Who Do We Turn to for Help?

What happens when there is no one left who understands how to move the administrative processes along? A department may see little direct impact from the first downsizing; we still have the depth of organization to be able to find a person who has the experience to solve a support problem. Eventually, however, the result is that administrative and support tasks fall back on the key technical people that we have so carefully protected from support problems. While they are busy with support efforts, their critical creative work grinds to a halt.

This type of situation normally occurs at the worst possible time: when a failure of one sort or another has occurred, and we enter recovery mode. This is a situation where a timely response is critical in order to prevent a hiccup from becoming a heart attack! A frantic call is made to the administrative department to invoke an exception process, and the person answering the phone has no idea what to do or how to begin. When questioned, this person can respond only in mechanical terms: “I get a J-2 form via email and forward it XYZ with the material I get from you.” Who sends you that email? “I don’t know. It comes from a user—ID JJPN0382.” Who knows how to do this? “I don’t know. Bill always did those things, but he’s gone now.”