Hi everyone,
Just wanted to ask the group as database managers, how do you handle requests for assistance within your organization? Lately, I've been running into a lot of last minute requests for big projects within my own organization and it's quickly becoming an issue, normally these are from people who don't use Tessitura. I've set up expectations within the organization before, that certain tasks need X amount of lead time, but it doesn't seem to be sinking in.
Do you have a request form you use for your organization? Do you have a sheet that outlines what requests you can assist with and what the wait time is for those?
Curious as to how others have handled this.
Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. A little more detail about my situation, as the database manager, I'm one of the main users in my organization. FOH uses Tess the most besides me and then there are a few others that use it for some development tasks or setting up events. Luckily I'm part of a consortium that has a help desk, so some larger tasks (like building facilities) goes to them, but it also creates some tension when I get a request last minute and then have to turn around and request that from them. I'm a people pleaser, and I hate telling people no, but it seems like more and more requests are coming in without little thought to how long it might take, so that's where my motivation for this came from. I will definitely be implementing some of these suggestions in here and being a bit more firm about what I can and can't do when these last minute requests come in, as it's becoming overwhelming and a bit frustrating.
Hi Melissa,
Judging by your response above, I'm guessing you are talking more about the smaller last-minute requests than bigger, long-term projects?
I am also the Database Manager - part of a 3 person team - and we deal with both types of issues. We generally insist on a 5 day turnaround for all requests, but the nature of our industry means that we often have urgent stuff to deal with and have to be able to produce data, solve problems or set shows up very quickly. However this 5 day turnaround is embedded in the mind of everyone in our organisation and they tend to take it into account when asking for something. Of course we almost always do things much more quickly than this.
Regarding longer term projects, we have a fortnightly meeting attended by at least one Tessitura-friendly representative from each department. At this meeting we discuss upgrades, upcoming sales, issues arising, etc. If anyone has something they would like the database team to address then this is a good place for them to introduce it and for their expectations and our delivery capabilities to be discussed publicly. You also find that what one person wants may not be what suits people in other departments and there may be valid reasons against implementing what they want.
We are a pretty well organised department, but our plans changedaily depending on what the business demands. This is is unavoidable. I also feel the pressure to please everyone, but sometimes it just isn't possible, don't be scared to say no, or at least not yet.
Don Smith said:We generally insist on a 5 day turnaround for all requests, but the nature of our industry means that we often have urgent stuff to deal with and have to be able to produce data, solve problems or set shows up very quickly.
Being able to insist on something like the turnaround time you, and some others in this thread, describe, is enviable. A state of I-need-this-now urgency w.r.t IT requests is pretty common, and requires huge management understanding and buy-in to move away from. I hope for (but do not expect) more of this for us all...