Below is my Digital Presentation that I will be showing in class. There was so much I wanted to add, such as an animation cartoon showing a vehicle running to a tower, however my pc skills are not great and time is of essence so I had to improvise on that.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Update on Project
Project Update
I have been able to follow along side Frank and observe quite a bit. Those of you who know me, know that I tend to try and see the humour in problems. I have been privy to information that the normal outside research would not have, given that I am married to him. Trying to figure out how to place it in my paper is proving somewhat difficult, as there are many aspects of his job that frustrate him on a personal level.
Since the company is going through a "restructure" of responsiblities across the board, it is interesting to see how lacking the management has been in some areas. Typical case of how the left hand and the right hand are not insync. This has caused some problems in being able to not be biased when forming conclusions on different things.
There was a point that I wasn't sure I would be able to finish the project due to a possiblitiy that he may not have his job due to having to decide whether or not the job was worth the hassles and the inevitable overflow into family life.I am happy to say that after going through the proper channels he does not have to worry about his employment status and I do not have to worry about pulling together another topic.
I still have to develop pictures, and figure out how I want to put everything down into words. This will become easier once I begin writing I am sure.
I have been able to follow along side Frank and observe quite a bit. Those of you who know me, know that I tend to try and see the humour in problems. I have been privy to information that the normal outside research would not have, given that I am married to him. Trying to figure out how to place it in my paper is proving somewhat difficult, as there are many aspects of his job that frustrate him on a personal level.
Since the company is going through a "restructure" of responsiblities across the board, it is interesting to see how lacking the management has been in some areas. Typical case of how the left hand and the right hand are not insync. This has caused some problems in being able to not be biased when forming conclusions on different things.
There was a point that I wasn't sure I would be able to finish the project due to a possiblitiy that he may not have his job due to having to decide whether or not the job was worth the hassles and the inevitable overflow into family life.I am happy to say that after going through the proper channels he does not have to worry about his employment status and I do not have to worry about pulling together another topic.
I still have to develop pictures, and figure out how I want to put everything down into words. This will become easier once I begin writing I am sure.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Methods of Collection
Methods of Collection
When I first began this project, I had envisioned using surveys, observation, emails and in person interviews. I have found that the surveys were all answered in a positive way with hardly any real in depth information. This was especially disconcerting, as I was hoping for a more detailed account and honest account. After doing much thinking, and after to speaking to three individual technicians, I realized that most were afraid that I would be showing these to other technicians and the senior upper management. It also did not help that although the survey was given as an attachment in an email, it was in truth still connected to an email - hence the trepidation of the technicians to be honest due to it wasn’t a truly “anonymous” survey. Another hindrance to this is the fact that I happen to be married to one of the technicians, and fear of my husband reading the surveys and then reporting upwards in the company of what was being said. In the end, I decided not to place too much emphasis on the survey.
Observation of daily life of the technician was an easier route and my most relied on method. To accomplish this, I rode along with Frank on several occasions observing his mannerisms, conversations with other technicians, management, the on call center, vendors and even the client. I was able to ride along on several change outs, during which I was able to observe how he related to different members of the team. This also gave me some insight to how the company worked from within, and how the clients reacted with him. I also gained an appreciation for the long hours he puts in, how difficult it can be for a company to run a business when it’s all done via phone and email, and the difficulties of trying to line everything up so that a change out goes smoothly. I found that observation was the best method for researching this field.
Emails proved to be difficult in getting prompt replies, understandably, the technicians work long hours, have tons of paperwork and when they have free time, they really did not want to talk about “work” related topics. While the emails from upper management were answered in a timely manner, I knew I was taking them away from their normal job and that my questions were low on the totem pole of relevant necessity. I felt like I was getting a canned response when it finally came. I do know that there are many changes going on inside the company and protocol has changed several times in the last six weeks, this would probably explain the canned responses.
In person interviews were going to be a challenge from the start given that the company headquarters is located in central Florida, and the technicians are scattered across the lower southeastern division. There are three technicians in Tennessee, two in Alabama, one in Kentucky and one in North Carolina that I have personally met.
