every other Saturday is a regular work day.

Me (to supervisor): I'll be glad to cut down to 50 hours.


The point of this is that cracking down on the usage of company resources
is a double edged sword.  Personally, I believe that a strict crackdown
would be counterproductive in the long run.

OK, so I take a pen home and use it for personal writing.  What about
the drawing templates I buy with my own money, the ink and leads for my
fountain pen and mechanical pencils, the fancy graph paper, etc.

If the company adopts a strict policy of not permitting the use of company
resources for personal use, then I'll have to adopt a strict policy of
not using my personal resources for the company.

Some examples: a textbook from my undergraduate days has the analysis of
a circuit that would be useful in my present work, but oops, that's my
personal property, so it can't be used in company work, I guess I'll just
have to spend a few hundred dollars of time to try to figure it out on
my own.  There's a meeting in another facility to which there is no
shuttle service, sorry I can't take my personal auto because it's personal
and can't be used for company business.

But this is the small stuff.

Perhaps the most precious thing that will be lost is time! (See introductory
true anecdote).  You want me to work from 8:15-12:00/12:45-5:00?  Sure, but
that's only when I'll work.  Sorry, before and after is my personal time
and can't be used for company efforts.  Want me to travel such that I have
to be away from home other than the official 40 hours?  Sorry, unless in
writing you promise at least equal "comp" time.


I work pretty darn hard for this company and have put in a lot of hours
and sweat.  I expect the company to be as good to me as I am to them and
would expect that the majority of employees feel the same way.

So far, I have been very well treated and compensated.

But if the penny pinching bureaucratic attitude sets in, then the workforce
will respond in kind.  It is this sort of attitude on the part of "management"
that leads to unions.


This will be perhaps be Digital's biggest challenge.  How to maintain the
atmosphere of trust and individual responsibility that has made us such a
great company as we strive to maintain growth in an ever more competitive
environment.  By trying to "tighten up the ship" in an unhealthy preoccupation
with the quarterly financial results (a major plague in all of American
business in my opinion), the long term vitality, originality, creativity, and
spark may be sacrificed.


So, after that long winded tirade, any comments?

Bob

    Bob, I have to agree with you.  You could argue that using company
    resources for noting is not worthwhile, but I find that after beating
    my head against a wall on some problem, then stepping back for a
    few minutes to do something else (ie, noting) gives me a whole new
    perspective on the problem.  In essence, I'm being more effective
    as a company employee.  Even to the extent of adding a bit of levity
    to a *really bad* day, such as reviewing 251 ways to screw in a
    light bulb...
    
    One of the things that makes this company great is the fact that
    we have the freedom (within reason) to use the company resources.
    One of the most common criticisms I got from customers when working
    in the field is that "you guys don't even use your own technology".
    Maybe experimenting or noting (as long as we're not doing it at
    the expense of a "hot" problem that needs to be looked into asap)
    is beneficial.  I would say it is to me.  Get your mind off of JSR
    and MOVL for a few minutes, then get back to it.
    
    Jon

    	The most precious resource of any company...indeed, of any computer
    network, is the people who are accessible through it. NOTHING can
    bring so many people into the same social/corporate arena as Notes.
    To fully realize the potential of Digital's most precious and expensive
    resource, the Noting has barely begun. And all of the experience
    gained will be ten times as valuable when explained to other companies.
    
    	Ed

Re: .6,.7  My comments were prompted by the change in corporate
attitude I've seen in the 6 years I've been here and not specifically
by the recent pressures on NOTESfiles.

The financial types are now running the show, and quite successfully from
their (and the stock market's) view.  I also understand the need to
get our house in order to continue to grow and be profitable.

I also understand that petty, picky policies can crush employee
morale (especially those whose jobs are highly creative in nature) to
the point that the drive, the obsession that keeps people always
thinking about work problems, the spirit of the place is lost.  If
this happens, then Digital will lose what I believe to be its most
valuable competitive edge.  We will become another IBM, a stale
marketing company, never at the leading edge, but withuout IBM's
size to carry us.  No longer would the market be IBM, Digital,
and all the rest.  No longer would we be the world's premier computer
company.

In my reply (.4? .5?) I was strongly voicing concern that strictly
enforced policies on not using company resources (be they disk
space, network bandwidth, stationary supplies, soldering irons...)
for personal use would only demoralize a highly motivated crew.  My
personal reaction would then be to implement a strict no personal resources
(time, calculator, car, stationary supplies...) for company business
policy.

