Trick Number Two

Many Hands equal Light Work

This trick just occurred to me, and I thought I should write it down. I don't know how well it'll work, but it's worth a shot.

Here's the general idea:

We're all pretty much sitting here wasting company time and not doing much of anything. So what happens when a problem comes along that you can't put aside with the "Nag Lag" rule? What happens when something actually needs to be fixed RIGHT NOW?

Simple answer: everyone pitches in.

If it's a strange problem that requires a lot of obscure Googling, then everyone Googles it and shares their best hits. Once the solution is found, the person the problem was originally assigned to delivers it to the end user and gets the credit for the fix. If it's a problem that was thrown at the department in general, we'll rotate problem-solvers so everyone gets a chance to shine.

This will serve two purposes:

* Everyone under me looks like a real problem-solver and go-getter, which will really come in handy for them at review time. I want all my people to get regular raises and bonuses. I don't want anyone to leave, especially with the knowledge that we're an entire department of slackers.

* The entire IT department benefits: we look like a department of whiz kids when any and all of us are able to solve the weirdest problems.

Just a thought I'll run by the department at some point. Not now, though. Too much slacking to be done, after all. :)