Hi all! New here and seeking counsel. My intention was to post in the General Discussions, but the option was grayed out. The name's Eddie btw.
In an attempt to supplement my income while working to increase my own business' customer base, I took on a part-time job at a partnership organization. In it, the 'for profit' divisions exist to support the operations of the non-profits. My job is with a division that is relied upon for its revenue, which is on the decline. I was hired for my willingness to lend my skills toward improving operations that might lessen the overall deficit the organization has been riding in for some time. This would entail eliminating massive paper data retention and other counter-productive practices.
To date, this business has been a one-woman show. She's in her sixties and is a dear soul to have gotten to know. We even pray together over our work, which is awesome. Twelve years ago, she took over the business and ran it with minimal assistance from a computer. Whatever digital data arrives is discarded after being hand rewritten or printed. The man hours it takes to update her series of notebooks is astounding. When it comes time to generate reports, an empty office must be borrowed in order to lay these notebooks out and gather the scattered info inside them.
My manager is really feeling the stress of the load as of late and has been unable to take vacation days. She brings work home with her nightly and is often on edge during our work days when she can't find stuff. Despite all this, she is very defensive about the business she built. In her mind, nothing can be better than the processes she set up. I get my head bit off with the mere mention of how things can be done with so much less effort. It's so frustrating when you know the solution for success and are not allowed to even share the vision.
Tomorrow morning, we meet with the CEO and CFO who have raised many concerns about the paper kingdom. They want to see where we are and know of our plans for this new year. My manager is a valuable part of this business, but she's also its biggest obstacle. I think they detect this, but I'm certain they have no clue to how great the extent. So tomorrow, when my manager begins arguing with them as she always does, they are going to turn to me. The last thing I want to do is sling mud, but answering truthfully will have this effect. I could be limiting in my responses and just say I'm working as instructed, but not telling the CEO and CFO what they need to know about their organization is as bad as lying. I'm praying over this situation and seeking counsel as the wise Solomon urges us to do. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
