TPS Reports...
Dec. 12th, 2006 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plonqI have been finding a report on my desk every day or two for he past couple of weeks. Each time it has been left without any explanation or contact information - though sometimes a column has been highlighted to draw my attention to it. Since the highlighted column contained nothing but ########, I assumed that somebody was trying to call my attention to a problem in the report. The problem with the report (aside from the fact that it's not mine) is pretty obvious to me; one of the columns is not wide enough to hold the data being entered into it. Solution: widen the column. Unfortunately I did not know who was leaving the report on my desk, so I obviously did not know to whom I should pass this pearl of wisdom.
This morning the mystery report-leaver finally showed up in person holding a copy of the report. I assured him that I had no idea whose report it was, nor did I know where to find so that I could fix it. On a hunch, I asked him a question to which I already knew the answer.
"Is the report template they are using an Excel spreadsheet?" He did not know. I grilled him for information, and eventually pieced together a picture like this:
- Officemonkey employee receives paperwork
- Enters this data into a template in Word (or possibly a different text editor)
- Cuts this data from the text editor and pastes it into the report template (which may or may not be Excel)
- Deletes the ####### column and replaces it with random information to make it go away
...! Wait! Back up a second. They're deleting that column and replacing it with random bullshit numbers to make the #####s go away? You mean because not one of the people in this chain of incompetence thought to resize the column? We've only been using the MS Office suite since 1995, so I know how an obscure thing like column-resizing might be a mystery to many here... NOT!
OMFGIWANTTOSTABMYBRAINOUTWITHANICEPICK
That was three hours ago. He promised to look into it and get back to me. He hasn't.
[Edit: Most of the people in my office are actually very bright individuals, but stuff like this drives me up the wall; it smacks less of stupid than it does of indifference. And yes, I am obviously grumpy today. Facing myself on the concrete this morning put me a little off -- though I've subsequently had some miracle coffee that is boosting my mood by the sip.]
This morning the mystery report-leaver finally showed up in person holding a copy of the report. I assured him that I had no idea whose report it was, nor did I know where to find so that I could fix it. On a hunch, I asked him a question to which I already knew the answer.
"Is the report template they are using an Excel spreadsheet?" He did not know. I grilled him for information, and eventually pieced together a picture like this:
- Office
- Enters this data into a template in Word (or possibly a different text editor)
- Cuts this data from the text editor and pastes it into the report template (which may or may not be Excel)
- Deletes the ####### column and replaces it with random information to make it go away
...! Wait! Back up a second. They're deleting that column and replacing it with random bullshit numbers to make the #####s go away? You mean because not one of the people in this chain of incompetence thought to resize the column? We've only been using the MS Office suite since 1995, so I know how an obscure thing like column-resizing might be a mystery to many here... NOT!
OMFGIWANTTOSTABMYBRAINOUTWITHANICEPICK
That was three hours ago. He promised to look into it and get back to me. He hasn't.
[Edit: Most of the people in my office are actually very bright individuals, but stuff like this drives me up the wall; it smacks less of stupid than it does of indifference. And yes, I am obviously grumpy today. Facing myself on the concrete this morning put me a little off -- though I've subsequently had some miracle coffee that is boosting my mood by the sip.]
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 05:26 pm (UTC)*shrug* Then again, I'm assuming this is an excel document (just as you did)
-Gas
no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 07:15 pm (UTC)I wonder if they went to the touble of renaming the orignal file after modifying it, or if they just saved over it forever losing the data they deleted.
....probably the latter.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 08:05 am (UTC)Let me get this straight...
Whenever the column is too small for the numbers...
...the guy just enters random numbers (but not enough to overflow the column), right?
This isn't a case where you slowly back away from the job, keeping your hands visible at all times. This is a case when you run away from the job, as fast as your legs will carry you.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 05:02 pm (UTC)From the way it was explained to me, that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.
The especially annoying thing about this is that I generate statistics and publish reports based on this data. The graphs have been a little more chaotic than normal lately, and now I know why. =/