Fixing a novice document design issue

When it comes to document design, it's an interest of mine and I'm passionate about it. I think of how useful the document is to the end user when I'm either creating or updating a document.

A few months ago, when I looked at a document that a fellow colleague was working on, she had repeated the service that she was documenting in the title of every page. I asked her why she did that. She told me that her team lead, the diva, told her to.

Ugh. That's poor document design. It's pretty clear that you're in a document talking about the service. Why have it as a prefix for the title of each page that you have? You're taking the user read the same prefix over and over. Is that practical or helpful? No.

Her argument was that it was a best practice from a previous solution that she worked on. Um, no. Your page titles needs to be meaningful, but not monotonous and redundant.

My manager sent her a request to fix this issue in multiple documents. 

I'm such an advocate for the end user. This person wants answers immediately when looking at a document. It's not happening with unnecessary fluff.

My colleague had brought up this issue, but the diva was adamant that she was right. The issue is that the diva doesn't come from a writing background and it shows here. Our colleague does. I do, too.

The other sad thing is that she has been a writer on our team for seven or eight years now. She hasn't caught on.

Copycat diva, night guard, and two years being single

I returned to work yesterday. I dislike dealing with a diva who can't word things herself and can't think for herself. She actually copied and pasted two sentences of mine in her e-mail aimed at two other people, and copied me on it.

Wow. Such a jerk. 

My call was correct. I didn't even bother waiting for her e-mail to be sent out to seek confirmation from others. I knew what to do. She didn't.

I am picking up my night guard later on today. I'm looking forward to it.

Today marks two years since the ex broke up with me. It has taken me a long time to heal. I am finally there after kicking him to the curb and telling him not to contact me. I am proud of myself for being the one who didn't want him in my life in any form.

Working with a diva who loves putting files into folders

I work with a colleague whom I have nicknamed Diva over the years. She is one.

It's crazy that she recently celebrated eight years with the company. I trained her.

From the moment she set foot with the company, I noticed her thing for putting files in folders. It is to the point where it's overkill and an obsession.

For over a year, she wanted to put files in a repository into subfolders. She was the only person who complained about the setup. I explained why I put everything in a single folder. I set up all documents. I need to make sure that they are all there in a glance. I also assign document numbers to them. It takes me a week to do all that work for each major software release that we have. It would take more time if I had subfolders to switch between views.

Well, she went ahead and did her folder thing. That's fine if she wants to waste her time and claim that it'll reduce errors made by her. It's more because she has a folder obsession. I'm wondering if it's OCD.

It's not a showstopper to me. She will live with or without putting files in folders and subfolders.

This week, she faced an issue and couldn't solve it herself. She goes with asking people first. I'm the complete opposite. I'll try and troubleshoot it before I poll people. I normally don't poll folks on my team because, often, no one has the experience. There are finally a few people who do. I went ahead and ignored her. She needs to put in some effort, rather than taking a shortcut by simply asking first.

She is a diva. She expects everything to be done for her. Thank goodness she did her folder thing herself. Such a waste of productivity!

Dealing with incompetent colleagues

There are a couple of colleagues at work who occasionally rub me the wrong way.

In December, before I went on vacation, I indicated to both of these folks that the first two weeks of January would be devoted to training a new intern. I said that my work pace on my usual tasks would be slower than expected. I also mentioned all these details in other e-mails.

My first colleague asked whether I could document a "small" feature by the end of next week. What part of training someone for two weeks straight and not working at my usual pace do you not comprehend? I already have two tasks that you are fully aware of that are taking longer than my usual pace.

She asked me to take a look at the feature. I clicked the link and there were no details. I basically said that I can't commit to a date because I don't have enough information to make a proper assessment. I also said that the software guy copied on this e-mail should supply details on what this feature entails and what he plans on providing to me so I can assess how long it will take me.

Ridiculous.