This leads to the big challenge facing Digital's "management" today:
How to maintain a cost effective business, improve productivity,
AND maintain morale.

Do I know how to do this?  I wish.

Bob

    	Hopefully, this will come up at the Noter's SIG, or after...but
    in answer to .8, I really think Notes itself could be a big part
    of the answer to this riddle, "How do you run a huge conmpany on
    the cutting edge of technology?" Exactly how? Let's all think about
    it, and talk about it, in Notes...Encourage people who don't use
    Notes to try them out...and let's all get our suggestions on how
    to make the product more productive for larger numbers of people
    into VAXNOTES. It would be a start. 
    
    	Notes is not an answer, but it is a medium in which the answer
    can be fostered.
    
    	Ed
    

	RE: .5

	Whether you know it or not, the attitude you cite is called
	destructive obedience.  I have seen it used effectively in some
	cases but only as a tool for retaliation.  There is nothing gained
	that way but hard feelings on both sides.

	RE: .7

	If the employees are such a valuable resource then why have we been
	trying to get rid of so many?  We once were what made DEC, now we
	seam to be a commodity that needs to be reshuffled to build the
	New Digital.  Notes is probably the way DEC can keep its human
	orientation with over 60K (80K?) people.  As goes Notes, so goes
	the future for DEC culture.

	RE: .8

> Re: .6,.7  My comments were prompted by the change in corporate
> attitude I've seen in the 6 years I've been here and not specifically
> by the recent pressures on NOTESfiles.

	Try being here over 13 years... the changes in attitude are
	mind boggling.

> The financial types are now running the show, and quite successfully from
> their (and the stock market's) view.

	Ever heard of a false economy?  The company can take away things
	for only so long before its people stop giving.  Maybe they are
	just looking for that point of resistance.  Even the folks I know
	that work for IBM, have pride in their company... how many of you
	would be proud of a company that tries to squeeze every last ounce
	out of you?

> This leads to the big challenge facing Digital's "management" today:
> How to maintain a cost effective business, improve productivity,
> AND maintain morale.

	What's this AND stuff?  I can't think of much DEC has done to
	maintain morale lately (let alone improve it)?  If it wasn't
	for the excellent management I believe I have, I'd really start
	to believe that this company is falling apart.

		Bob L.

    re .10: I would submit that if you can successfully keep morale
    high in the employees, the expected result would be higher
    profitability via higher productivity.  Some of the discussions
    here lead to me think of the "eye for an eye" syndrome: "you take
    stuff away from me, I'll take stuff away from you".  But by that
    very principle, if things are *not* taken away from employees, then
    the employees feel better (willing?) about giving more to the company
    in terms of time & effort.
    
    Also, I understand as of Apr 15 it's now over 90K folks.
    
    Jon

        After 10.5 years at DEC, I think the worst things for morale are
        people who spread destructive rumors, believe the worst of
        everything, and look for bogey-men under every rock. Morale
        isn't something that is passed down from above. It is something
        we create.
        
        JimB.

Maybe things are better where I am than in other places.  In fact, I'm
sure they are.

A while back, a memo went around saying that we couldn't have measured circle 
calling on our DEC provided home phones, because it was impossible to check
whether it was being used for personal calls.  And Duane Dickhut immediately
sent a counter memo saying that policy was garbage and people should manage 
their DEC home phones in whatever way is best for the company.

I only heard about Duane's memo after I had ordered measured circle.  I bloody
well wasn't going to pay attention to any picky policy that hurts the company.
And if any financial type had called me on it, I would have told them to see
my manager, knowing that he feels exactly the same way I do.

I'm loyal to DEC, because DEC (in the person of my managers) is loyal to me.
Some attitude changes are inevitable, as the company gets bigger and we 
become strangers to a greater percentage of the company.  Also, some increase 
in bureaucracy is inevitable, too.  But when these picky policies get 
promulgated, what's needed is grass-roots rejection.  Of course, your boss
has to be sympathetic.  But I suspect that most are.  If yours isn't, you
better change jobs.

The problem between doing what is right for the company and following where
picky policies lead is not restricted to things like notes files and phone
bills.  It turns out that a lot of product decisions over whether to use
DEC-produced VLSI are based on a comparison between DEC chip transfer costs
and external prices.  After all, those are the prices that you have to sum
to determine whether you met your cost target, so if a uVAX costs $50 and
somebody else's processor costs $40, you use the outside processor, right?

