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[nclean]

I discussed with my supervisor, who happens to be the undergraduate studies coordinator (and so, at 32, is doing a stellar job of his academic career) about my problems with the amount of group work, and the problems therein.  He was largely sympathetic, took some points on board, but reminded me that the world sucks this way.

More significantly, he

Comments

[traeemery]

ROFL
Some time I'll share with you my enggy team assignment horror stories.
On another note though, your lecturer is quite right. It's an important skill in the workplace (and academia) to be able to write the "thank you for your response, you dickhead" emails. I can recomend some books that will help you with this skill if you feel so inclined.

[melbournian]

I don't think I've ever mastered those emails either, and can never figure out why it's an important skill to have. I'd also be interested in books on the topic.

[traeemery]

Okay, I'm going to start you off with "Advice to Rocket Scientists: A Career Survival Guide for Scientists and Engineers" by Longuski. That will help explain why it's an important skill to have

[melbournian]

Thanks. It irks me how often people make comments about how "it's not rocket science" and to me whatever they are talking about is comparitavely more challenging. It's nice to see there's a book that directly addresses the disparity between technical and social issues and the variance in relative expertise.

[traeemery]

In my company one of the catch phrases is "career limiting move". Sending snott-o-gram or blast-o-gram emails can definately be career limiting.
One of the really hard things for certain people to get their heads around (particularly women and generally geeks, she say speaking as both *grin*) is that working hard and being good at your job is not the same as being perceived as a valuable employee and someone who is key to the organisation. The latter requires people skills, political awareness and self-awareness.
The good news is that there are lots of people who've been where you are now. Some of them have even writen books about it! S

[melbournian]

I just realised who you are. Nice meeting you last week at the PCP.

I may have mentioned when I met you how I recently quit my job, that was based around people skills, and am now writing a book. It won't be like the books you've mentioned, but it will include a mix of geeky stuff and "people skills, political awareness and self-awareness". I have been able to develop people skills over the years, and consider myself fairly adept at conflict resolution, but it's not something I find intuitive - it's always so tiring and not my preferred role.

[dzurlady]

In a nutshell though, Mr NcLean here has given us a lovely example of "while you may be right, the way you've expressed yourself will not lead to the result you want." So getting the result you want is more important that venting your frustrations. Exactly! I have had this conversation with several people and I find it very frustrating. My perspective is that getting the result I want is the most important part, rather than expressing what I actually feel about something. If someone is doing something you don't want them to do, it's more satisfying in the long run to fix the problem rather than to do some short term venting at them