Then, there's the diva on my team. She can't make a decision on her own. Our manager asked a question and she immediately created a meeting to discuss it. She then specifically said that I'm training and to suggest a time if it doesn't work. Um, no. You are booking a meeting. Look at my calendar. It says that I am completely booked. I am not about to drop working with my intern to attend a boring meeting because you can't make a decision on your own and you don't want to respond to an e-mail.

I asked that she hold the meeting without me. Frankly, it can be decided in an e-mail, but she can't take the lead when she is leading this whole project. Ugh!

We'll see if she whines to our manager that I am rejecting attending her stupid meeting.

Two more days of work to go. It has been a rougher week than expected.

Back at work and being with oddballs

My first day back at work was busy, but it went well. I got the work that I needed to catch up on completed. I helped troubleshoot an issue that resulted in having three happy people being able to access a site.

It's not a revelation, but the day made me realize how my colleagues in my department are not exactly leaders:

• The oldest guy on our team talks a lot. He spent twenty minutes talking about an office chair. He also can't figure out how to add a software application on his laptop if his life depended on it.
• The diva injures herself often. She fell on the weekend and has tore a thigh muscle. She has been away on sick leave for the last two days.
• My friend can't read for beans. She sent me a screenshot saying that she has the application installed. The message had the exact application name mentioned three times, which wasn't what she had.

More than half the team does not have this application installed. Had I not stepped in, everyone wouldn't have properly ordered this application. I sometimes wonder why I care so much when my colleague seem indifferent. It's because that's who I am. They need a ton of guidance.

Because my intern has moved over to being under the direct supervision of diva, he is now doing all her work while she recovers. I feel for him. However, I have trained him well that I know that he can doing this work with flying colours.

It's such an odd setup on our team. On the plus side, some people are now realizing how much value and skills I bring to this team when I am either away or don't handle these tasks that I once did.

Last workday before going on my vacation

Today is my last workday before I take some much needed time off. I'm ready to take a break.

This vacation will be interesting. For years, I didn't have a backup. Well, we instituted a backup plan at work this year.

My backup is on vacation. My second backup is the diva. What goes around, comes around.

For years, she has had the tendency to take vacation during the height of craziness at work. She once took two weeks off and left our team to pick up the slack before a major software release. She can no longer do that. She has taken over many of my duties and I feel that she finally appreciates just how much work I did and do.

My manager is also taking the same week off. I usually back him up. Instead, it's diva who will.

I'm glad that I don't have to witness how things will go with diva handling all this extra work. We'll see.

For my regular work, I'm good and don't need her to take over. I just want her to back me up for pressing issues. Here's hoping that it's quiet for everyone's sake.

Panic attack

It has been a while since I have experienced a panic attack. The last time was over a year ago when my ex-guy broke up with me.

My panic attack symptoms are straightforward. My feel like my breathe is short. My chest gets a bit tight. It's not a great feeling.

I used to get these symptoms often when I was in grade 7. I disliked doing presentations in front of the class. These days, I talk so much in front of people that it's not an issue.

My symptoms started happening on Sunday night. It briefly happened after work on Monday. It became full-blown after work on Tuesday.

It took me a while to figure out why. It's the dread that diva woman was taking over a task of mine blindly -- without truly knowing what she needed to do It was the dread of her messing up and the consequences that was and is causing this anxiety.

She drafted up a checklist at 2:30 am on Tuesday for me to review and decided to do this task 6.5 hours later. She had the software release number wrong right off the bat.

Yep, my dread was correct.

This task would take me just under five hours to do. By the time I was done with my workday on Tuesday, she hadn't finished. I realize that it was her first time doing the actual work, but taking eight hours is slow.

I have also realized that she messed up a sequence of changes. Ugh!

Right now, my panic attack symptoms are minimal. It's the case because I am writing about them here and the onus is on her when things aren't right.

I never expected getting a panic attack over this change. Weird. I'm sure that it'll disappear once her work is over.

Just went I thought I was out, I'm back in

It's funny how my previous post described two people who have taken over a portion of my workload. We'll, I'm returning to that world to help them out for the next two weeks.

