Corporate Efficiency
Why is it that I always feel motivated to write when I’m at work? Probably because I’m BORED!
Why am I bored? Because I’ve been waiting forever to get a project approved, and with the amount of corporate red tape I have to go through, I’ll be receiving social security benefits (if there are any left by that time) before I get a green light.
I understand that corporations need to have rules and regulations, but sometimes I’m convinced that these same processes and procedures destroy the very efficiency they were meant to create!
For instance, at the educational publishing company I work for, I have to create a detailed publishing plan in order to get a project approved by upper management. This plan has to include all the pertinent information that will be included in the author’s contract (royalty rate, advance, etc.). This plan is reviewed and signed by the editorial director, the publisher, the marketing manager, the vice-president of marketing, the vice-president of sales, the executive vice-president, the vice-president of finance, and the division president.
Once the project is approved, I can request a contract to send to the author. So I fill out a request form with the exact same information that was included in the publishing plan and send it for approval to the editorial director, the publisher, the marketing manager. . . you get the picture. Basically I’m sending it to the exact same people. Once I get the request form back, I can send it to our contracts division who will draw up a contract to be circulated and reviewed among. . . you guessed it!. . . that same group of people! By that time, if the author hasn’t given up on working with us entirely, I can send him/her a contract to sign. Then it’s sent back to me to be signed by everyone who has reviewed the details the past two times.
Now I neglected to mention that trying to pin all these people down in a timely fashion is nearly impossible, so the entire procedure from start to finish can take up to six months to complete. Of course this delay isn’t taken into consideration when publishing dates are concerned, so I find myself with six fewer months of development time. I guess that will make up for the boredom I’m feeling now, right?
I’m just waiting for the day when a trip to the bathroom will require no fewer than eight signatures. Maybe I should keep an empty jar in my cubicle. . . .
Why am I bored? Because I’ve been waiting forever to get a project approved, and with the amount of corporate red tape I have to go through, I’ll be receiving social security benefits (if there are any left by that time) before I get a green light.
I understand that corporations need to have rules and regulations, but sometimes I’m convinced that these same processes and procedures destroy the very efficiency they were meant to create!
For instance, at the educational publishing company I work for, I have to create a detailed publishing plan in order to get a project approved by upper management. This plan has to include all the pertinent information that will be included in the author’s contract (royalty rate, advance, etc.). This plan is reviewed and signed by the editorial director, the publisher, the marketing manager, the vice-president of marketing, the vice-president of sales, the executive vice-president, the vice-president of finance, and the division president.
Once the project is approved, I can request a contract to send to the author. So I fill out a request form with the exact same information that was included in the publishing plan and send it for approval to the editorial director, the publisher, the marketing manager. . . you get the picture. Basically I’m sending it to the exact same people. Once I get the request form back, I can send it to our contracts division who will draw up a contract to be circulated and reviewed among. . . you guessed it!. . . that same group of people! By that time, if the author hasn’t given up on working with us entirely, I can send him/her a contract to sign. Then it’s sent back to me to be signed by everyone who has reviewed the details the past two times.
Now I neglected to mention that trying to pin all these people down in a timely fashion is nearly impossible, so the entire procedure from start to finish can take up to six months to complete. Of course this delay isn’t taken into consideration when publishing dates are concerned, so I find myself with six fewer months of development time. I guess that will make up for the boredom I’m feeling now, right?
I’m just waiting for the day when a trip to the bathroom will require no fewer than eight signatures. Maybe I should keep an empty jar in my cubicle. . . .
posted by Chicago Spinster @ 1:45 PM
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