The physical locations of the technicians made it almost impossible to interview separately or be able to observe separately like I had wanted to. This created a problem in that I had to base my research on one technician whom I happen to be married to. I have tried to be unbiased in understanding my findings, and not take anything personal when it came to hearing about other technicians and their shortcomings - according to Frank. I tried to rely on conversations that I had the privilege to be privy to and the emails between the technicians, carefully deciphering the information and placing it into the research.
When I first began this project, I had envisioned using surveys, observation, emails and in person interviews. I have found that the surveys were all answered in a positive way with hardly any real in depth information. This was especially disconcerting, as I was hoping for a more detailed account and honest account. After doing much thinking, and after to speaking to three individual technicians, I realized that most were afraid that I would be showing these to other technicians and the senior upper management. It also did not help that although the survey was given as an attachment in an email, it was in truth still connected to an email - hence the trepidation of the technicians to be honest due to it wasn’t a truly “anonymous” survey. Another hindrance to this is the fact that I happen to be married to one of the technicians, and fear of my husband reading the surveys and then reporting upwards in the company of what was being said. In the end, I decided not to place too much emphasis on the survey.
Observation of daily life of the technician was an easier route and my most relied on method. To accomplish this, I rode along with Frank on several occasions observing his mannerisms, conversations with other technicians, management, the on call center, vendors and even the client. I was able to ride along on several change outs, during which I was able to observe how he related to different members of the team. This also gave me some insight to how the company worked from within, and how the clients reacted with him. I also gained an appreciation for the long hours he puts in, how difficult it can be for a company to run a business when it’s all done via phone and email, and the difficulties of trying to line everything up so that a change out goes smoothly. I found that observation was the best method for researching this field.
Emails proved to be difficult in getting prompt replies, understandably, the technicians work long hours, have tons of paperwork and when they have free time, they really did not want to talk about “work” related topics. While the emails from upper management were answered in a timely manner, I knew I was taking them away from their normal job and that my questions were low on the totem pole of relevant necessity. I felt like I was getting a canned response when it finally came. I do know that there are many changes going on inside the company and protocol has changed several times in the last six weeks, this would probably explain the canned responses.
In person interviews were going to be a challenge from the start given that the company headquarters is located in central Florida, and the technicians are scattered across the lower southeastern division. There are three technicians in Tennessee, two in Alabama, one in Kentucky and one in North Carolina that I have personally met.
The physical locations of the technicians made it almost impossible to interview separately or be able to observe separately like I had wanted to. This created a problem in that I had to base my research on one technician whom I happen to be married to. I have tried to be unbiased in understanding my findings, and not take anything personal when it came to hearing about other technicians and their shortcomings - according to Frank. I tried to rely on conversations that I had the privilege to be privy to and the emails between the technicians, carefully deciphering the information and placing it into the research.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Archival Materials
For this project I am gathering up timesheets, work orders, pictures of sites, and other forms that a tech would need on a daily basis.
These artifacts are interesting in understanding how much paperwork time adds to the actual work and drive time. Just as the cell phone and laptop are intricate partners in the life of a tech, so to is the enormous amount of emails, work orders, purchase orders and such.
These papers have to be filled out properly to a t, in order for the company to bill and recieve payment on work performed on a site, as well as for being able to pay for equipment ordered for a site. There have been times when equipment has been "misplaced" in paperwork which results in confusion of exactly which site it was used. Having a good paper trail of your work, helps in "finding the equipment.
These artifacts are interesting in understanding how much paperwork time adds to the actual work and drive time. Just as the cell phone and laptop are intricate partners in the life of a tech, so to is the enormous amount of emails, work orders, purchase orders and such.
These papers have to be filled out properly to a t, in order for the company to bill and recieve payment on work performed on a site, as well as for being able to pay for equipment ordered for a site. There have been times when equipment has been "misplaced" in paperwork which results in confusion of exactly which site it was used. Having a good paper trail of your work, helps in "finding the equipment.
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