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oy.. Was hired recently at a non profit. ONe of my roles is to coordinate all overseas missions by teams of professionals. Compiling info, requesting documentation, sending info to host country consulate to credentialize volunteers. But OMG, I had 3 days training due to holidays as the person was leaving this week and discovered I have a mess to contend with . Not only was she un proficient in softwares, she had a rudimentary way of tracking this info. Big issue is that for several upcoming missions to aid the Philippines, she (the departing coordinator) discovered (after having received the info from the participants for the past several months) that a new procedure needed to take place and that this deadline is at the end of next week. So that means, all these participants must perform another task (notarize) and they still had not been notified they needed to do this lol. Not to mention I am still unsure of each procedure and if the outgoing coordinatore even did everything correctly. She was a friend of the Exec Director (my boss, who is a very nice person), but this person only stayed in the role 1.3 years if that says anything.
I am the type who wants to do a good job (definitely. It's a seemingly good position with lots to learn and a good cause), but there is a small part of me that is of the opinion that this is not my fault and that the volunteers have no choice but to comply with this rule and get it done in the very short amount of time. The individual Mission Leader and the Executive Director also must be aware o this. Meaning, I am wanting no lip from anybody lol. I came in on thanksgiving day for a few hours to dig thru the outgoing coordinators poor tracking and email these people letting them at least know what is going down instead of waiting until monday and am even considering going in on Sunday for a bit as well. Nice start to a new job (which I am thankful for to be sure).
SO, have you ever came into a mess? How did you handle it? Have you ever walked out? That is not an option for me now, I plan to give it my 3 months probationary period (theirs and mine) and if things don't work out, return to the mainland which I was going to do in January anyway if I did not find a position.
ok,,,back off, take a walk and breathe,,, you cant hit the ground running ,,,if its such a mess..
the upside-NOW IS the time to bark to all your superiors and support staff,,,you are brand new,,,,,
you need help...dont be shy on this-they will not hold it against you,,,if you wait a month,,,they will..
do what you can, and identify the areas you need help and send in a report to your bosses,,
do not take responsibility for someone elses incompetence!!
State the facts now and make a detailed list of what each participant needs to do to become compliant. Make sure each person gets a copy of your findings. That way when either the **** hits the fan or their impressed by your skills you will be able to have documentation or ask for a raise.
Thanks all. Yes, I am pushing forward to try to rectify this. That is why I came on thursday and found the emails and sent them a 'urgent, this is what needs to be done' letter so if they would know they would have to devote some time this week. I felt they should have bee notified of this when it was found out this was needed, which was a good 2 - 3 weeks ago.
I guess what worries me mostly is not them getting me the info (because it is someone they must do), but trying to sift thru documents that I really have no idea what they are and actually notifying them if they are missing any documents. I will give it my best shot though (and document document document).
It's always better to follow an incompetent person because it will make you look so much better.
I thrive on walking into mismanaged situations and fixing them. It's a real sense of accomplishment to take a broken division and turn it into a well oiled, efficiently humming workplace.
Document the issues, let people know the problems you face without getting personal about your predecessor, throw alot of time and effort into it. This is the best way to move up in a company.
It is rare to come to a new job where the current person is leaving or left(regardless of the reason) for things to be ship shape and running like an expensive time piece.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Sounds very familiar. The last person that did the job for a while retired. The next person quit after 5 months, the next lasted two years then got fired. Then there were 3 different temps and by the time they hired me it was a horrible mess. It took me a couple of months to figure out the system and then probably two years to get it all cleaned up. My supervisor at the time didn't know much about it either, and the documentation was poor. Eventually I discovered there was a test system I could use to learn on. The eventual result was a promotion. Just hang in there and take it one day at a time. I bet you will be comfortable there in a couple more months.
Sounds very familiar. The last person that did the job for a while retired. The next person quit after 5 months, the next lasted two years then got fired. Then there were 3 different temps and by the time they hired me it was a horrible mess. It took me a couple of months to figure out the system and then probably two years to get it all cleaned up. My supervisor at the time didn't know much about it either, and the documentation was poor. Eventually I discovered there was a test system I could use to learn on. The eventual result was a promotion. Just hang in there and take it one day at a time. I bet you will be comfortable there in a couple more months.
True, I am just itching to dive in and put a lot of these excel lists she has and compile them into an Access database. (And its amazing how people can use excel but not in a way to actually search for needed items)
It's always better to follow an incompetent person because it will make you look so much better.
I thrive on walking into mismanaged situations and fixing them. It's a real sense of accomplishment to take a broken division and turn it into a well oiled, efficiently humming workplace.
Document the issues, let people know the problems you face without getting personal about your predecessor, throw alot of time and effort into it. This is the best way to move up in a company.
Yes, so true. the beauty of this position is that part of it is running the office, doing the marketing aspects, possible PR and any event planning. It's a bare bones operation (non profit) and some of the people have to wear many hats. The executive director is great, and from what I am hearing, reports to a difficult board of directors that call some of the shots.
I am keeping an open mind, but love the idea of imprinting my mark on the place. Thanks for your input.
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