I am excited, but I do not want to annoy my co-workers.

[Rich Gray]

I am pretty good at efficiency. I am not sure that I have ever met anyone in an office setting that was better at efficiency than I.

I work in an insurance agency, and the part of the insurance agency I work in helps an insurance company. I effectively extended the majority of our workday by 3-7 hours during the busy season by pointing out that call-forwarding was turned off daily at 4:00 PM (no one figured it out for 3-4 years). The client wants a copy of everything I write.

My superiors now also seem to want copies of everything I write. I am not sure if this began before or after writing a 7-8 page paper on why I thought that we should change one of our metrics. They are now redoing the system, and I am exited. The 2017/2018 rules set for the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) ruined the “game” for me.

I sent off a second letter that should have some good ideas in it last week. I have seen some movement on that stuff. I am working on a third, but need to make sure I organize it properly.

I have a lot of, I hope, good ideas. I do not want to overwhelm people. I do not know how much to send off, and how often. I am exited, but I also do not want to annoy my co-workers.

I am concerned that I may point out some inefficiency that might get someone in trouble. I certainly have put my foot in my mouth, on many occasions, pointing out inefficiencies of some procedure or the other (in front of the person who wrote it).

I am not sure how to proceed.

 

[Mr Allen]

I would keep schtum, people don't like it when others point out that they aren't perfect at their jobs.

 

[Rich Gray]

Some of my ideas would prevent stress, some would detect bad stuff, some would reduce errors, some would improve profit. More-or-less good things.

Some ideas are what I assumed (dreamed) how things were, before I figured out that they were not.

 

[Progster]

Does the firm have an anonymous suggestions box?

 

[Judge]

I'm assuming you're located in the US. So perhaps first and foremost you might want to research such ideas relative to your agency contract with insurers and policyholders, as well as privacy issues relative to your state's insurance regulatory bodies. IMO they are all more of an issue than whether or not your coworkers begin to accuse you of dumping more work on them. Though your point is well taken in openly making suggestions to improve operations at the risk of drawing fire from rank-and-file employees.

In a corporate setting it's much easier to openly make such suggestions, given the overall scale of the operation. Though it still risks generating ill feelings from coworkers if they know you are the source of such changes in work routine. Of course in insurance most anyone in the industry should be very well aware that change in procedure is inevitable from a legal and legislative standpoint, given the progressive amount of insurance regulation most consumers have welcomed going back to the 80s.

As a former property/casualty multi-line insurance underwriter using independent insurance agents, I can tell you that more important than supplying everyone with copies of everything, is exactly what you choose to write and keep in file. I stil recall so many underwriting managers who would routinely stress (usually just before a state regulatory audit) to purge ANYTHING that doesn't legally belong in file.

Simple point to emphasize. If it doesn't belong in the first place based on insurance regulations and consumer concerns, don't write it let alone keep it anywhere. That's far more important than simply forwarding it to the insurers you represent, or your own independent insurance agency. Though if it isn't explicitly in your agency contract to provide an insurer with any and all documentation, I'd think your company's lawyer(s) would object to this for good reasons.

As for the simple concern of how your coworkers will react, yes of course there's an exposure to being disdained by them in all sorts of ways. As Progster suggested, if you are prolific in making suggestions relative to being more efficient, by all means do so anonymously and with great due diligence. To make sure any of your suggestions do not violate any regulatory considerations or processes. Recognizing that "efficient" doesn't always translate into something acceptable or legal to consumers. And that making one too many suggestions may risk ire from coworkers which could arise to a level of not just getting mad with you, but also getting even. That you may be working in both a competitive and predatory environment as I once did.

IMO it's more pragmatic for you to approach such unsolicited suggestions with caution than excitement. Bottom line is that they can potentially backfire on you from not just your coworkers, but also your superiors if your ideas have legal conflicts or complications. Especially given the present degree of government regulation of insurance in general.

 

[Thinx]

It's great to have a chance to usefully improve systems. Hopefully not to the detriment of workers? I guess some people will always have different views though, hope you find a good balance here, it sounds like a judgement call for you. Good luck with this, sounds tricky but you are probably the best judge of how to proceed.

 

[Bella Pines]

PACE YOURSELF.

If you publish the third then it will start to go south. The excitement from your first wave of improvements will get eclipsed, your bosses will start to worry that you can do their job better than them, your direct co-workers will begin to resent for being the superstar and the rest of the office/department will begin to reset you for bringing in too much change too fast.

So the solution is quite simple, pace yourself. That first wave of improvements should move you to "untouchable" status for a while. But you are only as good as your last achievement. Once it starts to wear off, when everyone starts to forget and the status quo is restore, THEN and only then publish the next one. Pace yourself, even if it means waiting months.

Don't try to take credit, assume from the offset that your direct management chain (boss, bosses boss and bosses bosses boss) will take all the credit and you are there to support them. In turn, they will probably be the only ones with direct influence over your salary and career and they will support you.

If your timing is right and you find this balance, then all the other aspie stuff (like offending people, being suspiciously absent and ducking out of socials) will be excused and you can bask in the glory of flexibility and worship.

 

[Rich Gray]

Does the firm have an anonymous suggestions box?

They would know it was me.

 

[Rich Gray]

Good stuff.

I see the confusion that I caused. I meant my observations. Occasionally I write an email on this or that.

 

[Rich Gray]

PACE YOURSELF.

I will try. It is just so much fun! My boss's, boss's, boss's, boss told me that I can email her whenever I wanted . . . I hope I did not annoy her last week with a list of ~12-things.