The woman, who took half my duties, cannot handle the next three software releases. When she first started out with the company, I nicknamed her the diva because she has that vibe. I see it again. So, I will be pulled in for a bit, along with the incompetent woman.

I dislike bailing people out because they are incompetent. Ugh!

Frankly, my manager is worried that these two people can't pull off our major release. I have been told that I won't be there 50% of the time. I pointed out to my manager that I have regular development work that I can't let slide. He understood.

On Friday, my manager confided during our weekly chat that he doesn't feel comfortable giving a specific task to the other person who is taking over my duties. He feels that I am the best candidate. Although it was a nice compliment, I can't handle everything. It explains why I used to always be exhausted after a major software release.

I don't want to be cloned, but it sounds like a fun idea to explore in this scenario.

Dreadful Diva is gone... yay!

Tuesday was the day. It was dreadful diva's last day with the company.

I worked from home that day. I suppose that I was lucky to not be in the office. I was in a four-hour conference call that started at 07:00.

My manager had his regular one-on-one meeting with her. It was different, though. He had one human resources (HR) person with him, and another HR person on the phone.

On Thursday, I held a regular weekly meeting with my two writers. I have one writer who has been on our team for just over a month. I also have a student who has been with us for just over two months.

Although I wasn't expecting a bit of a therapy session, it happened. We are all so comfortable talking to one another that I am glad that it happened.

They expressed how uncomfortable it was to hear dreadful diva (DD) complain and vent about various aspects of her job. Although someone had reported to my manager that negative comments were directed at a number of folks, including me, the writer on our team indicated that there wasn't anything aimed directly at me -- that it was more process and more towards our manager.

My student missed a deadline by a day, which was unusual. She admitted that she was affected by the negativity coming from DD. She felt sluggish. I get it.

It was a good conversation with them, with all of us sharing our observations and concerns. It's over, thankfully.

I had a talk with my manager after we had finished conducting an interview on Thursday. He had indicated that DD was confrontation from the start when she first entered the meeting room and saw the HR person.

DD apparently cited that my manager had indicated during her interview that she would be a team lead, taking over my job. Um, I don't recall any of that. If she did, it wouldn't happen a month after starting. She could barely use our authoring tool.

She has selective hearing. In her interview, we had mentioned our new authoring tool. During her first week in training, she constantly referred to that tool. We haven't moved over to it yet!

My writer pointed out that during her interview that she did not hear our manager mention that she would be taking over a lead role. You are given such a role when you have proven that you are competent. My new writer, who is essentially my mini-me, is perfectly competent. It's the reason why she is taking over my writing duties.

DD said that she is planning on suing the company for being misled. The suing part doesn't surprise me. Before she joined the company, she had her lawyer go through the benefits package. I knew that she would be a difficult person right from the start. My manager nodded in agreement.

He also noted that she pointed out that she had quit her previous job to take this one. Well, that's life. You decide whether you want to take the plunge and try a new job. Sometimes, it works out. In this case, it didn't.

We are all relieved that she is gone. Sadly, she caused some grief after she was led out of the office and building. She had our IM app on her phone. She apparently used it to say goodbye to folks. She also asked someone to go out for lunch.

If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't have done any of that on a corporate tool that you shouldn't be using once you are terminated. Instead, I would leave, go home, think, and then write goodbye e-mails to folks instead.

My manager had IT terminate her session at a server level. It's incredible how stressful Tuesday was for our team.

I am so glad that this nightmare is over. I'm not sure how the suing-the-company saga will unfold, but she doesn't have a case when her performance was the main cause of her termination.

Canning delays and relaxing with Airpods

I am hoping that this post is the last one about the toxic diva for a bit. She is still going to be canned. My manager has already initiated the process. The downside is that there is a legal process within the company. As a result, she won't be gone on Monday, so there is a delay.

I can only hope that she is gone sometime next week. She worked from home on Friday. Her e-mails got me so annoyed that my manager hinted that I should watch my blood pressure. Although he has the occasional, odd lapse in judgment, his heart is generally in the right place. He stepped in and replied, putting her in place. I de-stressed by getting a cup of hot chocolate.

