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.]