Wrong.  It only costs DEC about $9 to build one more uVAX, never mind that 
the transfer cost is set to amortize the cost of the fab line and the unused
capacity.  Those expenses are there whether you use the DEC chip or not,
so (from the point of view of doing what's best for the company) they
really shouldn't be considered.

The same story can be told with respect to DEC manufacturing plants.
There is even one plant that sells labor on the open market for a
fraction of what they are forced to charge internally (and makes money
doing it).

To me, the bottom line is: do what's best for the company, also do what you 
have to to get the company to reward you as you deserve.  And if what
you do to fulfill the first is not the same as what you do to fulfill
the second, then speak out for change.

	Enjoy,
	Larry

    RE: -.1
    
    WHAT home phones?
    

    Re .-1:  Yeah, WHAT home phones?  I work for Duane Dickhut too.

    re: .16
    Sorry Charlotte, if you live in line of sight to DEC you can't have
    a phone.  :-)    Seriously, just ask, you should be able to get
    one.
    
    My home phone has measured circle.  No one has ever questioned it.
    It saves DEC a small fortune.

    Speaking of line of sight to DEC.
    
    Until very recently, Jeff Lomicka lived on Thomson Street directly
    across from the Mill.  In fact, his brother's lab was directly across
    the street.  Jeff set up an optical link between his terminal and
    the lab and was able to enjoy a relatively high comm channel (I
    believe about 4800 baud).  This only worked during the half of the year
    that the trees were bare.
    
    Jim Pappas

    Last I heard, DEC was no longer paying for home phone lines.  They'll
    pay for existing ones, but not for any new ones.  I've gotten this
    line from 2 sets of mangement (one in Andover, and one in Spitbrook).
    The only time I was able to get around this rule was when I shared
    a house with 3 other DEC employees in the same department.
    
    Sigh.
    
    	- Barry

    re: .19
    The interpretation of this rule in Hudson MA seems to be that DEC
    won't pay directly for a home phone.  I used to have the bill sent
    directly to DEC.  I never saw it.  When I moved, I was told that
    I had to pay myself, and bring the bill in every month and fill
    out an expense voucher.
    
    Some extra paperwork, but it probably saves DEC a lot of money.
    When they paid direct, they paid the business rate.  Now they pay
    the residential rate (about 1/3 I think).

    re:-.1,.2
    
    I spent several years in Corporate Telecom making recommendations
    here.  Legally, the fact that Digital pays the bill doesn't make
    the line a Business line, subject to business rates; if the line
    is in a house and is used "for a person to call their place of
    employment" (using a modem doesn't matter, it's still a phone call),
    then the line can legally be ordered as residential and get the
    MUCH cheaper rates.  However, there is much suspicion among
    clerical-level employees at the telephone companies when this is
    done.  Also, the person whose house the phone is in must do the
    ordering, or at least call up to verify the order.  Many Digital
    people, especially in plant telecom groups, couldn't believe the
    good news, and continued the abuse of ordering business lines in
    houses.  (It's abuse by the phone company!)

<set flame=simmer>
       
    What really upset us, though, were requests for "stations off premise".
    These are an ASTONISHING PAIN to install.  Each one could mean a
    day's work by a Senior Analyst-level person!  Plus hundreds of dollars
    in labor charges from the PBX vendor, telephone company, etc.  You
    have to be there to believe it.  After all, there are several vendors
    involved (the PBX vendor, the telephone company, the set manufaturer,
    etc.).  And the cost is VERY high -- typically over $100/month.
    The only exception is for Centrex lines, where being off-premise
    simply means you pay a somewhat higher rate for the line (like $20
    vs. $12 for basic service, those are rough numbers) plus the mileage,
    but NOT the "local loop" charges (which were about $65/month) and
    their associated installation charges (hundreds).  But guess what
    -- there is no more Centrex in Digital in New England (except Waltham
    branch office, for the moment).  So it's very hard to cost-justify
    an SOP when you could order a second residential line and get Bay
    State, Circle, TSN, or some other dirt-cheap residential service.
    
    I don't know the cost of processing your bill through petty cash.
    But you should definitely NOT have the company pay for a Business
    line in your house!  It's a total waste.
         fred