He had a conversation with my mini-me, in private. He basically hinted that he was going to give her a number of added responsibilities, which she welcomes. He asked her to keep it confidential until he works out all the details. In other words, he has not let her know about the diva being canned, which I expected.

He proceeded to tell her that we need to be respectful with others and be professional. He added that there have been a ton of negative comments and rumours taking place about others. He confided in me, saying that judging by the look of my mini-me, she nodded. He knew that she had been affected by such negativity recently.

It's interesting that I don't see my working relationship changing with both my mini-me and my student after the diva's negative comments. My stance still holds true. If you have worked with me and know me, you know the truth. I don't need a diva to poison their minds with false, negative perceptions about me.

Thank goodness it's the weekend. I am unwinding. 

I recently got a pair of AirPods. I don't think that I have paid so much for a pair of earbuds. However, the sound is incredible and I am enjoying not being chained to my device. The fact that they automatically connect and disconnect when you put them in their pod case is pretty cool. And, yes, I have them paired with a non-Apple device. They work well.

Turfing the diva... yay!

My manager and I had a confidential talk about our troublesome new writer. Before I dive into those details, this writer decided to indicate that she was taking a sick day on Thursday.

Having her away from the office felt good. None of us had to deal with her diva-like tendencies.

My manager indicated that he had spoken to his manager about this writer. They both agreed that she needs to be canned. She has her own agenda, doesn't listen, and is a loose, unproductive cannon.

Her workload won't go back to me. Rather, the other writer who has already taken over a portion of my work will take over her work. Essentially, this writer is my mini-me. She works well and she is okay with taking on my workload, minus the other lead tasks that I do.

That's good. I can continue working on processes and other details.

My boss got word from another colleague that the diva has been saying negative things about both of us. I asked him not to tell me what they were. I don't need to know.

My view is that whenever someone has something negative to say about me, not only is it untrue, but it signals insecurity. The diva gives the impression that she knows everything. She doesn't. Instead, she needs to say horrible things about folks to make her feel better.

She also seems to buy her way to being liked. We recently had a colleague from Brazil visit for three weeks. Although the diva didn't know her, she bought her a parting gift last Friday. Odd.

During her first week, she said that she would buy me a tea. The following week, she did the same thing. She never did. Perhaps she was waiting for me to make the first move. I don't fall for such a trap.

Anyway, my boss is planning to can her either on Friday or Monday. The latter looks more promising. Either way, I feel a weight being lifted.

The diva has been a bad influence on a number of writers. I have noticed this week that as soon as either my boss or I walk into the lunchroom in which she is in, she immediately looks, gets up, and leaves. Ah, such maturity!

The diva is closer to my manager's age. I am wondering whether she feels threatened by someone like me, who is equally as seasoned of a writer, but who is far more competent, be her team lead.

My manager describes her as a poison. I agree. I actually said to him that she is toxic. I avoid toxic folks at all costs.

Drama with the new diva

The new writer, who is supposed to be seasoned, is causing quite a bit of drama. She's a diva.

On Monday, her desk didn't have a chair. Instead of looking for one, she decided to sit at another desk in a different area.

In our office, we have various neighbourhoods. You belong a specific neighbourhood. She went into a completely different one. The manager there had to ask my manager who she was.

She has since sat there all week. She didn't tell anyone why until my manager asked her. He figured out that she had moved due to her chair disappearing.

He told her that he got a chair. She didn't move back. She then cited that it was dark over in our area and she needs natural light.

Then, there is the review process. I have told her that her work goes through a peer review first (me) before it goes to a technical person. She doesn't seem to get it. I have gone through this procedure numerous times.

My manager has told me that he is seriously considering canning her. I told him last week that she's not the right fit for us. The burden will hit me yet again. Instead of doing what I need to do, I will probably continue to do development work.

This new writer is actually causing more grief than needed. She disappears for a couple of hours each day and has dragged a number of folks to join her.

Tomorrow is a new day. Let's see what happens.