 

[Gritches]

Sounds like you're stuck between three options: your bosses liking you, the peons liking you, or neither really giving much of a crap. One of those options gets you paid and promoted. One gives you warm fuzzies because people will pretend they like you to your face. One means you blend in with the furniture and never go anywhere. Now, which do you think is which?

 

[Judge]

I see the confusion that I caused. I meant my observations. Occasionally I write an email on this or that.

Ahhh....I see. You mean just internal office management in general?

Though yes, you still have to deal with the prospects of potentially hostile coworkers if your ideas impact them in some way and they know you were the source. Proceed with caution.

Reminds me of a time when our underwriting manager posted productivity tabulations on his office wall. I was quite productive, and some of the less productive workers took offense towards me...even though I had no control what my boss stuck on his wall!

The damage was done, and those particular workers were never friendly towards me as a result. Of course over time they were methodically laid off based on their own productivity deficits. "What goes around...".

 

[Bella Pines]

My boss's, boss's, boss's, boss told me that I can email her whenever I wanted . . . I hope I did not annoy her last week with a list of ~12-things.

No chance. She is too senior to be threatened by you.

I once had a relationship (professional) with a manager 4 up from me and it worked brilliantly. I would supply material for his presentations and make him look good, he supplied me air cover. So if I go distracted and didn't turn up til lunchtime, or if I told another senior manager where to go, then I was safe, teachers pet. Managers at that level can take a lot of ideas, and will either accept them or throw them out. Be aware that they see things from a very high level and so some of the details will be uninteresting, also don't labor the point, if an idea gets rejected then that's the end of it. They will usually only be interested in far reaching or firm wide initiatives.

It's your colleagues and direct manager that you have to be careful around. At the end of the day, a manager 4 up can provide air cover but has little to no direct influence on your day job. If you're seen to be going over your manager's head then that will come back to bite you. So either hide it or do it a transparent way that doesn't threaten anyone.

 

[Rich Gray]

I was ranked at 4/80. I received a mini-promotion from level 2/5 to level 3/5. 1/80, 2/80, and 7/80 also revived promotions. I am uncertain who 3/80, 5/80, and 6/80 are, but perhaps they are no longer with the company, or were they were promoted to a supervisor.

1/80 went from level 4/5 to level 5/5
2/80 went from level 1/5 to level 4/5
4/80 (me) went from level 2/5 to level 3/5
7/80 went from level 1/5 to level 3/5

I cannot help but the wonder what I did wrong to go up one level, when everyone else went up 2-3 levels (except the one that maxed out). I wonder if my contributions outside of my job description are factored in or not. Perhaps my contributions outside of my job description are just not important. I guess I should just stop bothering people with my ideas.

 

[Bella Pines]

I cannot help but the wonder what I did wrong to go up one level

Absolutely nothing. For an aspie to go up at all is an outright miracle. Usually if I promote people several levels it's just a levelling exercise. Like they came in too low, or people above them left and the organization needs to be balanced.

So take this as a huge success and keep doing what you are doing. Supply ideas upwards but be cautious of those you work directly with.

 

[Mary Anne]

I effectively extended the majority of our workday by 3-7 hours during the busy season by pointing out that call-forwarding was turned off daily at 4:00 PM (no one figured it out for 3-4 years).

I have a lot of, I hope, good ideas. I do not want to overwhelm people. I do not know how much to send off, and how often. I am exited, but I also do not want to annoy my co-workers.

I am concerned that I may point out some inefficiency that might get someone in trouble. I certainly have put my foot in my mouth, on many occasions, pointing out inefficiencies of some procedure or the other (in front of the person who wrote it).

.

 

[Mary Anne]

Possible that a co-worker turned that call-forwarding off. Few workers enjoy having their “workday extended by 3 to 7 hours.”

So that alone might piss some people off. I suggest that you go slowly and pace your continual suggestions as another poster here advised. Try to pick out the best ideas to increase efficiency. Of course, if a co-worker is definitely doing something illegal or against company policy, then it is your duty to contact your supervisors. Otherwise, keep quiet. You would not want to work in a hostile work environment where co-workers think of you as a “snitch” or “brown noser.”

Unless you have a boss that really likes you and sees what a promising star that you are and has asked you for any and all ideas then slow down with your submissions. Some bosses are lazy and do not want to change anything. If you go above the boss to their bosses, then you will call a lot of problems and jeapordise your job.

I have worked at places where the constant suggestions, ideas, and calling out of other co-workers worked at first, but then were ignored (even if great ideas). Even the bosses got tired of shaking things up at the workplace. So keep your ideas and suggestion to make once a month or so.

Why not keep a journal of all your ideas and date them? Then you can continually look back and pick out the most successful suggestions and occasionally submit them?

 

[Rich Gray]

It turns out that their titles were listed improperly in our organizational chart. I have been told that someone can only go up one level every six-months.

-----

Basically I work for a company with 500 employees, and we are set to grow to 1000 employees this year (likely way more than that with busy season temps). My campaign has 25-80 people in it at any one time. I think that we are at 30-something just now.

The client goes home at 4:00 PM, we work until 7:00 PM, and sometimes till 9:00 PM, or 11:00 PM. Calls are first routed to the client, and then to us. The client turned off call-forwarding at 4:00 PM and no one noticed for 3-4 years. The call volume dropped by maybe 90% at exactly 4:00 PM. I joked that I could bring in a blanket and pillow and take a nap at 4:00 PM. Fixing this must have made my company truckloads of money this most recent busy season (and beyond).

I had to go though five managers to find one that would take the idea seriously . . . no joke.