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I was familiar with this simple truth when I worked as a data analyst a few years ago. I would go into the far reaches of Excel creating spreadsheets with thousands of lines of data. Maybe I would even create auto-refresh reports that pulled data from Access databases into Excel to suit my needs. It was awesome.
Though a data analyst no-longer, I still use Excel and data compilation for both of my jobs. As someone who appreciates the urgency of an impending deadline (a delicate way of saying a procrastinator by choice), I often find myself staring at an Excel database for hours on end. This causes what I like to think of as the “Excel Effect.” A little known medical phenomena where the cells of an Excel document have been burned onto the retina causing you to see the cells in the world around you. *Note: This is similar to the medical condition that occurs when playing too much WoW. Sitting in a meeting, frustrated with the outcome, and reaching for the hot-key to blast your colleague with your moonfire/wrath/firebolts/etc.
Anyway, I usually get to keep to my Excel-ness for work these days as no one really needs to see printed out reports. I mind a database. I don’t have to run queries off of it or furnish the higher-ups with reports, I am in charge of the data. That’s it. Last week, however, I needed to give some of the raw data I was compiling to a professor for whom I am working. I had a great idea (I thought): I’ll send him my database. Everything he could possibly want to know is in there. Each row contains all of the data to every question for each institution. I thought it was fabulous. He did not. The next day I got an email that he could not “print out the information I sent.” And, that is a very true statement.
I didn’t think he would want to print it. In fact, I think I mentioned in the email that it was best to use the spreadsheet as a quick reference. But, that was not what he wanted. He did not appreciate the simple beauty that was my master database. So, I spent 3 1/2 hours that evening printing out all of the individual responses for our data set. It was time consuming and boring, but it was what he needed.
At our meeting the next day, he flipped through all of the printed responses and was able to pull out all kinds of interesting things. He liked to see the data in front of him. To hold it. We had a very productive meeting when he was able to have the data in a form he understood. The Excel spreadsheet was not what he needed to be productive and make decisions. It might be all pretty and together to me, but to some folks it is just a bunch of lines and squares.
I had forgotten that.
I often am surprised at how annoyed I am by too much information. Not so much with news or current events…rather with goings-on I didn’t need to know about that do nothing but hinder my productivity.
For example, my office has a really great calendar management system. Attendance records can be added at any time for all staff (by them or any other staff member) that displays, on the desktop of every computer in the department, as a widget-like data screen. When completing attendance records in this system, one is allowed to choose from a variety of “Out of the Office” excuses: bereavement, sick, personal time, vacation, late, leaving early, etc. Staff members in my office are rock star quality good at all but one of those categories. …give up yet??? Late. Most of my co-workers have no idea how to use the “Late” calendar item. To some it is easier to send an email to the ENTIRE office proclaiming that some staff member has called in late.
There are many problems I find with this.
1. It would seem that sending an email to the ENTIRE office about a late arrival is the equivalent of an elementary playgrounds “nah-na-nah-na-boo-boo! You’re later than me, so I’m better than you” (*sticks tongue out) kind of a thing.
2. Email inboxes office wide become clogged from weeks and weeks of “late” arrivals.
3. Most people are only late 15 min, so the email seems a bit silly. The caller, henceforth called only The Late One, almost seems to be seeking attention. The Late One seems to find comfort in knowing that somewhere, someone is missing them and proclaiming it from the hilltops. It’s a total cry for attention.
4. Why are people calling if they are only 15 min late? We have a very responsible office, we all work overtime eventually…it’s silly to guilt the 15 min.
5. We don’t care if you are late. Really.
6. Why not use the awesome staff calendar widget when someone is late as opposed to emailing the entire office? It’s really cool. It refreshes with updates, so if the person who is late is needed (assuming they did not happen to have manners and call the person they were late in meeting with) the person who needs them will automatically go the office calendar and check to see if they are late. (*sigh) It’s amazing when things work as they were designed to.
7. We really, really don’t care if someone departments away is late. Really.
8. We really don’t even care if someone IN our department is late.
9. Why are we calling the office secretary if we are late again? Stuck in traffic?…hmmm, don’t care. Overslept?…still not caring. Problems at daycare?…you have a kid?…and I don’t care. Flat tire, AAA’s comi (*finger on lips)ssssshhhhh…(*whisper) don’t care. It’s all okay. I don’t need to know.
Finally, the WORST thing that happens after the “So-and-so is late email”
10. The reply to the ENTIRE staff that reads “I’m here!”
This email was written by a frequently late staff member who generally assumes her co-workers don’t give a damn. Really.
Jack of all trades, master of none. That’s me in my office…I’m the shaman – or so it might seem to people around me. I often fall victim to people-don’t-know-exactly-what-it-is-I-do-so-I-feel-lost syndrome. I am a data analyst who took the position filled formerly by a market researcher. My position was a new thought that sprang out of a year of change for my office. Most of us n00bs have been here nearly a year now and have done well to settle into our job pants.
It recently became clear to me that I need to grateful rather than frustrated by inability to be classified or lumped into a “this is what I do” category. Sure, it may be frustrating at times but it’s not really a bad thing.
What I would like to be – a go getter. A “sure I can do that” person. I would like to not be limited. I can learn computer programs. I can learn statistics. I can learn whatever it is I need to be successful at any endeavour.
What I need to do – I need to always be positive. I need to say yes to all projects. I need to make it clear that I can do what has to be done, and I can do it well. I need to be an initiator. I need to get the ball rolling – make suggestions about what I could do that would enhance and add to the project or office.
I have never sought to be framed, categorized, or easily referenced in any part of my life. I am glad to realize I am just unwieldly in regards to classification in my professional work as well.
Something to think about…Once people know what it is you “do”, you may never get to try new things. Embrace lack of classification. You get to wear a lot more hats and you look great in all of them.
That is to say I grin and bear it five days a week when I put on my data analyst hat. I had vowed off PC’s in 2002 thanks to the Dell Dimension 8100 and Microsoft ME, but with a software program used at work that only runs on a PC, I am bound to Michael Dell once again. Now it’s not all that bad. XP is leagues better than ME ever was and neat things can be done with widgets and the like. My allegiance in personal computing matters remains firmly in the Apple category; however, I have learned how to appreciate and negotiate many things Microsoft.
I am an unlikely member of the yuppie IT professional group. My background is in entertainment, media, and gender studies, yet my current surrounding is littered with Excel, Access, Fireworks, and World of Warcraft. I am a computer geek, or quickly traveling down that path.
This blog will chronicle my often hilarious journey through the world of data analysis and all things IT.
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